page_title: Jerauld Wright
section_title: Commander Amphibious Forces U.S. Atlantic Fleet
hierarchical_section_title: Jerauld Wright / Naval career / Cold War / Commander Amphibious Forces U.S. Atlantic Fleet
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy amphibious command ship USS Taconic (AGC-17) at anchor in 1947, place unknown. She is equipped with SK-2 and SP radars.
context_page_description: Admiral Jerauld Wright was an officer in the United States Navy. He served as the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Atlantic Command and the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet, and became the second Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, from April 1, 1954, to March 1, 1960, serving longer in these three positions than anyone else in history.
  Following World War I, Wright served as a naval aide for Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. A recognized authority on naval gunnery, Wright served in the European and Pacific theaters during World War II, developing expertise in amphibious warfare and coalition warfare planning. After the war, Wright was involved in the evolution of the military structure of NATO as well as overseeing the modernization and readiness of the United States Atlantic Fleet during the Cold War.
  Upon his retirement from the navy, Wright subsequently served on the Central Intelligence Agency's National Board of Estimates and as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of China.
context_section_description: On November 24, 1948, Wright assumed command of Amphibious Forces U.S. Atlantic Fleet (COMPHIBLANT), a position that he held through November 1, 1950.  Based at the Norfolk Naval Station, Wright would be responsible for three major subordinate commands, Amphibious Group Two, Amphibious Group Four and the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. COMPHIBLANT also included Amphibious Training, an Amphibious Air Control Group, a Naval Beach Group, a Detached Group, and a Mediterranean Group. Wright's flagship was USS Taconic,  an Adirondack-class amphibious force command ship.  The most significant accomplishment during Wright's tour of duty as COMPHIBLANT was PORTREX, a multi-service amphibious assault exercise held from February 25 to March 11, 1950.  PORTREX was the largest peacetime amphibious exercise up to that time and it was staged to evaluate joint doctrine for combined operations, test new equipment under simulated combat conditions and provide training for the defense of the Caribbean.
  Over 65,000 men and 160 ships were involved, and it was climaxed by a combined amphibious and airborne assault on Vieques Island, a first in military history. The success of PORTREX offered a prelude for future amphibious operations, including the landings at Inchon during the Korean War.  Jerauld Wright received his third star, effective September 14, 1950, at the conclusion of his tour of duty as COMPHIBLANT.
caption: USS Taconic (AGC-17)
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