Blue Ridge (LCC 19) - Naval Cruise Book

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Commander W. C. Holt, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla., was commissioned in 1958 from tlie Offi- cer Candidate School in Newport, R. I. A graduate of Palm Beach Junior College and Florida State University, his initial service was as Engineering Officer aboard the ice breaker USS BURTON ISLAND. Visiting Antartica once and the Arctic three times, BURTON ISLAND was awarded the Navy Unit Com- mendation during this period for scientifice achieve- ment in the Bellinghausen Sea, Antartica. In 1961 Commander Holt was assigned to the destroyer USS BLUE as Operations Officer and in 1963 became an instructor and scheduling officer at Fleet Training Group, San Diego. From 1 966 to 1 967 he was Executive Officer of the destroyer escort USS PARLE and subsequently served a two-year tour as Surface Operations Officer on the staff of Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet aboard the cruiser USS LITTLE ROCK, where he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal. Before joining BLUE RIDGE as Executive Officer, Commander Holt was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington where he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal as Manpower Coordinator in the planning of the new NIMITZ class nuclear aircraft carriers and the SSN-688 class fast attack nuclear submarines. Commander Holt is married to the former Georgina Joyce of Everett, Wash. The couple and their two sons reside in San Diego, Ca. UlHiBii HIH

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BLUE RIDGE ' S FIRST SS2? k - CHANGE OF COMMAND ' %

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f Vi W • A i Rear Admiral W. D. Gaddis was bom in Woriand, Wyo. He graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned an Ensign on 7 February 1941 . Following graduation from the Academy, Rear Admiral Gaddis loined the USS PENNSYLVANIA and was attached to the battleship in port Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on 7 December 1941, In November 1942 he reported as Watch and Division Offi- cer on board the USS BARNES and from November 1943 to June 1946 he served as Senior Watch Officer, assistant Gun- nery Officerand then Gunnery Officer of the USS WASP. In 1946 he returned to the Naval Postgraduate School and receiv- ed a Master of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering. He next served as Executive Officer of the USS CONE and then as Readiness and Training Officer for Gunnery and CIC on the staff of Commander Destroyer Force, U. S. Atlantic Fleet. In August of 1953 he reported as Commanding Officer of the radar picket destroyer KENNETH D. BAILEY. Fron 1955 to 1958 he was Naval Inspector of Ordinance at the Northern Pump Company in Minneapolis, Minn., after which he attended the Naval War College in Newport, R. I. He became Commander Destroyer Division 302 in July 1 959 with additional duty from January 1960 as Commander Destroyer Squadron 30. From 1960 to 1962 he was assigned as a Joint Staff Officer, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D. C. In 1962 he assumed command of Destroyer Squadron Eight. He reported as Director of Programming and Finance, Headquarters Naval Material Command, Washington, D.C., in 1966, and then as Director of Budget and Reports, Office of the Navy Comptroller in 1968. He was assigned additional duty as Deputy Comptroller of the Navy in 1970. Rear Admiral Gaddis assumed command of Amphibious Group One in October 1970 and left that post in July of 1972 to return to Washington where he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. '