Arthur W. Radford

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Arthur W. Radford
VF-1B
Battles/wars
Awards
Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom)
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Arthur William Radford (27 February 1896 – 17 August 1973) was an

vice chief of Naval Operations, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet and later the second chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
.

With an interest in ships and aircraft from a young age, Radford saw his first sea duty aboard the battleship

inter-war period he earned his pilot wings and rose through the ranks in duties aboard ships and in the Bureau of Aeronautics. After the U.S. entered World War II, he was the architect of the development and expansion of the Navy's aviator training programs in the first years of the war. In its final years he commanded carrier task forces through several major campaigns of the Pacific War
.

Noted as a strong-willed and aggressive leader, Radford was a central figure in the post-war debates on U.S. military policy, and was a staunch proponent of naval aviation. As commander of the Pacific Fleet, he defended the Navy's interests in an era of shrinking defense budgets, and was a central figure in the "

Dwight Eisenhower
.

Retiring from the military in 1957, Radford continued to be a military adviser to several prominent politicians until his death in 1973. For his extensive service, he was awarded many military honors, and was the namesake of the Spruance-class destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford.

Early life

Arthur William Radford was born on 27 February 1896 in

Fisk Street Generating Station.[2]

Arthur began his school years at Riverside Public School, where he expressed an interest in the

Grinnell High School for a year and a half, before deciding to apply to the United States Naval Academy. He obtained the local congressman's recommendation for an appointment to the academy, and was accepted. After several months of tutoring at Annapolis, Maryland, he entered the academy in July 1912, at the age of sixteen.[2]

Although Radford's first year at the academy was mediocre he applied himself to his studies in his remaining years there.

First World War.[2]

Military career

Radford's first duty was aboard the

flag lieutenant for another battleship division commander.[2]

USS South Carolina, on which Radford served his first tour of duty during World War I

In 1920, Radford reported to

William Moffett, that he frequently interacted with politicians and picked up the political acumen that would become useful later in his career. While he did not attend the Naval War College, as other rising officers did, Radford established himself as an effective officer who would speak his mind frankly, even to superiors.[6]

Radford achieved the rank of

Vancouver Barracks, Washington. Spencer (1895–1997) was a daughter of George Ham of Portland, Oregon,[7] and the former wife of (1) Albert Cressey Maze (1891–1943), with whom she had a son, Robert Claude Maze Sr., Major, USMC who was killed in action in 1945 and (2) Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. In May 1940, Radford was appointed executive officer of the USS Yorktown, a post he served in for one year.[2]

In July 1941, Radford was appointed commander of the Naval Air Station in

John H. Towers, chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, to transfer Radford to a newly formed training division.[8]

World War II

Aviation Training Division

Radford took command of the Aviation Training Division in Washington, D.C., on 1 December 1941, seven days before the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.[8] He was appointed as Director of Aviation Training for both the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Bureau of Navigation;[9] the double appointment helped to centralize training coordination for all naval aviators. With the U.S. mobilizing for war, Radford's office worked long hours six days a week in an effort to build up the necessary training infrastructure as quickly as possible. For several months, this around-the-clock work took up all of his time, and he later noted that walking to work was his only form of exercise for several months. During this time, he impressed colleagues with a direct and no-nonsense approach to work, while maintaining a demeanor that made him easy to work for.[8] He was promoted to captain soon after.[5]

Throughout 1942 he established and refined the administrative infrastructure for aviation training. Radford oversaw the massive growth of the training division, establishing separate sections for administration; Physical Training Service Schools; and training devices; and sections to train various aviators in flight, aircraft operation, radio operation, and gunnery. The section also organized technical training and wrote training literature. He also engineered the establishment of four field commands for pilot training. Air Primary Training Command commanded all pre-flight schools and

Naval reserve aviation bases in the country. Air Intermediate Training Command administered Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi where flight training was conducted. Air Operational Training Command was in charge of all education of pilots between pilot training and their first flying assignments. Finally, Air Technical Training Command trained enlisted men for support jobs in aviation such as maintenance, engineering, aerography, and parachute operations. Radford sought to integrate his own efficient leadership style into the organization of these schools.[10]

Radford was noted for thinking progressively and innovatively to establish the most effective and efficient training programs. He sought to integrate

Naval Air Station Quonset Point so as to enable these advanced recruits to become more experienced naval officers.[11]

Sea duty

Radford (right) with Captain Joseph J. Clark aboard USS Yorktown, October 1943

By early 1943, with Radford's training programs established and functioning efficiently, he sought combat duty.

Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet where he was promoted to rear admiral and tapped to be a carrier division commander.[4] This was an unusual appointment, as most carrier division commanders were appointed only after duty commanding a capital ship. He then spent May and June 1943 on an inspection party under Gates, touring U.S. bases in the south Pacific.[12] Following this, he was assigned under Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman, commander of Carrier Division 2 at Pearl Harbor. Radford spent several weeks observing flight operations and carrier tactics for various ships operating out of Hawaii. He was particularly impressed with how carrier doctrine had evolved in the time since his own assignment on a carrier, and in June 1943, he was ordered to observe operations on the light aircraft carrier USS Independence, learning the unique challenges of using light carriers.[12]

On 21 July 1943, Radford was given command of

torpedo planes to work over the Japanese defenses.[14]

Next, Radford and his carriers took part in an air attack and cruiser bombardment of

Central Pacific.[15]

Major combat operations

Major operations in the Central Pacific began that November. Radford's next duty was in

Task Group 50.2, the Northern Carrier Group, which consisted of USS Enterprise, USS Belleau Wood and USS Monterey. He did not agree with this strategy, maintaining until his death that the force should have gone on an offensive to strike Japanese air power instead of being tied to the ground forces. Despite his objections, the force left Pearl Harbor for the Gilbert Islands on 10 November.[16]

The invasion began on 20 November. Radford's force was occupied with

air strikes on Japanese ground targets, and faced frequent attack by Japanese aircraft in night combat, which U.S. aircrews were not well prepared or equipped for.[17] He improvised a unit to counter Japanese night raids, and was later credited with establishing routines for nighttime combat air patrols to protect carriers; these were adopted fleetwide.[18] He commanded Carrier Division Eleven around Tarawa for several more days, returning to Pearl Harbor on 4 December.[17]

Returning from Tarawa, Radford was reassigned as

Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. He assumed this new duty on 1 April, a role which was primarily administrative in nature.[17] His duties included establishing a new integrated system for aircraft maintenance, supply, and retirement, for which he was appointed the head of a board to study aircraft wear and tear. After six months in this duty, Radford was returned to the Pacific theater by Admiral Ernest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commander in Chief, United States Fleet.[19]

Radford returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 October 1944, where he was appointed as commander of First Carrier Task Force,

Typhoon Cobra.[20]

"To every officer and man in this splendid group well done [.] In the last 45 days you have contributed much toward the victory announced today and I am proud of you."

—Radford's message to his fleet at the end of World War II.[21]

On 29 December 1944, Radford was unexpectedly ordered to take command of Task Group 38.1 after its commander, Rear Admiral

U.S. Fifth Fleet, and as a part of this reorganization Radford's force was redesignated Task Group 58.4. He continued striking Japanese targets in the Inland Sea during March. On 1 April, the force was moved to support the Battle of Okinawa. Over the course of the next two months, his force continued its use of night raids, which by this point were effective in repelling Japanese attacks on U.S. Navy ships. After two months supporting ground forces on Okinawa, Radford's fleet was detached from that operation.[21]

Returning to the Third Fleet and being re-designated Task Group 38.4, the force began operating off the

V-J Day, the end of the war in the Pacific. Upon receipt of the orders to end hostilities, he signaled his ships that he was proud of their accomplishments.[21]

Post-war years

Radford was promoted to vice admiral in late 1945.

post-war period, Radford was a strong advocate that naval aviation programs be maintained. When Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King issued a post-war plan calling for the U.S. to maintain nine active aircraft carriers, Radford suggested he double the number, a politically unrealistic proposal.[22]

After the war, Radford was a principal opponent to a plan to merge the

U.S. Department of Defense with limited power and with the Navy maintaining control of its air assets.[9] In 1947, Radford was briefly appointed commander of the Second Task Fleet, a move he felt was to distance him from the budget negotiations in Washington, but nonetheless preferred.[23]

In 1948, Radford was appointed by President

John Dale Price, he favored reducing naval ship strength in order to develop stronger naval aviation capabilities.[29] Then, in 1949, Truman appointed him as the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.[25]

Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

In April 1949, Truman appointed Radford to the position of

Burma, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Formosa, and Japan, and learned about the sociopolitical issues facing each nation and the region as a whole.[30]

"Revolt of the Admirals"

Main article: Revolt of the Admirals

Despite his new office, Radford was soon recalled to Washington to continue hearings on the future of the

supercarrier USS United States was cancelled.[4]

At the request of Congressman

Convair B-36 the Air Force's principal bomber aircraft, calling it a "billion dollar blunder." Radford also questioned the Air Force's plan to focus on nuclear weapons delivery capabilities as its primary deterrent to war and called nuclear war "morally reprehensible".[31] While the United States remained cancelled and the post-war cuts to the Navy were intact, funding was increasing during the Cold War era for conventional forces.[30]

Korean War

dismissal
.

Shortly after the outbreak of the

United Nations Command Korea (UNC). As such, Radford exercised no direct responsibility over forces involved in the conflict.[33]

Radford was an admirer of MacArthur and a proponent of his "

Truman relieved MacArthur in April 1951, Radford reportedly gave the general a "hero's welcome" in Hawaii as he was returning to the United States.[33]

As commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines and Formosa, Radford accompanied President-elect

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and UNC Commanding General Mark W. Clark, but had not been acted on when the armistice came in July 1953, at a time when the Chinese were struggling with domestic unrest.[37] Still, Radford's frankness during the trip and his knowledge of Asia made a good impression on Eisenhower, who nominated Radford to be his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[33][38]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

"I simply must find men who have the breadth of understanding and devotion to the country rather than to a single Service that will bring about better solutions than I get now. ... [strangely] enough the one man who sees this clearly is a Navy man who at one time was an uncompromising exponent of naval power and its superiority over any other kind of strength. That is Radford."

—Eisenhower on his choice to nominate Radford as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[3]

Eisenhower's official nomination for Radford came in mid-1953. Eisenhower was initially cautious about him because of his involvement in the

inter-service rivalry and "revolt" in 1949. Radford's anticommunist views, however, as well as his knowledge of Asia and his support of Eisenhower's "New Look" defense policy, made him an attractive nominee, particularly among Republicans, to replace Omar Bradley.[39] Eisenhower was also impressed with his "intelligence, dedication, tenacity, and courage to speak his mind."[40] During his nomination, Radford indicated a changed outlook from the positions he had taken during the "Revolt of the Admirals".[30] As chairman, he was eventually popular with both the president and Congress.[41]

Military budget

Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. It was during this meeting that Radford so impressed the President-elect that he was nominated to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
the next year.

Radford was integral in formulating and executing the "New Look" policy, reducing spending on conventional military forces to favor a strong

nuclear deterrent and a greater reliance on airpower.[39] In this time, he had to overcome resistance from Army leaders who opposed the reduction of their forces, and Radford's decisions, unfettered by inter-service rivalry, impressed Eisenhower.[3] In spite of his support of the "New Look", he disagreed with Eisenhower on several occasions when the president proposed drastic funding cuts that Radford worried would render the U.S. Navy ineffective.[18] In late 1954, for example, Radford testified privately before a congressional committee that he felt some of Eisenhower's proposed defense cuts would limit the military's capability for "massive retaliation", but he kept his disagreements out of public view, working from within and seeking the funding to save specific strategic programs.[42]

In 1956, Radford proposed protecting several military programs from funding cuts by reducing numbers of conventional forces, but the proposal was leaked to the press, causing an uproar in Congress and among U.S. military allies, and the plan was dropped. In 1957, after the other Joint Chiefs of Staff again disagreed on how to downsize force levels amid more budget restrictions, Radford submitted ideas for less dramatic force downsizing directly to Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson, who agreed to pass them along to Eisenhower.[42]

Foreign military policy

While Radford remained Eisenhower's principal adviser for the budget, they differed on matters of foreign policy.[42] Radford advocated the use of nuclear weapons and a firm military and diplomatic stance against China.[18] Early in his tenure, he suggested to Eisenhower a preventive war against China or the Soviet Union while the U.S. possessed a nuclear advantage and before it became entangled in conflicts in the Far East. Eisenhower immediately dismissed this idea.[42]

After France requested U.S. assistance for its

U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers would conduct airstrikes on Viet Minh positions.[43] Radford even believed in the U.S. threaten it with nuclear weapons, like earlier with the Chinese in Korea.[33] He also advocated U.S. military intervention in the 1955 First Taiwan Strait Crisis and the 1956 Suez Crisis, but Eisenhower favored diplomatic approaches and threats of force.[42]

Later life

The USS Arthur W. Radford, which was launched in 1975 and named for Radford

After his second term as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Radford opted to retire from the Navy in 1957 to enter the private sector. The same year

campaign advisor for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election, and again for Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election.[33]

Radford died of cancer at age 77 on 17 August 1973

Spruance-class destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford, named in his honor.[18]

Dates of rank

United States Naval Academy Midshipman – Class of 1916
Ensign Lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant
Lieutenant Commander
 Commander
Captain
O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6
3 June 1916 1 July 1917 1 January 1918 17 February 1927 1 July 1936 1 January 1942
Rear Admiral (lower half) Rear Admiral (upper half)
Vice Admiral
 Admiral
O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10
Never held 21 July 1943 25 May 1946 7 April 1949

[45]

Awards and decorations

Radford's awards and decorations include the following:[46]

Gold star
Gold star
Gold star
Gold star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Silver star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Naval Aviator Badge
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
with three stars 		Legion of Merit
with star
Navy Presidential Unit Citation
with two service stars
Navy Unit Commendation World War I Victory Medal
with service star 		American Defense Service Medal
with service star
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

with seven battle stars 		World War II Victory Medal
Navy Occupation Medal
 National Defense Service Medal Korean Service Medal
Order of Fiji
Companion of the Order of the Bath
 Philippine Liberation Medal
with service star

References

Citations

  1. ^ Muir 2001, p. 159.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Muir 2001, p. 160.
  3. ^ a b c d Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 108.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Tucker 2009, p. 725.
  5. ^ a b c d Stewart 2009, p. 242.
  6. ^ Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 109.
  7. ^ 1900 U.S. Census – Census Place: Portland Ward 6, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: 1350; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0063; FHL microfilm: 1241350
  8. ^ a b c Muir 2001, p. 161.
  9. ^ a b c d Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 110.
  10. ^ Muir 2001, p. 162.
  11. ^ Muir 2001, p. 163.
  12. ^ a b c Muir 2001, p. 164.
  13. ^ Muir 2001, p. 165.
  14. ^ Muir 2001, p. 166.
  15. ^ Muir 2001, pp. 166–67.
  16. ^ Muir 2001, p. 167.
  17. ^ a b c Muir 2001, p. 168.
  18. ^ a b c d e Stewart 2009, p. 243.
  19. ^ a b Muir 2001, p. 169.
  20. ^ Muir 2001, p. 170.
  21. ^ a b c Muir 2001, p. 171.
  22. ^ Palmer 1990, p. 14.
  23. ^ Palmer 1990, p. 41.
  24. ^ Palmer 1990, p. 44.
  25. ^ a b Palmer 1990, p. 40.
  26. ^ Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 114.
  27. ^ Palmer 1990, p. 47.
  28. ^ Palmer 1990, p. 52.
  29. ^ Palmer 1990, p. 53.
  30. ^ a b c Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 112.
  31. ^ a b Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 111.
  32. ^ James & Wells 1992, p. 82.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h Tucker 2009, p. 726.
  34. ^ Tucker 2009, p. 683.
  35. ^ James & Wells 1992, p. 87.
  36. ^ Bowie & Immerman 2000, p. 84.
  37. ^ Tucker 2009, p. 670.
  38. ^ James & Wells 1992, p. 119.
  39. ^ a b Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 107.
  40. ^ Bowie & Immerman 2000, p. 182.
  41. ^ Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 115.
  42. ^ a b c d e Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 113.
  43. OCLC 1001744417.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  44. ^ Burial Detail: Radford, Arthur W (Section 30, Grave 435-LH – ANC Explorer
  45. ISBN 978-1480200203
    .
  46. ^ Hattendorf & Elleman 2010, p. 106.

Sources

Further reading

External links

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Military offices
Preceded by
DeWitt C. Ramsey
 Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet
1949–1953 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Omar N. Bradley
 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1953–1957 		Succeeded by
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