Albert Arthur Schaufelberger (August 8, 1949 – May 25, 1983) was a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy who was assassinated in El Salvador.
Background
Schaufelberger was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, class of 1971 and was an avid (150 lb) American football and lacrosse player while in college. His father, Albert Arthur Schaufelberger (Senior), was a decorated fighter and bomber pilot during the Vietnam War.
Role in El Salvador
Schaufelberger was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy on June 9, 1971. ENS Schaufelberger next attended Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training with Class 65 at NAB Coronado, California, from August 1971 to March 1972, followed by service with Underwater Demolition Team TWELVE from March 1972 to June 1975. LT Schaufelberger's next assignment was as the Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Platoon Commander with SEAL Team ONE at NAB Coronado from June 1975 to November 1976, and then as an SDV Instructor with BUD/S training at NAB Coronado from November 1976 to January 1979. He served as an Ordnance Officer, Platoon Commander and Operations Officer with SEAL Team ONE at Coronado from January 1979 to February 1981, and then attended the Spanish Language Course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, from February 1981 to February 1982.
Lieutenant commander Schaufelberger became the senior U.S. Naval representative at the U.S. Military Group, El Salvador in August 1982. He was a United States Navy SEAL, second in command of the U.S. Military Group advising the Salvadoran Armed Forces on counterinsurgency, special operations, and weapons traffic interdiction operations. In addition, he was security chief for the 53 U.S. military advisors in the country at the time. Schaufelberger had responsibility, among other duties, for naval operations in the Gulf of Fonseca which were run out of the La Unión naval base. It was at the La Unión naval base where Schaufelberger allowed himself to be photographed for the last time several days before his assassination. Schaufelberger's death was the first of a U.S. military member in El Salvador following the October 1980 arrival in country of U.S. military advisors.
Assassination
At approximately 6:30 p.m. on May 25, 1983, Schaufelberger was assassinated on the grounds of the Central American University in San Salvador. A group under the umbrella of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers (PRTC), is thought to have carried out the act.
Schaufelberger had been dating the manager of a cooperative store, Consuelo Escalante Aguilera, for several months and developed a routine of picking her up at the same time and place.