Forrestal (CVA 59) - Naval Cruise Book

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f- .-Ze 2. 4 M, fs , at SS ' 'irc J 5' 7'fas 6 , .M . Wa.. J. rf.. iT, TE. 5 Born in Little Rock. Arkansas, Captain Small was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June l948. After a brief tour in USS PHILIPPINE SEA, he entered flight training. and was designated a Naval Aviator in November 1949. Flying TBM's, he was first assignedytot a night attack squadron at North Island, California. Subsequently, this squadron wasvredesig-A nated VS-25. and Captain Small completed two WEST PAC deployments flyingAF 'fGuardians'.' aboard CVE's. In l952, he was ordered to the Fleet Sonar School, Key West, I-'loridarwhere he was an Anti-Submarine Warfare tactics instructor in the Senior Course. During this ttour he. served as an exchange Instructor at the Canadian Maritime College, Halifax. In September? l954, he was ordered to Staff. Carrier Division SEVENTEEN as aide and I-'lag rLieutenam4 completing two additional deployments to the Western Pacific. I J ,tr yvvv In I956 he was reassigned as aide and Flag Lieutenant to Commander Task Force ployed in BON HOMIVIVE RICHARD. In January I957. Captain Small transitioned Skyhawk at lvloffett Field and was ordered to Attack Squadron II3, homeported at Mitrztiiiyttgrgff California. After a WESTPAC deployment in SHANGRI-LA. he was selected for at the U. S. Air Force Academy. Colorado. where he served three years as manding Cadet Wing. During this tour, Captain Small flew a number of USAF aircrafttriynclfuifdignjgffj FIOI and FIO4. Captain Small attended the Naval War College in 1961 andupongfgradtiatyitofnt giyrq assigned to the Staff, Commander-in-Chief. U.S. Atlantic Fleet, where he served as tAei r .yOpgg q:... tions Officer and Deputy Director CINCLANT Joint Reconnaissance Center. In ttyyit was selected to command VA-65, one of the first squadrons to train in the command tour of twenty months included formation of the squadron, deployment to Vietnam aboard CONSTELLATION. I I 1 Q fi In July I966, he returned to Oceana as Commanding Officer Attack Squadron the A6A training Squadron. On I2 September I967, Captain Small reported aboard as Operations Officer: he assumed the billet of Executive Officer in July I968, to the former Janet Cubbisontof Long Beach, California and resides in Virginia ...... ..,. .... .... . . . , . ., . . J ,, .,,. ,,.. , J... . Executive fficer ' ' , I i Y - A ggfiglf'-gtg.

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Captain Ralph F Smith Executive fficer icgaaiii siaitii ' ' lata C5555 C ivrafaii is 924915 l ii wiiaag5fQl iiiiii1iit5'1QQii He graduated 2 from Windsor High School and attended Eastern Illinois State College before entering the Navy 12 May 1943. He was commissioned Ensign and designated a Naval Aviator l November I944. During World War II he served with VC-82 and Air Group Nineteen where he received the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation. In April I946, Captain Smith left the Navy until May 1948. when he joined the Organized Reserve and served with Fighting Squadron 901. He returned to active duty in October 'l952 and was assigned to VC-35 in San Diego as Officer-in-Charge of a night attack unit. Hisfnext tour of duty was at Barbers Point, Hawaii with the Fleet All Weather Training Unit. s Q I In September 1958, Captain Smith reported to Commanding Officer, Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Michigan for twoyyez1fSy duty under instruction. He graduated in June 1960 with a Bachelor's Degree In Business Administration. A tour of duty with Attack Squadron yl45 as Execu- tive Officer was followed by orders to Armed Forces Staff College. In October 1963, he assumed command of Attack Squadron 25, stationed at Lemoore. California. lt was during this period that the squadron was among the first t0 be deployed to Vietnam, where Captain Smith earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. three awards of the Air Medal. and the Navy Commendation Medal fOl' combat flying. In June 1965, he reported to the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He served in this capacity until re- ceiving orders to report to FORRESTAL where in June l967, he relieved CHP' tain Jess Taft as Executive Officer. After leaving FORRESTAL, Captain Smith reported to the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base. M l 1 3 i i . t 'z l 1

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l ir. E415 ab . sf .i ,.,. ..,.. . . , i :g.'C2iE'I - alia-1 'Z 1 .:2'1'.! l'J1'.?v f T 5 I V: 1 ,g 1 -Vine., l M. 'i 3?1-'iw r i ,4 , fi.H:..2'l:U: J X .'.-ff-':.'wf-'5 1 1 l l 'sf-?2f?2:-gigs' 3 L fl f 1 . Hffr'-':5.fi liv si fag, 'J' , rl --J ' ' uf l' ' v ETF ..,.5jiv',, 1, f , e, irlTfl5V?i A-i .2171 rl r - ff- 1 r , t-' 'Q-17. ,. , r J 5 3.ii?fflf'1E:4?j., 'fp ii A E fl -. V' : fl 3' CE- -Q. r Q '51-1 51- 3, . E'-'i'7F2.',g.f'1-f A t X.-'.f5:'E'L . i.r5:'Efi'iiQ.. r. ,,,, N. rifilf.-'.-,,: l.lif.fQN u r if - l .. -, .,: 1 , ll'-2 .V 5. . i. l , 1 . , . :1'.'. i i l The FORRESTAL story began long before the ship her- self was laid down. In the closing months of World War ll, Admiral Mark Mitscher, at the time the com- mander of the fast Carrier Task Force in the South Paci- fic, made the first recorded suggestion for a carrier with the general characteristics of the FORRESTAL class. Other military and civilian leaders agreed with him. ln the years following the war, the need for aircraft carriers larger than the MIDWAY class became increas- ingly apparent. Advances in aviation, particularly the advent of heavier, faster jet aircraft, could be exploited fully only by construction of a large modern carrier de- signed specifically for compatibility with these high- performance aircraft. On July l2, 1951, the Navy announced that the New- port News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company had been awarded a contract to build CVA-59. The keel for the new ship was laid July l4, l952. Less than 30 months later, the first of the postwar carriers was launched: Mrs. James V. Forrestal, widow of the first Secretary of De- fense, christened her USS FORRESTAL. Commissioning ceremonies were held October l, l955, at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. On the same day, Captain Roy L. Johnson became the first commanding officer of FORRESTAL. Commander Ralph L. Werner, commander of the air group, recorded the first arrested landings on January 3, l956. Since then, FORRESTAL has had 128,897 additional landings. After a ten-week shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and summer operations off the Atlantic coast with the SECGND FLEET, EORRESTAL was called to bolster U. S. forces in the Mediterranean during the Suez crisis inthe fall of 1956. The new carrier returned to Norfolk for Christmas, but on January 23, l957. she sailed her first regularly scheduled deployment as a unit of the SIXTH FLEET in the Mediterranean. Again. in July l95S. FORRESTAL was called on short notice to augment US. forces in Europe, this time because of civil strife in Lebanon. On that occasion, the ship embarked Air Group Ten at lvlayport, lflorida. in just four hours, and sped to mid-Atlantic to operate with Task Force 23 while waiting in readiness for developments in Lebanon. When the crisis eased. she returned to Norfolk.