List of United States Navy three-star admirals from 2000 to 2009
Last updated
Flag of a Navy vice admiral
This is a list of three-star admirals in the United States Navy from 2000 to 2009. The rank of vice admiral (or three-star admiral) is the second-highest rank normally achievable in the U.S. Navy, and the first to have a specified number of appointments set by statute. It ranks above rear admiral (two-star admiral) and below admiral (four-star admiral).
Entries in the following list of vice admirals are indexed by the numerical order in which each officer was promoted to that rank while on active duty, or by an asterisk (*) if the officer did not serve in that rank while on active duty. Each entry lists the admiral's name, date of rank,[1] active-duty positions held while serving at three-star rank,[2] number of years of active-duty service at three-star rank (Yrs),[3] year commissioned and source of commission,[4] number of years in commission when promoted to three-star rank (YC),[5] and other biographical notes.[6]
List of U.S. Navy three-star admirals from 2000 to 2009
Commander, U.S. Second Fleet/Commander, Striking Fleet Atlantic/Commander, Naval Forces North Fleet East/Commander, Joint Task Force 120/Commander, Joint Task Force 950 (COMSECONDFLT/COMSTRIKFLTLANT/COMNAVNFE/CDRJTF 120/CDRJTF 950), 2003–2004.
Commander, Submarine Forces/Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet/Commander, Allied Submarine Command/Commander, Task Force 46/Commander, Task Force 82/Commander, Task Force 144/Commander, Task Force 84 (COMSUBFOR/COMSUBLANT/COMASC/CTF-46/CTF-82/CTF-144/CTF-84), 2007–2010.
Commander, Naval Network Warfare Command/Deputy Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (Navy)/Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, Information Technology (COMNAVNETWARCOM/DCHINFO(N)/ACNO-IT), 2007–2008.
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Communication Networks/Deputy Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (Navy) (DCNO N6/DCHINFO(N)), 2008–2009.
The grade of vice admiral in the United States Navy was created by Congress in December 1864 to honor David G. Farragut for his victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War. The promotion made Farragut the senior officer in the Navy but did not give him command of all naval forces, unlike the corresponding grade of lieutenant general that had been revived for Ulysses S. Grant earlier that year.[48] After the war, Farragut was promoted to admiral and his vacated vice admiralcy was filled by David D. Porter. When Farragut died in 1870, Porter succeeded him as admiral and Stephen C. Rowan became vice admiral. Three years later, Congress stopped further promotions to admiral or vice admiral, and the vice admiral grade expired with Rowan in 1890.[49]
After the Spanish-American War, Congress tried to revive the grade to reward William T. Sampson and Winfield S. Schley for winning the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, but the officers feuded bitterly over credit for the victory and their partisans in the Senate could not agree on who would be the senior vice admiral, so neither was promoted.[50][51] Even after Sampson died in 1902, his admirers continued to prevent Schley from being promoted, while Schley's friends blocked all moves to elevate any other officer over him during his lifetime, such as an attempt to promote Robley D. Evans to vice admiral on the retired list in 1909. No new vice admirals were created until after Schley's death in 1911.[52][53]
In 1915, Congress authorized the President to designate the commanders in chief of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Asiatic Fleets to hold the rank of admiral, and their seconds in command the rank of vice admiral. The chief of naval operations (CNO) received the rank of admiral the following year.[54] Because Porter and Rowan had been promoted permanently to vice admiral and then never gone to sea again, Congress made these new ranks strictly ex officio. Upon relinquishing command, an officer lost his designation as admiral or vice admiral and reverted to his permanent grade of rear admiral.[55] The three fleet commanders were immediately made admirals to match the rank of their foreign counterparts, but only the second in command of the Atlantic Fleet, Henry T. Mayo, was designated a vice admiral, since the Pacific and Asiatic Fleets were too small to employ their vice admirals.[56]
When the United States entered World War I, Congress generalized the law to let the President designate up to six commanders of any fleet or subdivision of a fleet to hold ranks higher than rear admiral, of which up to three could be admirals and the rest vice admirals. This allowed William S. Sims to be designated vice admiral as commander of U.S. Naval Forces in European Waters. The other two vice admiral designations went to the Atlantic Fleet's two battleship force commanders.[57] When the Asiatic Fleet's commander in chief retired in December 1918, his four-star designation was transferred to Sims, whose vacated vice admiralcy went to Albert Gleaves, commander of the Atlantic Fleet's cruiser and transport force.[58] By the end of 1918, all three seagoing admirals and all three vice admirals were assigned to the Atlantic and European theaters, including the four-star commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, who had taken a force to patrol the South Atlantic Ocean.[59]
With the end of hostilities in Europe, the six designations for admirals and vice admirals were redistributed in 1919. The commanders in chief of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets remained admirals. About half of the major ships in the Atlantic Fleet transferred to the Pacific Fleet, which was now large enough to employ a vice admiral to command its battleship force. A second vice admiral commanded the battleship force of the Atlantic Fleet, and a third vice admiral, Gleaves, commanded its cruiser and transport force. The sixth designation returned to the Asiatic Fleet when Sims left his European command, but its commander in chief, William L. Rodgers, was promoted only to vice admiral since Gleaves was already slated to be its admiral, so for a few months there were four vice admirals and only three admirals, including the CNO.[60]
In September 1919, Gleaves was appointed commander in chief of the Asiatic Fleet with the rank of admiral. Rodgers remained vice admiral in command of Division 1 of the Asiatic Fleet until January 1920, so for the first and only time, the Pacific, Atlantic, and Asiatic Fleets each had an admiral and vice admiral, as originally envisioned in 1915.[61]
Interwar
In 1922 the three fleets were combined into a single United States Fleet with three admirals and three vice admirals. One admiral served as commander in chief of the United States Fleet (CINCUS), a second admiral as commander in chief of the Asiatic Fleet, and the third admiral as commander in chief of the former Pacific Fleet, now the Battle Fleet. A vice admiral commanded the former Atlantic Fleet, now the Scouting Fleet, and a second vice admiral commanded the battleship divisions of the Battle Fleet.[62] The Battle Fleet and Scouting Fleet became the Battle Force and Scouting Force, respectively, when the United States Fleet was reorganized into type commands in 1931.[63] When the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets were reconstituted in February 1941, CINCUS was dual-hatted as commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC), and the commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet was made an admiral by downgrading the Battle Force's commander to vice admiral and its battleship commander to rear admiral.[64]
The third vice admiral designation moved from the Asiatic Fleet to the commander of U.S. Naval Forces in European Waters in 1920 and lapsed when the European force was disbanded in 1929. It was revived the next year for the commander of the Scouting Fleet's light cruiser divisions and subsequently the Scouting Force's cruisers, before migrating in 1935 to the commander of the Battle Force's aircraft.[65]
A flag officer in the United States Fleet climbed a cursus honorum that nominally began with command of a battleship division as a rear admiral, followed by command of all battleship divisions in the Battle Force as a vice admiral, then command of the entire Battle Force as an admiral, and finally either CINCUS, the highest office afloat, or CNO, the highest office ashore—or both, in the case of William V. Pratt.[66] Upon leaving the fleet, it was normal for a former three- or four-star commander to revert to his permanent grade of rear admiral and remain on active duty until statutory retirement as president of the Naval War College, commandant of a naval district, or member of the General Board.[54]
Since there were four admirals and only three vice admirals, it was not uncommon to skip the rank of vice admiral entirely, especially for commanders in chief of the Asiatic Fleet, which was seen as a four-star consolation prize for flag officers who were out of the running for CINCUS or CNO.[66] By the early 1940s, neither the CNO (Harold R. Stark), CINCUS (Claude C. Bloch, James O. Richardson), nor CINCPAC (Husband E. Kimmel, Chester W. Nimitz) had ever been a vice admiral.
In July 1941, Congress authorized the President to designate, at his own discretion, up to nine additional officers to carry the ex officio rank of vice admiral while performing special or unusual duty, for a total of 12 vice admirals in the permanent establishment.[67] The first of the nine new vice admiral designations was assigned to Robert L. Ghormley, then serving as special observer in the U.S. Embassy in London.[68] After the United States entry into World War II in December 1941, the new commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet, Royal E. Ingersoll, was designated a vice admiral after his predecessor, Ernest J. King, was appointed commander in chief of the United States Fleet (COMINCH, formerly CINCUS) and took the Atlantic Fleet's four-star designation with him.[69] The remaining seven vice admiral slots were quickly filled by the director of the Office of Procurement and Material and the commanders of U.S. Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific; ANZAC Force; the service forces in the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets; and two anti-submarine task forces in the Atlantic Fleet.
All 12 vice admiral designations were in use by March 1942, when a headquarters reorganization called for two more vice admirals to be vice chief of naval operations and chief of staff to COMINCH. Frederick J. Horne and Russell Willson were nominated to be temporary vice admirals,[70] under a 1941 statute that authorized an unlimited number of appointments in all grades for temporary service during a national emergency, with temporary flag officers needing confirmation by the Senate.[71] The statute technically created temporary grades only up to rear admiral, but the Senate confirmed Horne and Willson as vice admirals anyway,[72] and continued to confirm temporary admirals and vice admirals when nominated. Dozens of temporary vice admirals were appointed during World War II, either to serve in a specified job or simply for the duration of the national emergency.
Postwar
The Officer Personnel Act of 1947 consolidated the various laws governing vice admiral appointments. Previously, the President had controlled a pool of 12 vice admiral designations that he could assign at his own discretion.[73] In addition, the Senate could confirm an unlimited number of officers nominated by the President to hold the temporary personal grade of vice admiral, either while serving in a particular job or for the duration of a national emergency.[71] Under the new law, all vice admirals had to be confirmed by the Senate, and held that temporary grade only while serving in a particular job. The maximum number of vice admirals was proportional to the total number of flag officers.[74]
The new law also made any former admiral or vice admiral eligible to retire with that rank,[74] simplifying the hodgepodge of rules that had promoted various classes of retirees piecemeal. Originally every designated admiral and vice admiral retired in his permanent grade of rear admiral. In 1930 Congress promoted officers on the retired list to their highest rank held during World War I, which was defined as having ended on July 2, 1921, so John D. McDonald, who became vice admiral on July 1, 1921, was promoted, but William R. Shoemaker, who became vice admiral only a week later, was not.[75][76] In 1942 former fleet commanders were allowed to retire as admiral or vice admiral if they had served in that grade for at least a year, a cutoff that John H. Dayton and Walter R. Sexton both missed by about two weeks. Dayton lived long enough to be advanced back to vice admiral by the Officer Personnel Act of 1947, but Sexton did not.[77]
Postwar vice admirals typically headed directorates in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, numbered fleets, type commands, sea frontiers, senior educational institutions like the National War College and the Naval War College, or other interservice or international positions. Upon completing their capstone assignments, many senior flag officers resumed the prewar pattern of remaining on active duty in a lower grade until statutory retirement, in contrast to Army and Air Force general officers who usually preferred to retire immediately to avoid demotion. For example, Lynde D. McCormick reverted from vice admiral to rear admiral but rose again to vice admiral and admiral before dropping to vice admiral for his final assignment.[78]
In 1925 Congress authorized Navy and Marine Corps officers who had been specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat during World War I to retire with the rank of the next higher grade but not its pay. Such honorary increases in rank at retirement were dubbed tombstone promotions, since their only tangible benefit was the right to carve the higher rank on the officer's tombstone.[79][80] Later laws expanded eligibility beyond World War I and to officers already on the retired list. Tombstone promotions were limited in 1947 to duty performed before the end of World War II, meaning before January 1, 1947, and halted entirely in 1959.[81] By May 29, 1959, there were 154 vice admirals on the retired list who had never served on active duty in that rank, not counting those already deceased.[82]
Dozens of vice admirals received tombstone promotions to admiral.[82] Even if a vice admiral reverted to rear admiral, he could still retire as a vice admiral and then claim a tombstone promotion to admiral, but only if he had satisfactory service in the temporary grade of vice admiral during World War II. For example, Gerald F. Bogan, David W. Bagley, Robert C. Giffen, and Alexander Sharp Jr. all reverted to rear admiral after serving as a vice admiral, and all qualified for a tombstone promotion, but only Bagley was advanced to admiral when he retired.
Bogan was confirmed by the Senate to be a temporary vice admiral while commanding the First Task Fleet after World War II, but offended the secretary of the Navy during the so-called Revolt of the Admirals and was relieved of his three-star command only three weeks before he was scheduled to retire with a tombstone promotion to admiral. Instead, he reverted to rear admiral and received a tombstone promotion back to vice admiral.[83][84]
Bagley was confirmed by the Senate to be a temporary vice admiral while serving in a succession of jobs during World War II, before reverting to rear admiral. He retired in his highest wartime grade of vice admiral and received a tombstone promotion to admiral.[85][86]
Giffen was confirmed by the Senate to be a temporary vice admiral while commanding the Caribbean Sea Frontier during World War II, but was reprimanded for misconduct in that role. Having unsatisfactory service as a vice admiral, he retired as a rear admiral and received a tombstone promotion back to vice admiral.[87][88][89]
Sharp was designated by the President to hold the rank of vice admiral while commanding the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet during World War II, but was never confirmed by the Senate to hold the temporary personal grade of vice admiral, unlike Bagley and Giffen. Sharp retired with his highest active-duty rank of vice admiral but was not advanced to admiral because tombstone promotions were based on personal grades, not designated ranks.[86]
In the United States Navy, officers have various ranks. Equivalency between services is by pay grade. United States Navy commissioned officer ranks have two distinct sets of rank insignia: On dress uniform a series of stripes similar to Commonwealth naval ranks are worn; on service khaki, working uniforms, and special uniform situations, the rank insignia are identical to the equivalent rank in the US Marine Corps.
Admiral of the Navy was the highest possible rank in the United States Navy, prior to the creation of fleet admiral in 1944. The rank is considered to be at least equivalent to that of a five-star admiral, with Admiral George Dewey being the only officer to be appointed to the rank.
Fleet admiral is a five-star flag officer rank in the United States Navy whose rewards uniquely include active duty pay for life. Fleet admiral ranks immediately above admiral and is equivalent to General of the Army and General of the Air Force. Although it is a current and authorized rank, no U.S. Navy officer holds it presently, with the first U.S. Navy fleet admiral being William D. Leahy, followed by Ernest King and then Chester W. Nimitz, all promoted in December 1944. The last person to be promoted to the rank was William Halsey Jr. in December 1945. While all four men effectively retired in the late 1940s, the rank of fleet admiral is for life. The last active fleet admiral was Nimitz who lived until 1966, surpassing the other three men who had all died by the end of the 1950s.
Admiral is a four-star commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below fleet admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service do not have an established grade above admiral. Admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps has never had an officer hold the grade of admiral. However, 37 U.S.C. § 201 of the U.S. Code established the grade for the NOAA Corps, in case a position is created that merits the four-star grade.
Harold Webster Gehman Jr. is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (SACLANT), Commander-in-Chief of the United States Joint Forces Command, one of the United States' Unified Combatant Commands, and Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He was also the Co-Chairman of the Commission that investigated the terrorist attack on the USS Cole and was Chairman of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) after the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry in 2003, killing all seven crew members.
A tombstone promotion is an advance in rank awarded at retirement. It often does not include any corresponding increase in retired pay, in which case it is an honorary promotion whose only benefit is the right to be addressed by the higher rank and to carve it on one's tombstone.
Richard Harrison Jackson was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. Originally cashiered from the Navy for poor grades at the U.S. Naval Academy, he was commissioned ensign by special act of Congress for his heroism during the 1889 Apia cyclone. He served as commander in chief of the Battle Fleet in 1926 and lived to be 105 years old.
Elizabeth Ann Hight is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who served as the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). She assumed this post in December 2007. In 2008, she was nominated for appointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as director, Defense Information Systems Agency; commander, Joint Task Force – Global Network Operations; and deputy commander, U.S. Strategic Command Global Network Operations and Defense, Arlington, Virginia. Her nomination was rejected by the Senate due to a perceived conflict of interest with her husband, retired Air Force Brigadier General Gary Salisbury, who is vice president of business development and sales for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s mission systems sector, defense mission systems division. She retired from the Navy in 2010.
Admiral William John Flanagan Jr. is a retired United States Navy four star admiral who served as Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet from 1994 to 1996.
Christopher Watson Grady is a United States Navy admiral who serves as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since December 20, 2021. He most recently served as the commander of United States Fleet Forces Command and United States Naval Forces Northern Command from May 2018 to December 2021, with additional duties as commander of United States Naval Forces Strategic Command and Joint Force Maritime Component Commander from February 2019. He previously served as commander of the United States Sixth Fleet, commander of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, deputy commander of United States Naval Forces Europe - Naval Forces Africa and Joint Force Maritime Component Commander Europe from October 2016 to March 2018.
Wallace Morris Beakley was an American naval aviator, diplomat, commander of the United States Seventh Fleet, deputy chief of naval operations, and vice admiral in the United States Navy. He served as vice chief of naval operations for Atlantic Fleet and commander in chief for Western Atlantic until he retired from the U.S. uniformed services in 1964.
References
1 2 Dates of rank are taken, where available, from the U.S. Navy register of active and retired commissioned officers, or from the monthly U.S. Navy flag officer roster. The date listed is that of the officer's first promotion to vice admiral. If such a date that qualifies for the above cannot be found, the next date substituted should be that of the officer's assumption of his/her first three-star appointment. Failing which, the officer's first Senate confirmation date to vice admiral should be substituted. For officers promoted to vice admiral on the same date, they should be organized first by date of promotion to four-star rank, and then by the tier of their first listed assignment upon promotion to vice admiral.
1 2 Positions listed are those held by the officer when promoted to vice admiral. Dates listed are for the officer's full tenure, which may predate promotion to three-star rank or postdate retirement from active duty.
1 2 The number of years of active-duty service at three-star rank is approximated by subtracting the year in the "Date of rank" column from the last year in the "Position" column. Time spent between active-duty three-star assignments is not counted.
1 2 The number of years in commission before being promoted to three-star rank is approximated by subtracting the year in the "Commission" column from the year in the "Date of rank" column.
1 2 Notes include years of birth and death; awards of the Medal of Honor, Congressional Gold Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom, or honors of similar significance; major government appointments; university presidencies or equivalents; familial relationships with significant military officers or significant government officials such as U.S. Presidents, cabinet secretaries, U.S. Senators, or state governors; and unusual career events such as premature relief or death in office.
↑ Acts of March 3, 1915 (38Stat.941); May 22, 1917 (40Stat.89); July 17, 1941 (55Stat.598); and August 7, 1947 [Officer Personnel Act of 1947] (61Stat.886). Chisholm, pp. 763-764. Congressional Record (June 30, 1941), Vol. 87, Part 1, p. 5727.
1 2 Act of August 7, 1947 [Officer Personnel Act of 1947] (61Stat.886.)
↑ Wooldridge, E. T. (1995). Into the Jet Age: Conflict and Change in Naval Aviation, 1945–1975, An Oral History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp.104–105.
↑ Confirmed by Senate as vice admiral for temporary service while serving as Commander, Western Sea Frontier, 18 Jan 1944; while serving as Commander, Hawaiian Sea Frontier, 27 Nov 1944; and until detachment from duty as member of the Joint Mexican-United States Defense Commission, 28 Jul 1945. Reverted to rear admiral, 31 Jan 1946; retired as vice admiral and advanced to tombstone admiral, 1 Apr 1947.
↑ Confirmed as vice admiral for temporary service while serving as Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier, 22 Mar 1944; and until detachment from duty as Commander, Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, 24 Jul 1945. Reverted to rear admiral, 3 Dec 1945; reprimanded for misconduct while Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier, preventing retirement in highest wartime grade; retired as rear admiral and advanced to tombstone vice admiral, 1 Sep 1946.
Swartz, Peter; Markowitz, Michael (December 31, 2009), Organizing OPNAV (1970 - 2009)(PDF), U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, archived(PDF) from the original on December 26, 2021
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
