John A . Baldwin , Jr . John Ashby Baldwin , Jr . ( born April 20 , 1933 ) is a retired vice admiral of the United States Navy active during much of the Cold War . He commanded destroyer s and a carrier battle group , saw service in the Vietnam War , served on the staffs of the Chief of Naval Operations , the Joint Chiefs of Staff , the Secretary of the Navy , and the Secretary of Defense , and was President of the Naval War College and of the National Defense University . Naval career . Baldwin was born in Baltimore , Maryland , and graduated from Kent School in 1950 and the United States Naval Academy in 1955 . After being commissioned as an ensign , he had duty on the destroyer s and , at the Naval Small Craft Facility at Annapolis , Maryland , and at the Coronado Naval Amphibious School in Coronado , California . From 1962 to 1964 , he was assigned to the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit at the University of Washington , and while there did postgraduate studies in oceanography before being transferred to the Naval Oceanographic Office in March 1964 . Over the following seven years Baldwin served as executive officer of the destroyer and as commanding officer of the destroyer escort s and and had a two - year tour in the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy . After a brief assignment to Mare Island Inshore Operations Training Center in California in 1971 , Baldwin became Senior Advisor , Military Region II , with U . S . Naval Forces Vietnam during the Vietnam War . In January 1973 , he joined the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) in Washington , D . C . , as Head , Surface Warfare Analysis , and Head , Sea Control Branch . In 1975 , after more than two years with the Office of the CNO , he became Commander , Destroyer Division 33 , remaining there until August 1977 . Following his tour with Destroyer Division 33 , Baldwin returned to Washington , D . C . , serving in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy . He subsequently joined the staff of the Secretary of Defense as Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense . Following this , he served from 1981 to 1982 as Director of the Systems Analysis Division in the Office of the CNO . From 1982 to 1986 , Baldwin served in the Pacific . His first assignment was as Commander Cruiser - Destroyer Group 3 and commander of the Carrier Battle Group during a deployment to the western Pacific and Indian Ocean . In October 1984 , he reported to the Commander in Chief , United States Pacific Fleet , as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans . From 2 September 1986 to 11 August 1987 , Baldwin served as the 44th President of the Naval War College in Newport , Rhode Island , overseeing senior education and wargaming for the Navy . During his presidency , he initiated the process for accreditation of the college to grant master ' s degrees ( which it would receive in 1991 ) , established the Institute for Strategic Studies to facilitate accreditation and retain talented faculty , and restored the college library after a fire inflicted serious damage on it . Baldwin next served as Director of the Strategic Plans and Policy Division ( J - 5 ) on the Joint Staff , responsible to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the strategic direction of the United States Armed Forces . Baldwins last assignment was as President of the National Defense University , where for three years he was responsible for senior education for the Departments of Defense and State . The University , comprising four colleges , including the National War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces , and two specialized institutes , including the Institute for National Strategic Studies , increased its faculty by over 25 percent while reducing staff by 15 percent during his tenure . Additionally , he gained approval from the Department of Defense and Department of Education to seek accreditation for the university to award master ’ s degree s . Baldwin retired from active duty on 1 October 1992 after 37 years as a naval officer .