Oh God, not this again.

(1) Any modern firearm is safe if you follow its manual of arms.

(2) The only safety device is located between your ears.

(3) #1 and #2 stipulate that you understand holstering, drawing, and re-holstering practices, and that you achieve comfort and familiarity in your gun handling. And that includes how your holster is designed to be used, as well. You can't treat a pocket holster as you would an IWB, or an OWB CCW-type, or a duty/service holster, or a hunting holster. Different gunleather requires different practices.

(4) All actions--DA/SA revolver, SA revolver, SA auto, DA/SA auto, and DAO auto--have their own advantages and drawbacks.

Reminds me of when I first moved from working out of a range bag and started sticking a handgun into some pieces of old leather.

Wasn't too comfortable, at first, and that made practicing the finer points tricky. But it forced me to ingrain the procedure and the Do/Do-Not's. Took a while to really get down with it, so I had to spend a bit of time dry-firing and practicing.

Consider seeking out quality instruction. It helps! Remember that how you were trained for the Navy doesn't really help you out as a gun-oriented citizen. Government training--be it LEO or armed service--is directed at efficiently taking a large number of people (with varying levels of individual interest in the subject matter), and getting them to achieve competency with one particular set of equipment.

But you're a guy who's interested in being Good At Guns (TM), with your own individual firearm and carry gear. You're not interested just in being competent, you want to be proficient. An hour or two with a decent instructor can work wonders. Watch out for I'm-better-than-you scowls, 5.11 tactical pants, and thigh-holster'd pistols unaccompanied by the back-slung AR's they're meant to accommodate. Look for friendly, smiling chaps who're easy and approachable.