Arthur W. Radford | |
|---|---|
 Admiral Arthur W. Radford as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
| 2ndChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | |
| In office 15 August 1953 – 15 August 1957 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Omar Bradley |
| Succeeded by | Nathan F. Twining |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arthur William Radford (1896-02-27)27 February 1896 Chicago, Illinois U.S. |
| Died | 17 August 1973(1973-08-17) (aged 77) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Spouse | |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1916–1957 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff United States Pacific Fleet Vice Chief of Naval Operations Second Task Fleet Carrier Division Eleven Aviation Training Division Naval Air Station Seattle VF-1B |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Navy Distinguished Service Medal (4) Legion of Merit (2) Order of Fiji Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) |
Arthur William Radford (27 February 1896 – 17 August 1973) was anadmiral andnaval aviator of theUnited States Navy. In over 40 years of military service, Radford held a variety of positions including thevice chief of Naval Operations,commander of theUnited States Pacific Fleet and later the secondchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
With an interest in ships and aircraft from a young age, Radford saw his first sea duty aboard the battleshipUSS South Carolina during World War I. In theinter-war period he earned his pilot wings and rose through the ranks in duties aboard ships and in theBureau of Aeronautics. After the U.S. entered World War II, he was the architect of the development and expansion of the Navy's aviator training programs in the first years of the war. In its final years he commanded carriertask forces through several major campaigns of thePacific War.
Noted as a strong-willed and aggressive leader, Radford was a central figure in the post-war debates on U.S. military policy, and was a staunch proponent of naval aviation. As commander of the Pacific Fleet, he defended the Navy's interests in an era of shrinking defense budgets, and was a central figure in the "Revolt of the Admirals," a contentious public fight over policy. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he continued to advocate for aggressive foreign policy and a strongnuclear deterrent in support of the"New Look" policy of PresidentDwight Eisenhower.
Retiring from the military in 1957, Radford continued to be a military adviser to several prominent politicians until his death in 1973. For his extensive service, he was awarded many military honors, and was the namesake of theSpruance-class destroyerUSS Arthur W. Radford.
Arthur William Radford was born on 27 February 1896 inChicago, Illinois, to John Arthur Radford, a Canadian-bornelectrical engineer, and Agnes Eliza Radford (née Knight).[1] The eldest of four children, he was described as bright and energetic in his youth.[2] When Arthur was six years old the family moved toRiverside, Illinois, where his father took a job as a managing engineer withCommonwealth Edison Company. John Radford managed the firststeam turbine engines in the United States, at theFisk Street Generating Station.[2]
Arthur began his school years at Riverside Public School, where he expressed an interest in theUnited States Navy from a young age.[2] He gained an interest inaviation during a visit to the1904 World's Fair inSt. Louis, Missouri.[3] Byfourth grade, he frequently drew detailed cross-section diagrams of theUSS Maine. He was shy, but performed very well in school. In mid-1910, Radford moved with his family toGrinnell, Iowa, and attendedGrinnell High School for a year and a half, before deciding to apply to theUnited States Naval Academy. He obtained the localcongressman's recommendation for an appointment to the academy, and was accepted. After several months of tutoring atAnnapolis, Maryland, he entered the academy in July 1912, at the age of sixteen.[2]
Although Radford's first year at the academy was mediocre he applied himself to his studies in his remaining years there.[2] He participated in summer cruises to Europe in 1913 and 1914 and passed through thePanama Canal toSan Francisco in 1916.[3] Radford, known as "Raddie" to his fellow students, graduated 59th of 177 in the class of 1916, and wascommissioned as anensign in theU.S. Navy during theFirst World War.[2]
Radford's first duty was aboard thebattleshipUSS South Carolina,[2][4] as it escorted atransatlantic convoy to France in 1918.[5] In his second post he was anaide-de-camp to a battleship division commander, and in his third, aflag lieutenant for another battleship division commander.[2]
In 1920, Radford reported toPensacola, Florida, forflight training,[2] and was promoted tolieutenant soon thereafter. During the 1920s and 1930s his sea duty alternated among several aircraft squadrons, fleet staffs, and tours in the U.S. with theBureau of Aeronautics.[2] It was during this time, while he served underRear AdmiralWilliam Moffett, that he frequently interacted with politicians and picked up the political acumen that would become useful later in his career. While he did not attend theNaval War College, as other rising officers did, Radford established himself as an effective officer who would speak his mind frankly, even to superiors.[6]
Radford achieved the rank oflieutenant commander by 1927,[5] and served with aircraft units aboardUSS Colorado,USS Pennsylvania, andUSS Wright.[4] In 1936, he was promoted tocommander[5] and took charge of fighter squadronVF-1B aboardUSS Saratoga. By 1938, he was given command ofNaval Air Station Seattle inSeattle, Washington. On 15 April 1938, while flying Grumman SF-1, BuNo 9465, CDR Radford suffered a noseover mishap at Oakland Airport following a mechanical failure of the landing gear. Radford and passenger ACMM S.H. Ryan were uninjured and the aircraft was repaired.[4] On 22 April 1939, he married Miriam J. (Ham) Spencer atVancouver Barracks, Washington. Spencer (1895–1997) was a daughter of George Ham ofPortland, Oregon,[7] and the former wife of (1) Albert Cressey Maze (1891–1943), with whom she had a son,Robert Claude Maze Sr., Major, USMC who was killed in action in 1945 and (2)Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. In May 1940, Radford was appointedexecutive officer of theUSS Yorktown, a post he served in for one year.[2]
In July 1941, Radford was appointed commander of the Naval Air Station inTrinidad,British West Indies. He protested this appointment because he feared he would remain there for years, sidelined as World War II loomed.[2] He only remained in this station for three months, following an organizational shift in the Bureau of Aeronautics. By mid-1941, thanks to a large expansion in the naval aviator program, squadrons could no longer train newly arrived aviators. Further, at that time, the vast difference in the performance of combat aircraft over training aircraft meant that pilots needed more time in combat aircraft before becoming proficient in them. Radford was subsequently visited byArtemus L. Gates,Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. The latter was so impressed that he ordered Rear AdmiralJohn H. Towers, chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, to transfer Radford to a newly formed training division.[8]
Radford took command of the Aviation Training Division in Washington, D.C., on 1 December 1941, seven days before theattack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.[8] He was appointed as Director of Aviation Training for both the Office of theChief of Naval Operations and theBureau of Navigation;[9] the double appointment helped to centralize training coordination for all naval aviators. With the U.S. mobilizing for war, Radford's office worked long hours six days a week in an effort to build up the necessary training infrastructure as quickly as possible. For several months, this around-the-clock work took up all of his time, and he later noted that walking to work was his only form of exercise for several months. During this time, he impressed colleagues with a direct and no-nonsense approach to work, while maintaining a demeanor that made him easy to work for.[8] He was promoted tocaptain soon after.[5]
Throughout 1942 he established and refined the administrative infrastructure for aviation training. Radford oversaw the massive growth of the training division, establishing separate sections for administration; Physical Training Service Schools; and training devices; and sections to train various aviators in flight, aircraft operation, radio operation, and gunnery. The section also organized technical training and wrote training literature. He also engineered the establishment of four field commands for pilot training. Air Primary Training Command commanded all pre-flight schools andNaval reserve aviation bases in the country. Air Intermediate Training Command administeredNaval Air Station Pensacola andNaval Air Station Corpus Christi where flight training was conducted. Air Operational Training Command was in charge of all education of pilots between pilot training and their first flying assignments. Finally, Air Technical Training Command trained enlisted men for support jobs in aviation such as maintenance, engineering, aerography, and parachute operations. Radford sought to integrate his own efficient leadership style into the organization of these schools.[10]
Radford was noted for thinking progressively and innovatively to establish the most effective and efficient training programs. He sought to integratesports conditioning programs into naval aviator training. Radford brought in athletic directors fromOhio State University,Harvard University andPenn State University underfootball player and naval aviatorTom Hamilton, to whom he gave the remit to develop the conditioning programs. Radford also suggested integrating women into intricate but repetitive tasks, such as runningflight simulators. When commanders rejected the idea of bringing women into the service, he convinced CongressmanCarl Vinson, chair of theHouse Naval Affairs Committee of the merit of the idea. This effort eventually led to the employment of the "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service", and 23,000 WAVES would assist in aeronautical training in the course of the war. Radford also sought to best use the assets of businessmen and professionals who had volunteered for military service, establishing the Aviation Indoctrination School and Air Combat Intelligence School atNaval Air Station Quonset Point so as to enable these advanced recruits to become more experienced naval officers.[11]
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By early 1943, with Radford's training programs established and functioning efficiently, he sought combat duty.[12] In April of that year, he was ordered to report to the office ofCommander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet where he was promoted to rear admiral and tapped to be a carrier division commander.[4] This was an unusual appointment, as most carrier division commanders were appointed only after duty commanding acapital ship. He then spent May and June 1943 on an inspection party under Gates, touring U.S. bases in the south Pacific.[12] Following this, he was assigned under Rear AdmiralFrederick C. Sherman, commander ofCarrier Division 2 atPearl Harbor. Radford spent several weeks observing flight operations and carrier tactics for various ships operating out ofHawaii. He was particularly impressed with how carrier doctrine had evolved in the time since his own assignment on a carrier, and in June 1943, he was ordered to observe operations on thelight aircraft carrierUSS Independence, learning the unique challenges of using light carriers.[12]
On 21 July 1943, Radford was given command ofCarrier Division Eleven, which consisted of the newEssex-class carrierUSS Lexington as well as the light carriers USSIndependence andUSS Princeton. These carriers remained at Pearl Harbor through August, training and refining their operations. Radford got his first operational experience on 1 September 1943, covering a foray toBaker andHowland Islands as part of Task Force 11 under Rear AdmiralWillis A. Lee. Radford commandedPrinceton,USS Belleau Wood and four destroyers to act as a covering force for Lee's marines, who built an airfield on the islands.[13] After this successful operation, and at the direction of AdmiralChester W. Nimitz, Task Force 11 was joined by Task Force 15, withLexington, under Rear AdmiralCharles A. Pownall. The two task forces then steamed forTarawa Atoll to strike it. On the night of 17 September, the carriers launched six strikes offighter aircraft,dive bombers, andtorpedo planes to work over the Japanese defenses.[14]
Next, Radford and his carriers took part in an air attack and cruiser bombardment ofWake Island on 5 to 6 October 1943. He shifted his flag toLexington for the operation, which took two days. Though the effects on Japanese positions were not known, Radford and other leaders considered the operations useful for preparing their forces for the major battles to come in theCentral Pacific.[15]
Major operations in the Central Pacific began that November. Radford's next duty was inOperation Galvanic, a campaign into theGilbert Islands with the objective of capturingTarawa as well asMakin Island andApamama Atoll. It would be one of the first times that American carriers would be operating against Japanese land-based air power in force, asU.S. Army troops andU.S. Marines fought the Japanese on the ground. For this mission, Radford's carrier division was designatedTask Group 50.2, the Northern Carrier Group, which consisted ofUSS Enterprise,USS Belleau Wood andUSS Monterey. He did not agree with this strategy, maintaining until his death that the force should have gone on an offensive to strike Japanese air power instead of being tied to the ground forces. Despite his objections, the force left Pearl Harbor for theGilbert Islands on 10 November.[16]
The invasion began on 20 November. Radford's force was occupied withair strikes on Japanese ground targets, and faced frequent attack by Japanese aircraft in night combat, which U.S. aircrews were not well prepared or equipped for.[17] He improvised a unit to counter Japanese night raids, and was later credited with establishing routines for nighttimecombat air patrols to protect carriers; these were adopted fleetwide.[18] He commandedCarrier Division Eleven around Tarawa for several more days, returning to Pearl Harbor on 4 December.[17]
Returning from Tarawa, Radford was reassigned aschief of staff to Towers, who was Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet. He assisted in planning upcoming operations, includingOperation Flintlock, the invasion of theMarshall Islands. He had hoped to return to combat duty at the end of this assignment, but in March 1944 he was ordered to Washington, D.C., and appointed asDeputy Chief of Naval Operations. He assumed this new duty on 1 April, a role which was primarily administrative in nature.[17] His duties included establishing a new integrated system for aircraft maintenance, supply, and retirement, for which he was appointed the head of a board to study aircraft wear and tear. After six months in this duty, Radford was returned to the Pacific theater by AdmiralErnest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commander in Chief,United States Fleet.[19]
Radford returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 October 1944, where he was appointed as commander of First Carrier Task Force,Carrier Division Six. While flying to his new command, he was held over in Kwajalein and then Saipan, missing theBattle of Leyte Gulf which took place in thePhilippines during the layover. He flew toUlithi where he reported to Vice AdmiralJohn S. McCain, Sr., commander ofTask Force 58. For the next two months, Radford remained on "make learn" status, again under Sherman's command, observing the operations and employment of carrier-based air power as a passenger aboardUSS Ticonderoga, part ofTask Group 38.3.[19] During this time, he observed thestrikes on Luzon and the Visayas, as well as air attacks on Japanese shipping andTyphoon Cobra.[20]
"To every officer and man in this splendid group well done [.] In the last 45 days you have contributed much toward the victory announced today and I am proud of you."
On 29 December 1944, Radford was unexpectedly ordered to take command of Task Group 38.1 after its commander, Rear AdmiralAlfred E. Montgomery, was injured. The next day the fleet sortied from Ulithi and headed for scheduled air strikes onLuzon andFormosa (Taiwan). Throughout January 1945, Radford's fleet operated in theSouth China Sea striking Japanese targets inFrench Indochina andHong Kong. In February, theU.S. Third Fleet was re-designated theU.S. Fifth Fleet, and as a part of this reorganization Radford's force was redesignated Task Group 58.4. He continued striking Japanese targets in theInland Sea during March. On 1 April, the force was moved to support theBattle of Okinawa. Over the course of the next two months, his force continued its use of night raids, which by this point were effective in repelling Japanese attacks on U.S. Navy ships. After two months supporting ground forces on Okinawa, Radford's fleet was detached from that operation.[21]
Returning to the Third Fleet and being re-designated Task Group 38.4, the force began operating off theJapanese Home Islands in July 1945. It began an intense airstrike campaign against military targets onHonshu andHokkaido, striking Japanese airfields, merchant shipping, and ground targets. Radford commanded the force in this duty untilV-J Day, the end of the war in the Pacific. Upon receipt of the orders to end hostilities, he signaled his ships that he was proud of their accomplishments.[21]
Radford was promoted to vice admiral in late 1945.[4] For a time he wasDeputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air underSecretary of the NavyJames V. Forrestal.[9] During thepost-war period, Radford was a strong advocate that naval aviation programs be maintained. WhenFleet Admiral Ernest J. King issued a post-war plan calling for the U.S. to maintain nine activeaircraft carriers, Radford suggested he double the number, a politically unrealistic proposal.[22]
After the war, Radford was a principal opponent to a plan to merge theuniformed services. A plan existed to split the Army and theArmy Air Forces into separate branches and unite them and the Navy under oneCabinet-level defense organization. Fearing the loss of their branch's influence, Navy commanders opposed the formation of a separate Air Force and favored a more loose defense organization. Radford was picked by Forrestal to form the Secretary's Committee of Research and Reorganization. Months of discussion resulted in theNational Security Act of 1947, a political victory for the Navy because it created theU.S. Air Force while resulting in a coordinated, not unified,U.S. Department of Defense with limited power and with the Navy maintaining control of its air assets.[9] In 1947, Radford was briefly appointed commander of theSecond Task Fleet, a move he felt was to distance him from the budget negotiations in Washington, but nonetheless preferred.[23]
In 1948, Radford was appointed by PresidentHarry S. Truman as theVice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO).[24] Debates continued with military leaders about the future of theUnited States Armed Forces as Truman sought to trim the defense budget. Radford was relied on by Navy leaders as an expert who would fiercely defend the Navy's interests from budget restrictions,[25][9] but his appointment as VCNO was opposed by Fleet AdmiralChester Nimitz, who feared his hard-line stance on the budget would alienate the generals in the other branches of the military.[26] Some historians contend Radford brought strong leadership to the role.[27] Naval aviation assets grew from 2,467 aircraft to 3,467 during this time, almost all aircraft for fast-attack carriers. He also oversaw the implementation of the "Full Air Program" which envisioned 14,500 total aircraft in the naval air force.[28] Along with his predecessorJohn Dale Price, he favored reducing naval ship strength in order to develop stronger naval aviation capabilities.[29] Then, in 1949, Truman appointed him as theHigh Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.[25]
In April 1949, Truman appointed Radford to the position ofCommander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. A staunchanticommunist, Radford saw the greatest threat to U.S. security coming from Asia, not Europe.[4] He traveled extensively throughout the Pacific as well asSouth Asia and theFar East. He became acquainted with political and military leaders inNew Zealand,Australia, thePhilippines,Vietnam,Thailand,Malaya,Burma,India,Pakistan,Hong Kong,Formosa, and Japan, and learned about the sociopolitical issues facing each nation and the region as a whole.[30]
Despite his new office, Radford was soon recalled to Washington to continue hearings on the future of theU.S. military budget.[31] He became a key figure in what would later be called the "Revolt of the Admirals", which took place during April 1949 when thesupercarrierUSS United States was cancelled.[4]
At the request of CongressmanCarl Vinson, Radford strongly opposed plans by Secretary of DefenseLouis Johnson and Secretary of the NavyFrancis P. Matthews to make theConvair B-36 the Air Force's principalbomber aircraft, calling it a "billion dollar blunder." Radford also questioned the Air Force's plan to focus onnuclear weapons delivery capabilities as its primary deterrent to war and callednuclear war "morally reprehensible".[31] While theUnited States remained cancelled and the post-war cuts to the Navy were intact, funding was increasing during theCold War era for conventional forces.[30]
Shortly after the outbreak of theKorean War in June 1950, control of Vice AdmiralArthur D. Struble'sU.S. Seventh Fleet was transferred from Radford to Vice AdmiralC. Turner Joy, who was serving as Commander, Naval Forces, Far East.[32] Joy's superior was General of the ArmyDouglas MacArthur of theUnited Nations Command Korea (UNC). As such, Radford exercised no direct responsibility over forces involved in the conflict.[33]
Radford was an admirer of MacArthur and a proponent of his "Asia First" strategy.[33] He supportedOperation Chromite in October 1950,[34][35] as well as theUnited Nations mission ofKorean reunification. He attended theWake Island Conference between MacArthur and Truman on 15 October, and later recalled his belief that, should the Chinese intervene in the war, the U.S. could still prevail provided it was able to strike ChinesePeople's Liberation Army bases inManchuria with air power. When thePeople's Volunteer Army did intervene in favor ofNorth Korea the next month, Radford shared MacArthur's frustration at restrictions placed on the UN force in the war preventing it from striking Chinese soil. OnceTruman relieved MacArthur in April 1951, Radford reportedly gave the general a "hero's welcome" inHawaii as he was returning to the United States.[33]
As commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines and Formosa, Radford accompanied President-electDwight D. Eisenhower on his three-day trip to Korea in December 1952.[36] Eisenhower was looking for anexit strategy for the stalemated and unpopular war, and Radford suggested threatening China with attacks on its Manchurian bases and the use of nuclear weapons.[33] This view was shared bySecretary of StateJohn Foster Dulles and UNC Commanding GeneralMark W. Clark, but had not been acted on when the armistice came in July 1953, at a time when the Chinese were struggling with domestic unrest.[37] Still, Radford's frankness during the trip and his knowledge of Asia made a good impression on Eisenhower, who nominated Radford to be hisChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[33][38]
"I simply must find men who have the breadth of understanding and devotion to the country rather than to a single Service that will bring about better solutions than I get now. ... [strangely] enough the one man who sees this clearly is a Navy man who at one time was an uncompromising exponent of naval power and its superiority over any other kind of strength. That is Radford."
Eisenhower's official nomination for Radford came in mid-1953. Eisenhower was initially cautious about him because of his involvement in theinter-service rivalry and "revolt" in 1949. Radford's anticommunist views, however, as well as his knowledge of Asia and his support of Eisenhower's"New Look" defense policy, made him an attractive nominee, particularly amongRepublicans, to replaceOmar Bradley.[39] Eisenhower was also impressed with his "intelligence, dedication, tenacity, and courage to speak his mind."[40] During his nomination, Radford indicated a changed outlook from the positions he had taken during the "Revolt of the Admirals".[30] As chairman, he was eventually popular with both the president and Congress.[41]
Radford was integral in formulating and executing the "New Look" policy, reducing spending on conventional military forces to favor a strongnuclear deterrent and a greater reliance onairpower.[39] In this time, he had to overcome resistance from Army leaders who opposed the reduction of their forces, and Radford's decisions, unfettered byinter-service rivalry, impressed Eisenhower.[3] In spite of his support of the "New Look", he disagreed with Eisenhower on several occasions when the president proposed drastic funding cuts that Radford worried would render the U.S. Navy ineffective.[18] In late 1954, for example, Radford testified privately before a congressional committee that he felt some of Eisenhower's proposed defense cuts would limit the military's capability for "massive retaliation", but he kept his disagreements out of public view, working from within and seeking the funding to save specific strategic programs.[42]
In 1956, Radford proposed protecting several military programs from funding cuts by reducing numbers of conventional forces, but the proposal wasleaked to the press, causing an uproar in Congress and among U.S. military allies, and the plan was dropped. In 1957, after the otherJoint Chiefs of Staff again disagreed on how to downsize force levels amid more budget restrictions, Radford submitted ideas for less dramatic force downsizing directly to Secretary of DefenseCharles Erwin Wilson, who agreed to pass them along to Eisenhower.[42]
While Radford remained Eisenhower's principal adviser for the budget, they differed on matters offoreign policy.[42] Radford advocated the use of nuclear weapons and a firm military and diplomatic stance against China.[18] Early in his tenure, he suggested to Eisenhower apreventive war against China or the Soviet Union while the U.S. possessed a nuclear advantage and before it became entangled in conflicts in the Far East. Eisenhower immediately dismissed this idea.[42]
After France requested U.S. assistance for itsbeleaguered force at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, Radford suggested an aggressive stance toward theViet Minh by promotingOperation Vulture in which 60U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers would conduct airstrikes on Viet Minh positions.[43] Radford even believed in the U.S. threaten it with nuclear weapons, like earlier with the Chinese in Korea.[33] He also advocated U.S. military intervention in the 1955First Taiwan Strait Crisis and the 1956Suez Crisis, but Eisenhower favored diplomatic approaches and threats of force.[42]
After his second term as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Radford opted to retire from the Navy in 1957 to enter the private sector. The same yearRadford High School inHonolulu was named in his honor. Radford was called upon to serve as militarycampaign advisor forRichard Nixon in the1960 presidential election, and again forBarry Goldwater in the1964 election.[33]
Radford died of cancer at age 77 on 17 August 1973[33] atBethesda Naval Medical Center inBethesda, Maryland. He is buried with his wife Miriam J. Radford (1895–1997) atArlington National Cemetery inArlington, Virginia.[44][18] In 1975, the Navy launched theanti-submarineSpruance-class destroyerUSS Arthur W. Radford, named in his honor.[18]
United States Naval AcademyMidshipman – Class of 1916| Ensign | Lieutenant (junior grade) | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Commander | Commander | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 3 June 1916 | 1 July 1917 | 1 January 1918 | 17 February 1927 | 1 July 1936 | 1 January 1942 |
| Rear Admiral (lower half) | Rear Admiral (upper half) | Vice Admiral | Admiral |
|---|---|---|---|
| O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 |
 |  |  |  |
| Never held | 21 July 1943 | 25 May 1946 | 7 April 1949 |
Radford's awards and decorations include the following:[46]
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| Preceded by | Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet 1949–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1953–1957 | Succeeded by |
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