Capt. Asbury ‘Sandy’ Coward IV, a Navy officer and aviator who directed candidate guidance at the...

Capt. Asbury “Sandy” Coward IV, whose career as a naval officer spanned three decades and included stints as an aviator, test pilot and director of candidate guidance at the Naval Academy where he worked tirelessly recruiting women to Annapolis, died March 15 of complications from multiple myeloma at his Burlington, North Carolina, home.

The former longtime Annapolis resident was 79.