page_title: Arthur W. Radford
section_title: Military career
hierarchical_section_title: Arthur W. Radford / Military career
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo #: NH 61225: USS South Carolina (BB-26): Underway,
context_page_description: Arthur William Radford was a United States Navy admiral and naval aviator. In over 40 years of military service, Radford held a variety of positions including 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 USS South Carolina during World War I. In the 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.
context_section_description: Radford's first duty was aboard the battleship USS South Carolina, 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 USS Colorado, USS Pennsylvania, and USS Wright. In 1936, he was promoted to commander and took charge of fighter squadron VF-1B aboard USS Saratoga. By 1939, he was given command of Naval Air Station Seattle in Seattle, Washington. 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 USS Yorktown, 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. In the event 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.
caption: USS South Carolina, on which Radford served his first tour of duty during World War I
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