David L. McDonald

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Admiral David L. McDonald

David Lamar McDonald (born September 12, 1906 in Maysville , Georgia , † December 16, 1997 in Jacksonville Beach , Florida ) was an American admiral in the US Navy , who was Chief of Naval Operations from 1963 to 1967 and thus in the early phase of the Vietnam War .

Life

Naval officer training and uses

McDonald joined the US Navy after school and graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , which he graduated in 1928. In the following two years, he found a variety of uses as a naval officer on the battleship USS Mississippi , before a pilot training at the Naval Air Station in autumn 1930 Pensacola ( Naval Air Station Pensacola ) began, which he finished 1,931th

He then served as a pilot in Kampfgeschwader 6 on board the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and then between 1934 and 1935 in the flying unit on a light cruiser . In 1935 he himself became a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Pensacola and then piloted a reconnaissance aircraft in the airspace between Seattle and Alaska for several years .

World War II and post-war period

After the entry of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941 McDonald officer on the aircraft carrier was the USS Ranger of the US Atlantic Fleet before coming to a short-term use on the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville Flight Officer and First Officer ( Executive Officer ) on the The aircraft carrier USS Essex was part of the US Pacific Fleet .

After the war, McDonald made initially serve on the staff of the commander of the air forces of the Pacific Fleet, and then on the staff of the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, as well as several times in the Navy Department ( US Department of the Navy ) . After attending Naval War College in Newport from 1950 to 1951, he became Commanding Officer of the USS Mindoro , a Commencement Bay-class aircraft carrier , and then Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea .

Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations

Admiral David L. McDonald as Chief of Naval Operations

After his promotion to Rear Admiral , McDonald became director of the Air War Department of the Navy in the US Department of Defense and between 1957 and 1960 was senior naval officer at the Supreme Allied Commander Europe SACEUR ( Supreme Allied Commander Europe ) .

In 1960 he was commander of the aircraft carrier division 6 (Carrier Division Six) and then in 1961 commander of the 6th US fleet . On April 1, 1963, he was promoted to admiral.

On August 1, 1963, McDonald succeeded Admiral George Whelan Anderson, Jr. as Chief of Naval Operations, making him the highest-ranking naval officer and chief of staff in the US Navy. He held this post for exactly four years until August 1, 1967, and thus in the early phase of the Vietnam War , for which he created modern naval aviation associations to fly missions there. He was retired on August 1, 1967 and was then replaced by Admiral Thomas H. Moorer .

He has received several awards for his services, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal , the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star . In addition, Admiral David L. McDonald Field at Mayport Naval Station in Mayport was named after him.

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Douglas Kinnard: The Secretary of Defense , 2015, ISBN 0-81315-708-0 , pp. 80, 210
  2. ^ Chief of Naval Operations
  3. ↑ Mayport Naval Station (Adm David L. McDonald Field)
personal data
SURNAME McDonald, David L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McDonald, David Lamar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American officer, admiral in the United States Navy
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Maysville , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1997
Place of death Jacksonville Beach , Florida