Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31) - Naval Cruise Book

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ear dmiral incent de Poix, ComCar iv EVEN PVincent Paul de Poix was born in Los Angeles, California on August 13, 1916. He attended Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, New York, the Severn School, Severna Park, Maryland and Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, prior to entering the U.S. Naval Academy on appointment from the state of New York in 1935. He was commissioned Ensign on June 1, 1939, and subsequently advanced in rank, attaining that of Rear Admiral, July 1, 1965. Following graduation from the Naval Academy, he joined the USS MINNEAPOLIS and a year later transferred to the USS SICARD. Detached from that vessel in July 1941, he was ordered to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, for flight training. Designated Naval Aviator, he had further training at Naval Air Station, Miami, Flbrida. Ordered to the South Pacific, he served from June 1942 until August 1943 with Fighting Squadron SIX on board the USS ENTERPRISE and the USS SARATOGA and later shore based on Guadalcanal. In that assignment he participated in the initial. assault on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942 and operations in the Solomon Islands. For his outstanding service in the Guadalcanal area he was awarded the Air Medal and a Gold Star in lieu of a second similar award. ln September 1943 he joined Experimental Ordnance Development Unit 1911 at Naval Air Station, San Diego, and in March 1944, reported for instruction in Ordnance Engineering fAviationJ at the Postgraduate School, Annapolis, Maryland. From October 1945 until August 1946, he continued the course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge, from which he received the degree of Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering. Following an assignment which extended to January 1948 with the Aviation Fire Control Unit at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern, California, he assumed command of Fighter Squadron EIGHTEEN-A. ' For two years, June 1950 to June 1952, he was Assistant Head of the Aviation Ordnance Branch, Research and Development Division in the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department, Washington, D. C., after which he served as Aviation Readiness and Aviation Ordance Officer on the staff of the Commander in Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet. He served as Assistant Head, later Head, of the Air Launched Branch, Guided Missiles Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations from July 1954 until June 1957, when he assumed command of Air Development Squadron FOUR based at the Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, California. In March 1959 he became Com- manding Officer of the seaplane tender USS ALBEMARIE QAV-57, and in November of the same year reported for instruction, at- tached to the Office of the Assistant Director for Naval Reactors, Division of .Reactor Development, Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. ' . In September 1960, he was ordered to duty as Prospective Commanding Officer of the USS ENTERPRISE fCVAfNJ65J. When that vessel was commissioned on November 25, 1961, he took command and held it until July 1963, when he was detached for instruction at the National War College, Washington, D. C. on completion of the course in June 1964 he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D. C., as Assistant Director for Administration and Management and later as Assistant Director for Operational Test and Evaluation in the Office ofthe Director, Defense Research and Engineerjng. In ceremonies at Yokosuka, Japan, on August 9, 1966, he became Commander Carrier Division SEVEN and embarked on USS CORAL SEA for operations in Southeast Asia. , ln addition to the Air Medal with Gold Star and the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, Rear Admiral de Poix has the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Navy Expeditionary Medal.

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Rear dmiral 3 Thomas J. Walker ComCarDiv Three Thomas Jackson Walker was born in Edgartown, Massachusetts on August 6, 1916. He attended Seabreeze High School at Daytona Beach, Florida, and the Marion fAlabamaJ Military Instutute prior to entering the U.S. Naval Academy in 1935. He was graduated and commissioned Ensign on June 1, 1939, and was selected for the rankof Rear Admiral in July, 1965. Following graduation from the Naval Academy he was ordered to USS MINNEAPOLIS. In August, 1941, he was detached for flight training at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. Designated a Naval Aviator on March 21, 1942, he joined USS NEW YORK. In July 1943, he attended the Post Graduate School, Annapolis, where he completed the course in Ordnance Engineering CAviationl in December 1944. He was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., remaining there until July, 1945. Then came duty as prospective bomb commander for the fourth atomic bomb at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico. That bomb was not dropped because of the cessation of hostilities in August, 1945. In February 1946, he began fighter refreshergtraining at the Naval Air Station, Miami, Florida, and from June 1946, to July, 1948, he was in command of Fighter Squadron SIXTY-ONE, SEVENTEEN and FIVE - B. After serving as Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Special Weapons Facility at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, he assumed command of Air Development Squadron FIVE in July 1951. He reported as Assistant Experimental Officer at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California, in July 1953, and in June of the next year became Experimental Officer. From July 1955 to February 1956, he underwent instruction at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Washington, D.C., and was then assigned as Head of the Test Branch, Polaris Missile Program. In January 1957, he was assigned to the Office of the Chief' of Naval Operations, serving there for six months in the U-2 program before his detachment for command of the Fleet All-Weather Training Unit, Pacific. In July 1958, he reported as System Evaluation Officer for the Polaris program in Washington. In' April 1960, Rear Admiral Walker, then Captain Walker, assumed command of USS NITRO, and six months later was ordered de- tached for duty as prospective commanding officer of USS CONSTELLATION, which was then under construction at the New York Naval Shipyard. He actually assumed command when CONSTELLATION was placed in commission in October 1961. On November 19, 1962, he was ordered to duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to serve as Assistant Director, Aviation Plans Division. In September 1964 he assumed the position of Naval Deputy, Joint Task Force Two. Rear Admiral Walker assumed command of Carrier Division THREE in February 1966. While aboard his flagship, ENTERPRISE, and as Commander Task Group SEVENTY-SEVEN POINT SEVEN, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for combat operations in sup- port of the Republic of Vietnam. In addition to the Bronze Star and the Navy Commendation Medal with two gold stars and Combat V, Rear Admiral Walker is en-s titled to wear the Navy Unit Commendation, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African- Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one operational star, the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with bronze star and the Vietnam Service Medal. N--W M- --------- 1 -.-m.-- - W -.-. 1 -.-...-..........--sf --1:.ym,.1,v-,f-,..vm1... ..,. ,,-....,...q...,..,.,.,,,,.,,,,,., - -V-V - -Y V--YW ----im- A v -,.. f . . 1. . .. ,...-- .......,......., . ...,,,. . , t . H m,,W,,,,,,,M , ,,,.,, YVYY Y .,, ...... www-qi A, W,

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Captain James B. Cain, Chief of Staff, ComCarDiv SEV N Captain James B. Cain was born in Charlottesville, Georgia, on April 23, 1920. Upon graduation from Cramerton High School tNorth Carolinaj, he entered Gardner Webb College at Boiling Springs, North Carolina, from which he graduated in June 1940. Captain Cain entered the Navy on November 9, 1940, and reported for duty in the Navy V-5 program on April 12, 1941, and the Navy's Flight Training program at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Upon completion of flight training in October 1941, he was com- missioned an Ensign and designated a Naval Aviator. He served as a flight instructor at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, until July 1942, before going to NAS Miami, where he flew anti-submarine patrols over the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1943, he served as an in- structor in fighter aircraft at Lee Field, Green Cove Springs, Florida. In April 1944, Captain Cain reported to VF-45 as Chief Flight Officer shortly before the squadron boarded USS TICONDEROGA. He was subsequently transferred with the squadron to USS SAN JACINTO where he saw action in the Pacific Theatre Campaign including the air and sea battles. In these engagements he was credited with nine Japanese aircraft shot down and a destroyer sunk in the South China Sea. For this action Captain Cain joined the ranks of U.S. Fighter Aces. At the end of World War II, Captain Cain was aboard the USS CUMBERLAND SOUND participating in the Bikini Atomic Test Program. For the next three years he was the Commanding Officer of VF-ATU-1 in Corpus Christi, Texas. In January 1951, after a year at the Nav Post Graduate School at Montere California he reported to Fighter Squadron ONE SEVEN TWO as Executive Officer, serving in Y Y, , that capacity aboard USS ESSEX during the first two years of the Korean conflict. A Captain Cain served as Commanding Officer of VF-212 aboard the USS WASP during a second deployment to Korea in 1953 and 1954. In 1955, he was selected to establish and command the Jet Transitional Training Unit at Olathe, Kansas. As Special Project Officer of Experimental Test Squadron THREE from 1957 until late 1958, he assisted in the development of the Navy's first supersonic jet fighter aircraft. Captain Cain served with Commander Air Group FOUR as Chief Staff Officer for two years. In 1960, he reported aboard USS WASP as Executive Officer. This tour of duty was interrupted after four months by a change of orders to the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island. ' ' T' A ' ' ' - A ' ' U US k' t t s 'n the area off th,eCOaSt IH 1964, Captain Cam became Commanding. Officer of the Fleet Store' Ship USS, REG L ma mg wo our 1 of Vietnam. He assumed command of the USS YORKTOWN on June 10, 1965, and made two more tours in the South China Sea. ln May 1966, he was detached and assumed his present duties as Aide and Chief of Staff to Commander Carrier Division THREE. Captain Cain has earned 32 medals and campaign ribbons, which include the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and two personal Navy Commendation Medals. W A-ef' 21 'e eww - -' ' LZ.. UT. .