Charles R. Larson

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Admiral Charles R. Larson

Charles Robert Larson (born November 20, 1936 in Sioux Falls , Minnehaha County , South Dakota - † July 26, 2014 in Annapolis , Anne Arundel County , Maryland ) was an American admiral in the US Navy and politician of the Democratic Party , the last Between 1991 and 1994 Supreme Commander of the Pacific Command ( US Pacific Command ) and from 1994 to 1998 Superintendent of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis . He has received several awards in his military career and was the only naval officer to receive the Navy Distinguished Service Medal seven times . In 2002 he applied for the office of lieutenant governor of Maryland unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party .

Life

Training as a naval officer

Larson, son of Eldred Charles Larson and his wife Gertrude Edythe Jensen, grew up in Omaha and was involved as a boy scout with the Boy Scouts of America , where he was awarded the Eagle Scout and the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1950. After attending school in 1954, he began his officer training at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , which he completed in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in shipbuilding . His classmates included the future Republican Senator from Arizona John McCain and John Poindexter , a later Vice Admiral and National Security Advisor . He was then taken on as an officer in the US Navy and completed training as a naval aviator at Naval Air Station Pensacola , which he completed in 1960. He was then to April 1963 pilot of fighter-bombers of the type Douglas A-1 in 176. attack squadron VA-176 (Attack Squadron 176) on the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La and then between April 1963 and 1968, an officer on nuclear submarines USS Nathan Hale , USS Nathanael Greene, and USS Bergall .

1968 Larson became the first naval officer White House Fellow and completed the one-year period as a special assistant to the then Minister of the Interior (Secretary of the Interior) Stewart Udall . He then served between 1969 and 1971 in the Executive Office of the President of the United States as Naval Assistant to US President Richard Nixon . He was then employed between 1971 and 1973 as the first officer of the Skipjack-class nuclear submarine USS Sculpin , before he was frigate captain (Commander) as the successor to frigate captain John E. McNish from August 5, 1973 to 1976 Commander of the U Boat USS Halibut was. For his services as the commander of this submarine, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in 1974 and 1975 . He then took on the post of commander of Submarine Development Group ONE in San Diego in 1976 , where he directed the US Navy 's global deep-sea submarine program.

Promotion to admiral

Larson was 1979. Rear Admiral (Rear Admiral) promoted and was for other uses on 31 August 1983 as a successor to Vice Admiral Edward C. Waller first superintendent of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and remained in this use until its replacement by Rear Admiral Ronald F. Marryott on August 19, 1986. For his services there, he was awarded another Navy Distinguished Service Medal. After a subsequent use between August 1986 and August 1988 as commander of the 2nd US Fleet ( US Second Fleet ) and at the same time as commander of the Striking Fleet Atlantic and as commander of the United Task Force 120 (Joint Task Force 120) he was again honored with the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

he was between September 1988 and February 1990 as Vice Admiral (Vice Admiral) deputy in personal union chief for naval operations for planning, policy issues and operations (Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy and Operations) , deputy representative of the Navy for operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( Joint Chiefs of Staff ) and US Senior Member of the United Nations Military Staff Committee . He was also awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his services there. He then became Admiral on February 15, 1990 successor to Admiral David E. Jeremiah as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet ( US Pacific Fleet ) and remained in this position until he was replaced by Admiral Robert J. Kelly on February 15, 1991. For his services in this use he was again awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Then Larson took over on March 1, 1991 from Admiral Huntington Hardisty the post as Supreme Commander of the Pacific Command ( US Pacific Command ) , which he held until his replacement by Admiral Richard C. Macke on July 19, 1994. For these services he was honored with the Defense Distinguished Service Medal . Most recently he took over on August 1, 1994 as the successor to Rear Admiral Thomas Lynch again as Superintendent of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis and held this position until his replacement by Vice Admiral John R. Ryan on June 4, 1998. This made him the first and so far only officer to hold the position of superintendent in the rank of admiral. He was then awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for the seventh time. In addition, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star Medal three times .

Economic manager and unsuccessful application for lieutenant governor

After he subsequently retired from active military service, he became a board member of the energy company Baltimore Gas and Electric in 1998 and was a member of it until his death. In addition, he was a board member of the energy supplier Constellation Energy from 1999 to 2002 and of the defense industry company Northrop Grumman between 2002 and his death . In addition, he was temporarily a member of the board of directors of the technology companies Edge Technologies and Esterline Technologies . He also served as vice chairman of the board of directors of the University System of Maryland (USM), board member of the Atlantic Council think tank and the Council on Foreign Relations .

Larson, who switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in 2002 , ran as a running mate alongside Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the November 5, 2002 gubernatorial elections for the office of lieutenant governor of Maryland . The two were subject to the Republican candidate Robert L. Ehrlich , who became governor , and his running mate Michael Steele , who was appointed lieutenant governor.

His marriage to Sarah "Sally" Elizabeth Craig on August 19, 1961 resulted in the three daughters Sigrid Anne, Erica Lynn and Kirsten Elizabeth Larson. Larson died of complications from leukemia and was buried in the US Naval Academy cemetery.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Halibut (SSGN-587) (SSN-587) (navsource.org)
  2. ↑ In the period from July 11 to July 19, 1994, Admiral Harold T. Fields held the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command.
personal data
SURNAME Larson, Charles R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Larson, Charles Robert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American admiral in the US Navy
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Sioux Falls , Minnehaha County , South Dakota
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 2014
Place of death Annapolis , Anne Arundel County , Maryland