GALION, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW) — While Dwayne Castle was no stranger to the military, having been born into a family where his dad served in the Army, the military wasn’t his initial plan for his life.
In high school, Castle participated in an Air Force ROTC program, but joked that being a pilot required perfect eyesight and brains, and he “lacked both.”
In 1990, Castle worked a job that kept making promises and not following through, so one day he got mad and decided that was the day he would join the United States Navy.
Upon telling his employer he’d be leaving, Castle said he was offered everything he’d been promised, but by then it was too little, too late.
In October 1990, Castle was off to basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois before being stationed out of Little Creek, Virginia. He entered the fleet as a seaman.
After a brief leave home, Castle was deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. He served on active duty from 1990 to 1992 before joining the Individual Ready Reserve from 1992 to 1998.
During his deployment, Seaman Castle served aboard the USS Portland (LSD-37), an amphibious dock landing ship responsible for transporting Marines, Navy SEALs, supplies, and assault equipment.
While on board, his duties included serving in the deck department managing the bosun’s locker, acting as a second loader on a 3-inch, 50-caliber gun during wartime, standing lookout watch, and serving as a helmsman steering the ship.
One of the duties Castle enjoyed most was standing night watch.
“My favorite thing was standing lookout watch out in the middle of the ocean, pitch black. The only thing you see is all the stars. And I sit on the tail end of the ship, there’s nobody around. It’s two in the morning and just a cup of coffee in my hand,” Castle said. “It’s just beautiful. I saw more asteroids or meteors and satellites in the sky. I didn’t know the sky could be so bright. There was something comforting about holding a mug while I was standing watch.”
While the USS Portland never saw action, Castle said that while out on the water, they saw the USS Tripoli after it had hit a mine and was being towed past them with a large hole in its hull.
“It made things kind of real for us,” Castle said.
While never battle-tested, their time at sea wasn’t without its scares.
As a second loader on the 3-inch, 50-caliber gun, Castle wore headphones to relay communications and information for the rest of the crew. One day, that information was that a missile had been detected, and he had to count down the estimated time to impact for the crew.
The missile was destroyed well before reaching the ship, but it came close enough for the ship’s anti-missile system to lock onto it, though not close enough to fire. And while he never saw the missile, the psychological reality of counting down to impact is something that has always stuck with him.
After serving two years of active duty, Castle decided it was time to take a step back and prioritize going home to help raise his kids, joining the Individual Ready Reserve for six years.
“I could have stayed in, I would have loved it, but I love my kids more and wanted to be there for them,” Castle said. “Being in an Army family, I was always the new kid, and when I got out, I wanted to put some roots down, and so I’ve been in Galion for over 30 years now.” His family already lived in Galion, making it the natural place to settle and raise his children.
Since leaving the Navy, Castle continued to develop his love for coffee and turned it into a hobby, collecting brewing equipment and building custom coffee bars with his wife, Deborah.
After a while, the hobby needed a new space as he was ready to share it with others, leading to the opening of Ole Dog’s Coffee Culture in April 2023.
Ole Dog’s Coffee Culture, named after their rescue dog, Elsa, shares the storefront at 204 Harding Way E. in Galion with Deborah’s business, Sparrow’s Haven Gifts and Decor.
“Ole Dog’s Coffee Culture is about the process of making coffee, but it’s also about the people you’re having coffee with and trying to really push the idea of relationship, connection with people,” Castle said. “We don’t give veterans discounts in the store, we give friends and family discounts for veterans because that’s how we see others.”
Aside from Ole Dog’s, Castle is active in the local Chamber of Commerce; serves on the Galion Main Street board to support downtown business revitalization; facilitates the Crawford County CEO (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities) program, mentoring high school students five days a week through business visits, guest speakers, and launching student-run businesses; and is active in Love Action Church in Crestline.
Castle ended by saying that if any fellow veterans want to come in and grab a coffee and chat with him, he’d absolutely love that. All are welcome.