Paul D . Stroop Vice Admiral Paul D . Stroop ( 1904 – 17 May 1995 ) was an officer of the United States Navy and a Naval Aviator . He held numerous high - ranking staff positions in aviation from the 1930s onward , including World War II service on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations . During the late 1940s and early 1950s , he held various sea commands . From 1959 - 1962 , he oversaw the development of the Navy ' s aerial weapons , including early guided missiles , as Chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons . During the later 1960s , he commanded Naval air forces in the Pacific . Biography . Early life and career . Stroop was born in Zanesville , Ohio , but grew up in Mobile , Alabama . He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1926 , then spent the next two years on board the battleship . In 1928 , he served as a member of U . S . gymnastic team at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam . Naval aviation assignments . From 1928 - 1929 , Stroop received flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida , and in 1929 received his wings as a Naval Aviator . His first aviation assignment was with Torpedo Squadron 9 , based at NAS Norfolk , Virginia . In 1932 he was transferred to Patrol Squadron 10 , also based at Norfolk . From 1932 - 1934 , he undertook postgraduate work at the Naval Academy . After completing his studies , he returned to Fleet assignments . He served from 1934 - 1936 with Bombing Squadron 5 , aboard the carrier . From 1936 - 1937 , he was Senior Aviator aboard the cruiser . In 1937 , Stroop gained his first experience in the Naval Aviation material establishment when he was assigned to the Navy ' s Bureau of Aeronautics ( BuAer ) . He left BuAer in 1940 to join the staff of Admiral Aubrey Fitch , commander of Patrol Wing 2 , based at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . In 1940 , Stroop became Flag Officer and Tactical Officer of Carrier Division 1 at San Diego . World War II . After the United States entry into World War II , Stroop was transferred to Pearl Harbor . In 1942 , he joined the staff of the Carrier Task Force , aboard at Pearl Harbor . From 1942 - 1943 , he served as Planning Officer to the Senior Naval Commander , Air Force , South Pacific . He next gained his own command , serving from 1943 - 1944 as Commanding Officer of the seaplane tender . Stroop spent the last months of the war in Washington , D . C . , serving from 1944 - 1945 in the Navy Department as Aviation Plans Officer on the Staff of Fleet Admiral Ernest J . King , the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief , U . S . Fleet . In this capacity , Stroop attended the Yalta , Quebec , and Potsdam Conferences , later making a trip around the world to inform commands of outcome of the Yalta Conference . Post - war activities . In 1945 , Stroop left the Navy Department to become Commanding Officer of the escort carrier . He served as Fleet Aviation Officer ( later Chief of Staff , Operations ) , in the Fifth Fleet , based at Yokosuka , Japan , from 1945 – 1946 , and then as Aviation Officer ( later Assistant Chief of Staff ) Operations to the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet ( CINCPACFLT ) , at Pearl Harbor , in 1946 - 1948 . From 1948 - 1950 , Stroop served as Executive Officer at the Navy ' s General Line School in Monterey , California , then again took up his own studies as a student at the National War College at Washington , D . C . , in 1950 - 1951 . In 1951 , Stroop became Commanding Officer of the carrier in the Sea of Japan during the Korean War . Then , in 1952 , he assumed command of the , and was promoted to rear admiral . In 1953 , he left the " Essex " to become Commanding Officer of the Naval Ordnance Test Station , China Lake , California . From 1953 - 1955 , he was Senior Member of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group , Joint Chiefs of Staff , Navy Department , Washington . From 1955 - 1957 , he served as Deputy Chief at the Bureau of Ordnance ( BuOrd ) . From 1957 - 1958 , he was Commanding Officer of the Taiwan Patrol Force based at Okinawa , Japan . From 1959 - 1962 he was Chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons . Stroop served from 1962 - 1965 as Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Force , Pacific Fleet ( COMNAVAIRPAC ) , and as Commanding Officer , First Fleet , Air PAC , with the rank of vice admiral . He retired in 1965 . After his retirement to the San Diego area , he was a consultant to Ryan Aeronautical and Teledyne Ryan of San Diego until 1992 . Stroop died on at the Coronado Hospital in Coronado , California , on 17 May 1995 , aged 90 . Personal life . Stroop was married to Esther Holscher Stroop from 1926 until her death in 1982 . He was survived by his second wife , Kay Roeder Stroop ; his two sons , two daughters , three stepdaughters , a stepson , 13 grandchildren , and 11 great - grandchildren . References . " It also contains public - domain information collected from the Naval War College , an institution of the United States government . "