Kitty Hawk (CVA 63) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDER CARRIER DIVISION SEVEN ADMIRAL SHIPLEY Rear Admiral Ralph L. Shifley, USN, reported for duty as Commander Carrier Division SEVEN on May 1, 1962. He came from Washington where he had served as Director of the Aviation Plans Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department. Admiral Shifley has had a long and distinguished career in the Naval service. He was born at Mounds. Illinois, in 1910 and was admitted to the Naval Academy in June 1929. Graduated and commissioned Ensign on June 2, 1933, he was designated a Naval Aviator on November 17. 1937. At the outbreak of World War II. Admiral Shifley was an instructor at the Naval Air Station. Jacksonville, Florida. After detachment in May 1942, he served on the staffs of several training commands. In June 1943, Admiral Shifley assumed command of Bombing Squadron EIGHT and from May to November 1944 he was Commanding Officer of Air Group EIGHT, operating with Admiral Mitscher ' s Task Forces 38 and 58. Admiral Shifley was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in the First Battle of the Philippine Sea while his Air Group was embarked in the carrier BUNKER HILL. He was also four times awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three times awarded the Air Medal, and is entitled to the ribbon for the Presidential Unit Citation to the BUNKER HILL. Admiral Shifley was Superintendent of Aviation Training at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, at the end of World War II. From June 1947 to June 1952. he served as executive officer and operations officer for several sea commands. Upon completion of the Naval War College course in June 1952, he spent two years in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and then served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Commander SIXTH Fleet in the Mediterranean. In August 1956 he reported as Commanding Officer of the USS BADOENG STRAIT, and in February 1957 returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Opera- tions where he served for a while as senior aide to the Chief of Naval Opera- tions. He spent a year as Commanding Officer of the attack aircraft carrier USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT and then returned to Washington. In July 1961 he became Rear Admiral Shifley and in October of that year reached the position he served before coming to Carrier Division SEVEN. Admiral Shifley moved his flag on board KITTY HAWK on July 31. 1962. His Carrier Division is primarily employed as operational commander of task groups force when deployed and as inspector and evaluator of ship and air group readiness while in the continental United States. The Admiral also wore the hat of Commander Task Force 77 during part of the cruise. 16

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CHIEF OF STAFF - CAPTAIN JOHN J. LYNCH U.S.N. John Joseph L -nch was bom in Boston, Mass., October 21, 1911, son of the late Patrick and Nora Scanlon Lynch. He attended Boston College High School 1925-29; Boston College 1929-33; and Boston College Law School in 1933. While in college, and from 1930. he was a correspondent for the Boston GLOBE and in 1939-40 was a Civil Aeronautics Authority Inspector in the St. Louis office. Appointed Aviation Cadet July 12, 1935, he had flight training at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, from July 1935 until Sept. 1936, when he was designated Naval Aviator and commissioned Ensign in the Naval Reserve, to date from September 1, that year. Through subsequent advancement and his transfer from the Resene to the Regular Na%T, he attained the rank of Captain, USN, to date from July 1, 1955. As a Naval Aviator he was first assigned to Bombing Squadron 2. and served with that squadron, based at the Naval Aii Station. San Diego, and later in USS SARATOGA, USS LEXINGTON and USS RANGER, from Oct.-.her 1936 until July 1939. During that period the squadron was redesignated VB-3 and later VB-4. From August 1939 until November 1940 he served with Resene Squadrons at the Naval Air Stations at Anacostia, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo., and during the next eight months was Chief Flight Instructor at the Naval Resene . viation Base, St. Louis. In August 1941 he joined Bombing Squadron 8 in USS HORNET and during the early period of World War II sened as Material Officer, Flight Officer and Executive Officer of that squadron. For heroism and outstanding achievement while attached to ' B-8, he was awarded the Na 7 Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the .- ir Medal, and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Air Medal. He next sened as Commanding Officer of Composite Squadron 33, in USS CORAL SEA, from January 1943 to February 1944. and during the remainder of 1944 was Operations Officer on the Staff of Commander Carrier Division Two, attached to the flagships USS YORKTOWN, USS WASP, USS FRANKLIN and USS ENTERPRISE. He is entitled to the ribbon for the NaiT Unit Commendation awarded USS ENTERPRISE for heroic senice in the Pacific area, and was personally awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct as Operations Officer (on that Staff) in the Western Pacific area from May 20, 1944, to December 7, 1944. During the latter months of hostilities and until May 1946 he senfd as Plans Officer on the Staff of Commander Fleet Air, West Coast, and after attending the General Line School, Newport, R.I., sened fiom June 1947 to September 1948 as Commander Air Group 13. He then had a tour of duty as Air Member. Air Defense Board, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department. After 18 months ' senice as Assistant for General Plans on the Staff of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, he joined the USS L. KE CH.A.MPL. IN in July 1952. He received a Letter of Commendation (Ribbon and Combat V ) from Commander SEVENTH Fleet, ... for meritorious service as Executive Officer and Operations Officer of USS L. KE CH. MPLAIN during combat operations in the Korean Theater from 13 June 1953 to 27 July 1953 ... Detached from LAKE CH.AMPLAIN in May 1954, he was a student at the Naval War College the next year, and in July 1955 assumed command of the Navl Auxiliary Air Station, Whiting Field, Milton, Florida. He continued in that command until April 1957, and after briefing in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, reported as U.S. Naval Attache and Naval Attache for . ir, Moscow, USSR. Returning to the U.S. in December 1958, he was ordered to USS M. NATEE (AO-58J and assumed command of that fleet oiler in January 1959. Captain Lynch was detached from M. NATEE in November 1959 and a month later reported to the Staff of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet for duty as the Fleet Operations Officer. .After sening in this capacity for a year. Captain Lynch was ordered to L ' SS COR. L SEA (CVA-43) and assumed command of that attack aircraft carrier December 5, 1960. On November 15, 1961, Captain Lynch assumed duties as Aide and Chief of Staff, Commander Carrier Division SEVEN. In addition to the Navy Cr oss, Legion of Merit with Combat . Distinguished Flying Cross, . ir Medal with Gold Star, Commendation Ribbon and Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon. Captain Lynch has the .American Defense Senice Medal, Fleet Clasp; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with eleven major combat stars: World War II Victory Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Korean Senice Medal with one star; United Nations Senice Medal; and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two stars. Married to the former Miss Virginia Boutelle of La Jolle, Calif., Captain Lynch has a stepson, Byron Charles Gwinn II, a Naval Resene Officer now attending George Washington University Medical School, Washington, D.C. Captain Lynch ' s official residence is 595 . shmont St., Dorchester, Mass. RELIEVED BY CAPTAIN PAUL K. BLESH. U.S.N., IN JANUARY 1963 Captain Blesh comes to Carrier Division SEVEN after a successful tour of duty as Com- manding Officer of the attack aircraft carrier USS HANCOCK (CVA-19). Capt. Blesh was bom in Conifer. N.Y., and was graduated from Syracuse University in 1935. He began his Naval career in 1936 as an Aviation Cadet, being designated a Naval Aviator in September 1937. His early duty assignments included various flying and staff biUets. Since World War II, he has sened as executive officer and operations officer of the carrier USS ORISKANY (CVA-34). Capt. Blesh is a former Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Facility at Annapolis, Maryland. Upon graduation from the National War College in 1957. he served on the Staff Commander SECOND Fleet and Commander Striking Fleet .Atlantic as Plans Officer and later as Operations Officer. Capt. Blesh has also sened as Assistant Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations for the Commander Striking and Support Forces, Southern Europe. Prior to his duty aboard HANCOCK, he sened as Commanding Officer of the USS ELKOMIN iAO-55). Capt. Blesh is married to the former Mathilide Macintosh Brewerton who is presently living in Alameda, California. Their daughter Elizabeth Brewerton ' Blesh is a student at Lake Erie College, Painesville. Ohio.