protecting his country (at sea) while his son logan battles sanfilippo syndrome (on land) -- meet u.s. navy lieutenant commander billy pacl

Lt Commander William ('Billy') Pacl of the US Navy is not only an officer and a gentleman, but he’s also a Sanfilippo dad.  And a deeply loving and devoted one at that.  What is fairly unique and interesting about Billy's rare-disease parent journey, however, is that he spends nearly half of his days away from his family - underwater, in a nuclear submarine (sometimes going 'dark'  for months at a time) - serving and protecting his country from foreign and domestic threats on the open seas. Billy's wife Noelle, meanwhile, happens to be a TikTok superstar (with a whopping 3 million followers at this point) - having harnessed the immense power and reach of social media over the past few years to share her son Logan's journey with an ever-growing audience and educate the world about Logan's (ultra-rare) genetic disorder, Sanfilippo Syndrome (type A). 

But Noelle insists that Billy is truly the unsung hero in the Pacl family. 

"Billy is seriously one of the most selfless people I know", Noelle said. "Everything he does, he does with others in mind - whether it's his family, his submarine crew, or even complete strangers".  He also happens to be "wicked smart", according to Noelle.  In fact, Billy holds both a physics degree and a degree in public administration (focusing on nonprofit work) - a pretty rare combination of academic interests, no doubt, but it's one that makes perfect sense for a man in the unique shoes of Billy Pacl, who applies nuclear physics in his day job (in the Navy) while at the same time raising a boy with a genetic disorder nicknamed "Childhood Alzheimer's" and helping to raise awareness for the disease.   

Billy's an accomplished athlete as well, having won a bunch of running races in his day.  Billy has always turned to exercise and athletics for managing his stress - whether he's on land or on a submarine (there's always a way to get a workout in). In the past, it's been mainly distance running (Noelle insists he could wake up any random day and easily complete a marathon), but recently he's become an avid weightlifter during his latest stint on shore. 

Billy's deep love and appreciation for his family is quite evident by the way he speaks of them. He's in awe of his wife Noelle's strength and perseverance in "holding down the fort" - and taking care of Logan every single day - especially those times when he's out on duty at sea for extended lengths of time. Billy's first stint away at sea was for about 3 months.  What he remembered most about that first one is that his son Logan (6 at the time) didn't seem to recognize him when he returned to land.   As Billy told me, that was a pretty jarring and heartbreaking experience for him at the time. Since that one time, though, Logan has had no trouble recognizing and getting very excited about seeing his dad when he returns from sea.  Billy's longest-ever stint in complete 'dark' was last year - underwater for six full months - with no contact whatsoever with anybody outside of the submarine (no internet, phone, Zoom, nothing).  

In our conversation (which took place on Feb 1st 2024), Billy told me a little about his life and upbringing, his professional journey and career path as an 18-year member of the U.S. Navy, and about some of the unique challenges associated with being away from your family for an extended length of time - and then readjusting to "land life" upon return. I wanted to know, how does Billy "fit back into the mix" when he returns to land and is with his family, after Noelle's been holding down the fort on her own for those past 3 months? How does Billy feel about the healthcare system - called TRICARE - that's available for Navy (and military) families like his?  And how did his family navigate that healthcare system in finding Logan the right medical resources along his Sanfilippo journey?  You'll hear about all that and more in our conversation.

In case you were wondering (like I was, when I first heard the term)... TRICARE is the uniformed services health care program for active duty service members (ADSMs), active duty family members (ADFMs), National Guard and Reserve members and their family members, retirees and retiree family members, survivors, and certain former spouses worldwide.  For more information, visit their website at https://www.tricare.mil/. 

As for Billy in the near term... He told me that he expects to be on ‘shore duty’ for the next 6 months (but that could always change, of course), and we look forward to having him share more of his story and contribute his important voice to the Sanfilippo Project in the months ahead. 

​Lieutenant Commander Pacl, thank you for your service to our country.  

​
* Below you'll find several video clips from our interview (each 1-2 minutes long).  Directly below that you can find the full interview (19 minutes long).

---

The biggest thing I noticed when I got back was that Logan (6 years old at the time) seemed to not recognize me at first"  

I always thought it was a cool and unique thing, because while others on my ship might have photos of family members on their computer, I'm able to to have hours and hours of video of my family while I am underway at sea, sometimes for months at a time. Now, before every time I go underway, I ask Noelle to download the videos for me ahead of departure, so that I can view them whenever I have the time while away from my family."

---

​When a Navy family is relocated and required to move, they often don’t receive the official order to move until 2 months before the move, which doesn’t allow for a lot of time to get new doctors and specialists in place for the special-needs family member (Logan, in this case) moving to an entirely new area or town.  And for those, there’s often at least a 6-month waiting list just to be initially seen.  It almost guarantees that you’re going to have some sort of gap in coverage or services upon moving"

Click below for the FULL interview:

---

---