Radford's first duty was aboard the
battleship , as it escorted a
transatlantic convoy to France in 1918. In his second post he was an
aide-de-camp to a battleship division commander, and in his third, a
flag lieutenant for another battleship division commander. In 1920, Radford reported to
Pensacola, Florida, for
flight training, and was promoted to
lieutenant soon thereafter. During the 1920s and 1930s his sea duty alternated among several aircraft squadrons, fleet staffs, and tours in the U.S. with the
Bureau of Aeronautics. It was during this time, while he served under
Rear Admiral 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. Radford achieved the rank of
lieutenant commander by 1927, and served with aircraft units aboard , , and . In 1936, he was promoted to
commander and took charge of fighter squadron
VF-1B aboard . By 1938, he was given command of
Naval Air Station Seattle in
Seattle, Washington. On 15 April 1938, while flying Grumman SF-1, BuNo 9465, CDR Radford suffered a noseover mishap at Oakland Airport following a mechanical failure of the landing gear. Radford and passenger ACMM S.H. Ryan were uninjured and the aircraft was repaired. On 22 April 1939, he married Miriam J. (Ham) Spencer at
Vancouver Barracks, Washington. Spencer (1895–1997) was a daughter of George Ham of
Portland, Oregon, 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 , a post he served in for one year. In July 1941, Radford was appointed commander of the Naval Air Station in
Trinidad,
British West Indies. He protested this appointment because he feared he would remain there for years, sidelined as World War II loomed. He only remained in this station for three months, following an organizational shift in the Bureau of Aeronautics. By mid-1941, thanks to a large expansion in the naval aviator program, squadrons could no longer train newly arrived aviators. Further, at that time, the vast difference in the performance of combat aircraft over training aircraft meant that pilots needed more time in combat aircraft before becoming proficient in them. Radford was subsequently visited by
Artemus L. Gates,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. The latter was so impressed that he ordered Rear Admiral
John H. Towers, chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, to transfer Radford to a newly formed training division.
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. He was appointed as Director of Aviation Training for both the Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations and the
Bureau of Navigation; 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. He was promoted to
captain soon after. 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. Radford was noted for thinking progressively and innovatively to establish the most effective and efficient training programs. He sought to integrate
sports conditioning programs into naval aviator training. Radford brought in athletic directors from
Ohio State University,
Harvard University and
Penn State University under
football player and naval aviator
Tom Hamilton, to whom he gave the remit to develop the conditioning programs. Radford also suggested integrating women into intricate but repetitive tasks, such as running
flight simulators. When commanders rejected the idea of bringing women into the service, he convinced Congressman
Carl Vinson, chair of the
House Naval Affairs Committee of the merit of the idea. This effort eventually led to the employment of the "
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service", and 23,000 WAVES would assist in aeronautical training in the course of the war. Radford also sought to best use the assets of businessmen and professionals who had volunteered for military service, establishing the Aviation Indoctrination School and Air Combat Intelligence School at
Naval Air Station Quonset Point so as to enable these advanced recruits to become more experienced naval officers.
Sea duty aboard USS
Yorktown, October 1943 By early 1943, with Radford's training programs established and functioning efficiently, he sought combat duty. In April of that year, he was ordered to report to the office of
Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet where he was promoted to rear admiral and tapped to be a carrier division commander. 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. 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 , learning the unique challenges of using light carriers. On 21 July 1943, Radford was given command of
Carrier Division Eleven, which consisted of the new
Essex-class carrier as well as the light carriers USS
Independence and . These carriers remained at Pearl Harbor through August, training and refining their operations. Radford got his first operational experience on 1 September 1943, covering a foray to
Baker and
Howland Islands as part of Task Force 11 under Rear Admiral
Willis A. Lee. Radford commanded
Princeton, and four destroyers to act as a covering force for Lee's marines, who built an airfield on the islands. After this successful operation, and at the direction of Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz, Task Force 11 was joined by Task Force 15, with
Lexington, under Rear Admiral
Charles A. Pownall. The two task forces then steamed for
Tarawa Atoll to strike it. On the night of 17 September, the carriers launched six strikes of
fighter aircraft,
dive bombers, and
torpedo planes to work over the Japanese defenses. Next, Radford and his carriers took part in an air attack and cruiser bombardment of
Wake Island on 5 to 6 October 1943. He shifted his flag to
Lexington for the operation, which took two days. Though the effects on Japanese positions were not known, Radford and other leaders considered the operations useful for preparing their forces for the major battles to come in the
Central Pacific.
Major combat operations Major operations in the Central Pacific began that November. Radford's next duty was in
Operation Galvanic, a campaign into the
Gilbert Islands with the objective of capturing
Tarawa as well as
Makin Island and
Apamama Atoll. It would be one of the first times that American carriers would be operating against Japanese land-based air power in force, as
U.S. Army troops and
U.S. Marines fought the Japanese on the ground. For this mission, Radford's carrier division was designated
Task Group 50.2, the Northern Carrier Group, which consisted of , and . 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. 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. 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. He commanded
Carrier Division Eleven around Tarawa for several more days, returning to Pearl Harbor on 4 December. Returning from Tarawa, Radford was reassigned as
chief of staff to Towers, who was Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet. He assisted in planning upcoming operations, including
Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the
Marshall Islands. He had hoped to return to combat duty at the end of this assignment, but in March 1944 he was ordered to Washington, D.C., and appointed as
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. He assumed this new duty on 1 April, a role which was primarily administrative in nature. 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. Radford returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 October 1944, where he was appointed as commander of First Carrier Task Force,
Carrier Division Six. While flying to his new command, he was held over in Kwajalein and then Saipan, missing the
Battle of Leyte Gulf which took place in the
Philippines during the layover. He flew to
Ulithi where he reported to Vice Admiral
John S. McCain, Sr., commander of
Task Force 58. For the next two months, Radford remained on "make learn" status, again under Sherman's command, observing the operations and employment of carrier-based air power as a passenger aboard , part of
Task Group 38.3. During this time, he observed the
strikes on Luzon and the Visayas, as well as air attacks on Japanese shipping and
Typhoon Cobra. On 29 December 1944, Radford was unexpectedly ordered to take command of Task Group 38.1 after its commander, Rear Admiral
Alfred E. Montgomery, was injured. The next day the fleet sortied from Ulithi and headed for scheduled air strikes on
Luzon and
Formosa (Taiwan). Throughout January 1945, Radford's fleet operated in the
South China Sea striking Japanese targets in
French Indochina and
Hong Kong. In February, the
U.S. Third Fleet was re-designated the
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. Returning to the Third Fleet and being re-designated Task Group 38.4, the force began operating off the
Japanese Home Islands in July 1945. It began an intense airstrike campaign against military targets on
Honshu and
Hokkaido, striking Japanese airfields, merchant shipping, and ground targets. Radford commanded the force in this duty until
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.
Post-war years Radford was promoted to vice admiral in late 1945. For a time he was
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air under
Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal. During the
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. After the war, Radford was a principal opponent to a plan to merge the
uniformed services. A plan existed to split the Army and the
Army Air Forces into separate branches and unite them and the Navy under one
Cabinet-level defense organization. Fearing the loss of their branch's influence, Navy commanders opposed the formation of a separate Air Force and favored a more loose defense organization. Radford was picked by Forrestal to form the Secretary's Committee of Research and Reorganization. Months of discussion resulted in the
National Security Act of 1947, a political victory for the Navy because it created the
U.S. Air Force while resulting in a coordinated, not unified,
U.S. Department of Defense with limited power and with the Navy maintaining control of its air assets. 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. In 1948, Radford was appointed by President
Harry S. Truman as the
Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO). Debates continued with military leaders about the future of the
United States Armed Forces as Truman sought to trim the defense budget. Radford was relied on by Navy leaders as an expert who would fiercely defend the Navy's interests from budget restrictions, but his appointment as VCNO was opposed by Fleet Admiral
Chester Nimitz, who feared his hard-line stance on the budget would alienate the generals in the other branches of the military. Some historians contend Radford brought strong leadership to the role. Naval aviation assets grew from 2,467 aircraft to 3,467 during this time, almost all aircraft for fast-attack carriers. He also oversaw the implementation of the "Full Air Program" which envisioned 14,500 total aircraft in the naval air force. Along with his predecessor
John Dale Price, he favored reducing naval ship strength in order to develop stronger naval aviation capabilities. Then, in 1949, Truman appointed him as the
High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. ==Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet==