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4    GENERALS OF THE ARMY AND THE AIR FORCE AND ADMIRALS OF THE NAVY

[[image - photograph of ADMIRAL ROBERT BOSTWICK CARNEY]]
[[[photo credit]] U. S. Navy Photograph]]
[[caption]] ADMIRAL ROBERT BOSTWICK CARNEY [[/caption]]

Norwegian Navy to Turkish Army, Carney's remarks seem unduly modest. Actually, for the past 12 years he has been as much involved with joint and combined operations and command as in being a strictly blue-water sailor. His record indicates, however, that he never lost the knack of retaining an enlightened self-interest in his service and nationality although his missions often transcended both.

Carney's most recent assignment before coming to Washington was in Naples, where for two years he commanded all Allied armies, navies and air forces in Southern Europe. He was responsible for welding the forces of 75 million people of Italy, Greece, and Turkey into a unified defense team. His achievement during his first year in that job is no better summarized than in a letter by General Eisenhower to the Secretary of Defense on May 30, 1952:

"Through understanding, sound judgement, and able negotiation he has earned the high respect and confidence of the political military leaders of the nations whose forces he controls. His patience and firmness have brought forth the greatest possible improvement of our forces. I consider Admiral Carney a fine commander, and believe him qualified for any military responsibility the Unites States could offer him."

After two years' command of forces from six nations, Carney, who doesn't satisfy easily, acknowledged that some progress had been made. He regretted that more weapons were not available, but, said he: "Brains, courage and imagination are the greatest weapons of all, and unlike other weapons, they improve with constant use." 

Carney went to the Naples NATO command already familiar with the problems of Southern Europe and the Middle East. As senior U.S. Naval commander in Europe with headquarters in London, he had planned all naval operations in Europe and had been senior U.S. military representative for joint and combined planning in the Mediterranean-Middle East theater. In addition, he had been coordinating the activities of U.S. Aid Groups in Greece, Turkey and Iran. Thus, it was possible for him to gain wide experience, prior to his NATO assignment, in the strategical considerations for the Southern Europe area as well as to develop a full and sympathetic appreciation for national interests and sensitivities. 

In one of his many trips to the Middle East, Admiral Carney accompanied British General Sir Brian Robertson into Trans-Jordan to get acquainted with the Arab Legion. It was thought that such a trip would reassure the Middle Easterners that the British and Americans were working closely together and furthermore, it would indicate an increasing U.S. interest in the Middle East. It developed that Admiral Carney was the first senior U.S. officer ever to visit Trans-Jordan, and undoubtedly the first to see the curious mixture of camels, horses, tanks and jets all passing in military review. 

Carney has a long history of cooperating with allied forces in the planning and execution of joint and combined operations. During World War I, as Ensign Carney, he served as gunnery and torpedo officer aboard the U.S. destroyer FANNING, which was attached to an anti-submarine force commanded by Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Royal Navy. While Officer Of The Deck of the FANNING, Carney assisted in capturing a German U-boat and in bringing the German crew into Queenstown as prisoners. 

In February 1941, Carney, then a commander, was recalled from duty in the Pacific Fleet to assist in organizing, equipping and training a special force to protect Allied shipping against submarine and air attack. This force became fully involved in convoy escort prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. By April 1942, when American units were replaced by British and Canadian units, it had escorted 2,600 ships across the North Atlantic with a loss of only six. 

His ability to get the various services of the many nationalities to work together received a thorough testing. At Argentia, he worked with the U.S. Army and Air Force; the Canadian Army, Navy and Air Force; and the British Navy. Those early convoys included ships from Britain, Canada, Norway, France, and Poland. Commander Carney was officially credited with the development of anti-submarine tactics and convoy techniques that "got the ships through." The question was whether the World War I practice of escorts "hugging the convoy" was the most desirable anti-submarine tactic for World War II. Carney won the concurrence of his boss, Admiral Bristol, that a new tactical approach was worth the calculated risk. From all appearances, convoys were openly exposed to attack as the escorts went into the firing and trailing positions of the submarines. The technique was later to become standard killing procedure for Allied escort forces in both oceans. Carney's contribution to anti-submarine warfare gained him the Distinguished Service Medal. 

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FEBRUARY, 1955 ISSUE  5

After serving as skipper of the light cruiser DENVER in the early battles of the Solomons, Carney was picked by Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., to be his Chief of Staff. In this capacity, in the South Pacific, Carney played a major role in the strategical, tactical and logistical planning for the island-hopping campaign. During the period he was required to coordinate Allied air, land, and naval forces in the South Pacific area. Later on, as Admiral Halsey's Chief of Staff in Third Fleet operations, Carney pressed the Japanese forces to keep them off balance. He insisted on using any and all means available to achieve the maximum element of surprise and deception. His techniques ran from such simple gimmicks as dummy radio transmissions to meticulous studies and analyses of all intelligence information, the use of storm and overcast weather, and deliberate execution of hit-and-run attacks at points of maximum enemy concentrations.

The policy board for such devious actions was known as the Third Fleet's "dirty tricks" department. That name, Carney's own creation, came about in a very natural manner. It applied to the six members of Halsey's staff who met twice daily to discuss action plans for the morrow. Soon someone would come up with an idea and say "Wouldn't it be a dirty trick on the Japs if we....."

There was the time when the fleet struck Okinawa and the Ryukyus when the Japanese least expected it. The "dirty tricks" department had arranged for the fleet to ride in with a typhoon which, among other things, prevented the enemy from flying reconnaissance.

Carney won the Navy Cross for his part in the operations that brought defeat to the enemy fleet in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944. That battle was described as the longest and most complicated action in naval history.

Carney was instrumental, according to his citation, in "sinking or damaging of a major portion of the Japanese capital ships and carrier aircraft." Sixty enemy ships were sunk or damaged, against a loss of seven American. Carney thus gained an international reputation of being entirely open-minded, willing to accept new tactical doctrines with improved weapons, and never insisting that an established practice became the order of the day.

On August 30, 1945, Carney formally accepted the surrender of Yokosuka, the second largest naval base in Japan, and made arrangements with the Japanese for the U.S. Fleet to enter Tokyo Bay after Japan's defeat. It was a proud day in his life when he stood on Admiral Halsey's flagship, the MISSOURI, to watch the formal surrender.

Soon after the war ended, Carney became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Logistics in Washington. His theme song was "save money without jeopardizing the fighting potential of the operating forces." Among his contributions during this tour of duty were such items as placing the Ships Characteristics Board on a scientific basis, development of a system for screening public works construction, providing another system of survey to prevent duplication and waste. In addition he served as the Navy member on a special three-man committee appointed to solve the complex problems of dividing the National Defense appropriations and developing a budget structure applicable to all the services. He advanced to Vice Admiral in 1946, and to Admiral in 1950, when he took over command of Naval Forces in Europe.

News of his elevation to the top Navy post reached Carney in dramatic fashion - by jet plane.

A personal letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his former commander in the NATO forces, was flown to Paris in usual fashion. There, General Matthew B. Ridgway, Eisenhower's successor as NATO commander, handed it over to an F-84 pilot who was just leaving for Naples on a training mission.

The pilot was still wearing his flying suit when he handed the letter to Admiral Carney.

When he was sworn in as Chief of Naval Operations, Carney stressed the need for more appreciation of the "human factor" in the armed services. Even science with all it wonders could not replace morale and fighting spirit, he said in accepting the post.

His expressed hope was to improve the spirit of younger officers by making the military service more attractive as a long-term career.

Born at Vallejo, California, March 26, 1895, Carney is the son of a naval officer. At the Naval Academy, he participated in swimming and boxing, and was graduated 17th in a class of 178 in 1916.

Two years after graduation, he married Miss Grace Stone Craycroft of Acquasco, Maryland, whom he had met in midshipman days. They have two children. The son, Robert Bostwick, Jr., became a Marine officer, and the daughter, Betty, married a naval officer.

Address: Navy Department, Washington 25, D.C.


CHARLES, CHESTER A., BRIG. GEN.
ANGUS (A0132773)

Brigadier General Chester A. Charles, Chief of Staff, Headquarters, New Jersey Air National Guard, was born September 26, 1898 in Newark, New Jersey, and educated in the public schools of Newark, Bloomfield and East Orange, and in the University of Pennsylvania.

He enlisted in the 29th Division Headquarters Troop, New Jersey National Guard, in March 1917. The following year, while stationed at Camp McClellan, Alabama, he was transferred to the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, and attended the School of Military Aeronautics at Princeton University. In 1918 he completed the flying school course at Kelly Field, Texas, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant, pursuit pilot.

He was then transferred to Rockwell Field, California, for advanced flying training and aerial gunnery. In 1919, he was separated from active service and assigned to an Army Air Corps Reserve status. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1923 and to captain in 1928.

General Charles was appointed a second lieutenant in the 119th Observation Squadron, New Jersey National Guard, in 1931.  Promoted to first lieutenant

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