McRaven’s ‘Simple’ Bullfrog Advice

Review by Bill Doughty––

Seventy-three years ago, September 15, 1950, Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed at Inchon, Korea. In the following weeks, U.S. forces began to rout the communist North Korean army and push them almost to the Yalu River near China. Then, in November the Americans encountered well-armed Chinese interventionists supporting the North Koreans.

“Hill 205 seemed an unlikely place for an Army legend to be born,” writes Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy, Ret.) at the beginning of chapter 7 of “The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy). McRaven recounts the actions of Army Ranger First Lieutenant Ralph Puckett, who in 2021 received the Medal of Honor, presented by President Joe Biden for actions in Korea. At great personal risk, Puckett helped his Rangers locate and attack camouflaged Chinese machine gun nests and mortar teams that pinned them down.

“Puckett, who had positioned himself at the front of the advancing Rangers, knew there was only one thing he could do. With complete disregard for his own life, Ralph Puckett rose from his foxhole and dashed out into the open field, forcing the Chinese to take aim at the young lieutenant. As the machine gunners began to fire a the sprinting Puckett, the Rangers spotted their positions and engaged them. Puckett returned to his foxhole only to catch his breath, and then leaped out and ran into the open again. With each dash by Puckett into the exposed terrain, the Rangers were able to isolate and destroy more enemy machine gunners.

“Having suppressed the small arms fire, the Rangers proceeded to take Hill 205. History would show that over the next two days, the Rangers under the command of Ralph Puckett would fight off wave after wave of Chinese assaults that took the lives of ten Rangers and left thirty-one wounded, including Puckett.”

Puckett would again serve with honor in Vietnam, where he earned the Distinguished Service Cross and two Silver Stars and was personally recognized by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

McRaven uses the story of Puckett’s heroism at Hill 205 to illustrate the Ranger motto “Sua Sponte” (“Of Your Own Accord”).  “In other words, doing what needs to be done without being told to do so,” McRaven explains.

“There is often the misguided belief that soldiers only follow orders, but the strength of the American military is that the great soldiers, the truly great leaders, do what is right without being told. They do what is right to protect their men and women.”

Senior military leaders expect even young and relatively junior service members to take the initiative when necessary. Such integrated empowerment is a cornerstone of leadership, and can be effective not only in the military but also in business, sports, medicine, citizenship, and developing a healthy family.

A simple, powerful concept. Which is also a good descriptor for this small but excellent book.

Memorial statue of Basilone in New Jersey

“Sua Ponte” is just one of the ideas presented here by the author of “Make Your Bed,” “The Hero Code,” and “Sea Stories.”

McRaven opens his latest book with a discussion with the most important aspects of being a good leader: Honor and integrity, captured in legendary United States Marine hero Sgt. John Basilone’s motto: “Death before Dishonor.” Honor and integrity are the foundation of a trustworthy leader.

Another motto explored in “Bullfrog” is the British Special Air Service’s Qui Audet adipiscitur: "Who dares, wins."

An honorable leader who demonstrates commitment, hard work, and initiative, will earn the trust of their followers, according to McRaven. Stamina, a willingness to sacrifice, and confidence, along with humility and the ability to make hard choices, are also important leadership qualities. Commanders “must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves.”

All the above qualities and more were personified by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz in World War II, particularly in the Battle of Midway: The great admiral faced a difficult choice about whether to ambush the Imperial Japanese Navy at Midway. “The fate of the entire Navy, and perhaps our nation, rested on this decision,” McRaven writes. “But history would show that the Battle of Midway was the single most decisive naval battle of the war and turned the tide in the Pacific.

Other legendary leaders highlighted in this outstanding book include father of the Navy SEALs, Adm. Chuck LeMoyne; WWII British officer and father of the SAS, Col. David Stirling; U.S. Special Operations leader Gen. Stanley McChrystal; Air Force visionary Billy Michell; Vietnam War hero Col. Elliot “Bud” Sydney; and former president Barack Obama, who, like Nimitz and Midway, faced a difficult decision, with uncertain information, about launching the mission to capture Osama bin Laden.

“It was an enormous risk, but one the president knew he had to take. I admired his guts –– Who Dares Wins –– but more importantly,” McRaven reflects about Obama, “I admired his intellect for understanding the nature of the risks he was assuming.”

Good leaders attack problems aggressively. “Mistakes of action are far less consequential than mistakes of inaction,” he notes. Hope, luck, and desire are important, but they are not a strategy. “Be a risk-taker, but manage the risk through extensive planning, preparation, and proper execution.”

All Hands: McRaven speaks to service members at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Thanksgiving Day, 2013. (Army Staff Sgt. Osvaldo Equite)

Each chapter features an insightful epigram quotation by well-known and sometimes surprising people: Abraham Lincoln, Marie Curie, Alvin Toffler, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, William Shakespeare, Tacitus, Booker T. Washington, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and Taylor Swift.

Yes, Taylor Swift.

In fact, her epigram quote for chapter ten, titled “No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy,” is a found haiku:

Just because you made

a good plan doesn’t mean that’s

what’s gonna happen

McRaven discusses the importance of planning, inspecting, and always having a plan B.

When one of their helicopters became damaged in the bin Laden raid, the well-trained and ready SEALs adjusted, overcame, and accomplished their mission. Training mitigates risk and saves lives.

Importantly, McRaven notes that even the best leaders will have setbacks and seemingly insurmountable challenges. But how they deal with failures and obstacles makes all the difference.

This is a great book for any new leader, would-be commander, and anyone interested in the importance of character, competence, and ethical behavior –– integrity –– in military and national leadership.

There are many references in “Bullfrog” to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, Coronado, and San Clemente. But there is an unexpected thread throughout the book leading through Hawaii, which help illustrate key leadership principles.

“The Wisdom of the Bullfrog” concludes with a spotlight on Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy’s favorite book, “Gates of Fire” by Steven Pressfield. "Gates of Fire" is also a favorite of Gen. James Mattis (USMC, Ret.) and is a recommendation by Adm. James Stavridis (USN, Ret.). The novel is or has been on the reading lists of many military leaders, including the Commandant of the Marine Corps (currently a vacant position).

Pressfield speaks to Marines and fellow veterans at Camp Pendleton in 2011. (Sgt. Skyler Tooker)

“Gates of Fire” imagines the 300 Spartans who fought valiantly in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. In the fictionalized account, Pressfield, a former Marine, channels what the last Spartan may have said about his king, King Leonidas, and what made his king such a great leader: “A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall, A king does not command his men’s loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them…”

While not always easy –– and often extremely hard to live by –– McRaven’s leadership principles are actually “simple” he says. He offers a list of sayings taken from his chapter headings and a QR code at the end of the book for readers to obtain a printable version of the “Wisdom of the Bullfrog.” (The term Bullfrog refers to the the longest serving Navy SEAL on active duty, which McRaven once was for nearly 40 years.)

Sometimes advanced age has its leadership advantages.

The Nimitz We Need Now

Review by Bill Doughty––

Historian Ian Toll calls Clyde Symonds’s new book “The greatest biography yet written about the greatest admiral in American history.” The book is “Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay” (Oxford University Press, 2022).

This book compiles well-known Nimitz information during the war in the Pacific and spices the narrative with new flavors: what Nimitz was saying to colleagues, writing in letters to family, and doing in his limited spare time with friends in Hawaii during the war. Symonds seems to get into the mind of the great admiral “behind those cool blue eyes, impassive expression, and enigmatic demeanor.”

Nimitz was serious but did not take himself too seriously. He was known for storytelling, and he enjoyed 

a good ribald joke, which Symonds relays in “Nimitz at War.” Readers will smile at Nimitz’s hotel joke, what he said to his daughter about praying in church, how he joked about his missing half ring finger, and how he labeled his toilet paper at his Makalapa home.

This biography is bracketed almost entirely to the war years, starting with Nimitz’s arrival to a devastated Pearl Harbor. It’s divided into four parts: Taking Command, The South Pacific, The Central Pacific Drive, and Dénouement. Using excellent sources, including contemporaneous correspondence and messages, oral histories, and especially the Nimitz Graybook, Symonds takes readers to Nimitz’s side during battles and campaigns in the Marshall Islands, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Aleutians, Philippine Sea, Saipan, Leyte Gulf, Okinawa, and more.

Marines at Betio during Battle of Tarawa

We get a gripping recounting of the intelligence preparations, training challenges, command tensions, and communications frustrations in the early 1940s. We read about Nimitz’s quiet “anxiety” in the lead-up to the Battle of Midway, for example, where Nimitz decided to trust Rochefort’s intelligence and ambush the then-powerful Imperial Japanese Navy. “It is difficult in hindsight to appreciation the boldness of that decision,” Symonds writes.

Nimitz had high regard for the Sailors and Marines he sent in harm’s way, including the heroic Marines who assaulted Betio and the fearless Marines who stormed Iwo Jima. Nimitz famously reported, “Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

The lives of Sailors, Marines, and Soldiers lost in combat weighed heavily on him, yet he was able to “compartmentalize” thanks to words of wisdom from his grandfather: “never to worry about things that were beyond his control.”

We read about Nimitz’s love for hiking and long walks, swimming in the ocean, playing horseshoes, and shooting at a pistol range at Makalapa.

Toll may be right that this is the best Nimitz biography considering the depth of the analysis, the plethora of photos, and the 15 fantastic maps and charts by Jeffrey L. Ward. What makes this book extra special is the way Symonds weaves relationships between Nimitz and other contemporary leaders: How E.J. King underestimated Nimitz, how Spruance and Halsey could be as different as ice and fire yet still be friends, and how MacArthur could be so obstinate and belligerent but still fail to steamroll Nimitz and the Navy despite continual efforts to challenge command authority.

Nimitz was in firm control of strategy during the U.S. Navy’s advancement across the Pacific. We see how he trusted and was supported by Spruance, Lockwood, Layton, Mitscher and others –– and how he met the challenges of dealing with Towers, Holland “Mad” Smith, Halsey, and especially MacArthur.

When Nimitz received his fifth star as Fleet Admiral he wanted Spruance to also receive a fifth star, but Washington instead awarded it to Halsey, whose brash and bombastic style caught the media’s attention much more so than Spruance’s quiet, diplomatic, and cerebral way. Symonds makes the case that Spruance deserves his more respected place in history.

Of course, like all humans, Nimitz was not a perfect person. Symonds calls the Texas hill country admiral “a product of his time and his culture” in that he avoided African American service members (with the notable exception of Messman Doris “Dorie” Miller, to whom Nimitz presented the Navy Cross for December 7 heroism). In 1943 there were no black officers in the Navy. And Nimitz also wanted no part in having women service members on his staff, disallowing WAVES from serving in the Pacific.

Relocating Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs) to concentration camps.

Still, Nimitz resisted persecution of Americans of Japanese ancestry (AJAs).

At the outset of the war, Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Army General John DeWitt pushed for relocation of AJAs.

DeWitt “instituted a program that eventually relocated some 120,000 Japanese Americans from California and other western states, miles inland.

In March of 1942 FDR approved a recommendation to remove 158,000 AJAs from Hawaii as well.

Although some relocation camps were set up in Hawaii, Nimitz thought the idea of removing AJAs from Hawaii was “neither necessary nor desirable.” Symonds writes: “It was not out of an enlightened concern for the civil rights of Japanese Americans; he simply recognized the practical limitations of such a policy.” Nimitz realized AJAs played a critical role in the local Hawaii economy.

Symonds shows how Nimitz dealt with many respected high-profile visitors, first in Hawaii and later in Guam. One of the guests who visited Pearl Harbor was first-lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who also toured Bora Bora, Aitutaki, Tutuila, and even Guadalcanal, helping raise the morale of fighting men there.

At the end of the war, Nimitz took a statesmanlike stance in ordering his officers enlisted Sailors and Marines to utter no more insults or epithets and to treat the defeated people of Japan with dignity: “Neither familiarity and open forgiveness nor abuse and vituperation should be permitted,” he ordered. 

Nimitz ended his career as Chief of Naval Operations, working for prickly Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. As CNO, Nimitz successfully fought for Navy independence during efforts to downsize and consolidate the military services after the war. “As strong a champion as he was of joint service and joint command, he fought hard to prevent the Navy from being subsumed altogether … His calm, non-confrontational manner acted as a balm to the fierce and sometimes better inter-service rivalries concerning unification, budgets, and national policy.”

Nimitz’s priorities, plans, and abilities –– especially his skill in dealing with challenging colleagues, subordinates, and senior leaders –– were the mark of brilliance. Though Ian Toll calls “Nimitz at War” a biography, Symonds claims it’s not:

“This is not a biography of Chester Nimitz. It is, instead, a close examination of his leadership during his three and a half years directing World War II in the Pacific Theater when his actions and decisions guided the course of the war and helped determine its outcome, the legacy of which we still live with today. In many ways, it is remarkable that he assumed such a role. National trauma –– social, political, economic, and military –– produces a cultural tension that can challenge democratic norms. In such circumstances, the loudest, most aggressive voices often assume leadership roles. During World War II, military and naval leaders such as Admiral Ernest J. King, General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral “Bull” Halsey, and General George Patton all rose to prominence. All were talented and competent. All were also larger-than-life figures whose temperament, stubbornness, self-assurance, and impatience characterized their leadership. They were, and are, polarizing figures.

“Nimitz, like Generals George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower, exemplified another leadership style, a quieter one that depended on intelligent listening, humility, and patience. Nimitz did not shrink from hard decisions –– he was, at critical moments, as bold as any commander in the war. Yet he believed that ultimate success depended on accommodation as well as determination, on humility as well as aggressiveness, on nurturing available human resources as well as asserting his authority. Rather than impose orders, he elicited solutions; he sought achievement, not attention. He unified. His was a quiet, calm, yet firm hand on the tiller during an existential crisis, and his leadership style reinforced rather than challenged democratic norms. It is a leadership template more relevant than ever.”

Symonds says his “focus and purpose” is to “re-create and evaluate” what Nimitz experienced and achieved in the 1,341 days of the war in the Pacific as he “commanded, directed, and supervised the largest naval force ever assembled in the largest naval war ever fought.”

As a result of his excellent presentation, Symonds also succeeds in profiling the type of leader we need not only in the Navy, but also for the United States itself: indeed, “a leadership template more relevant than ever.”

Nimitz the Artist

Review by Bill Doughty––

Among the unexpected joys of reading “Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific” by Trent Hone (Naval Institute Press, 2022) is imagining the great leader as an artist.

Which art is the real surprise.

In “Mastering the Art” Hone examines the Pacific war years (1941-45) and presents the people, operations, and challenges Nimitz confronted.

Most fascinating is Nimitz’s relationship with egotists Admiral “Bull” Halsey and General Douglas MacArthur –– interactions rife with tension and friction. Hone also delves into the complicated leadership dynamics between Nimitz at Pearl Harbor and Admiral Ernest J. King and the joint chiefs in Washington D.C. And, we see his smooth connection with Admirals Raymond A. Spruance, Thomas C. Kinkaid, Marc A. Mitscher, and Charles A. Lockwood.

Whenever possible, Nimitz surrounded himself with people he trusted and who, like him, believed in the relentless and aggressive pursuit of perfection in planning, equipping, and understanding circumstances in order to act, react, and adapt as circumstances changed.

Through Hone’s narrative and in tables and maps, he portrays Operations Galvanic, Flintlock, Granite, Hotfoot, Causeway, Detachment, and Iceberg, among others.

“During those operations, Nimitz displayed inspirational leadership that created opportunities for his subordinates to excel. He delegated extensively, but when major decisions called for his authority or expertise, he took in the best advice available and acted decisively. With responsibility resting on his shoulders, he then invited his subordinates to cocreate positive outcomes through dialogue and conversation. Leadership for Nimitz was not a position of authority but an ‘emergent, interactive dynamic’ that created new possibilities.”

Nimitz inspects Midway Atoll, March 1942. (NHHC)

This book offers dozens of maps, figures, and tables; a list of abbreviations; selected code names of WWII, and extensive notes, bibliography, and index. There are also more than a dozen wartime photos, mostly of Nimitz's visits across the Pacific. It’s a worthy addition to any naval leader’s bookshelf. And it’s a celebration of quiet, competent, humble, and ethical leadership.

The author’s brilliant writing is at its best in chapter 4, “Seizing the Opportunity.” We feel the precariousness of defending Guadalcanal and how Nimitz handled leadership challenges on both ends of the Pacific –– with Adm. Robert A. Theobald in the Northeast and Adm. Robert L. Ghormley in the South. Fortunately, he had leaders he could count on in Adm. John S. McCain, Alexander A. Vandegrift, and Richmond Kelly Turner.

Nimitz balanced three flows: information, logistics, and combat forces. He achieved balance with three tenets: collaboration, trust, and unity. Hone shows how Nimitz capitalized on his interpersonal skills, judge of character, and lessons learned over decades, including in the early months of the war.

“After Midway, Nimitz and his staff built on a learning system developed in the interwar period,” Hone writes. That insight made me glad I recently read about the legacy of Adm. Joseph Reeves in “All the Factors of Victory: Adm. Joseph Mason Reeves and the Origins of Carrier Airpower” by Thomas Wildenberg, also from Naval Institute Press (see our previous Navy Reads post). Nimitz capitalized on the innovations in carrier aviation developed by Reeves and others. He also embraced amphibious warfare, joint operations, and –– thanks to his own experience ––submarine power.

“By the end of September (1944), Nimitz’s command was like a coiled spring, ready to release its new and increasingly capable potential against Japanese defenses in the central Pacific.”

Hone concludes that Nimitz was indispensable to victory by America and its Allies in the Pacific in under four years of intense action.

“We must acknowledge how the core characteristics of Nimitz’s command structure were essential to victory. Without Nimitz’s sense making capabilities, relentless pursuit of options, and sustained operational tempo, the war in the Pacific would have been quite different. The offensive that flowed across the Pacific, neutralized enemy strongpoints, and brought the war to the shores of Japan was a result of Nimitz’s command structure.”

A highlight and insight into Nimitz’s character appears in Chapter 10, “Achieving Victory,” in which Hone presents the admiral’s message to his command in August 1945 when it was clear that Japan would surrender after King told Nimitz to cease attack operations. Nimitz directed officers of the Pacific Fleet to “take steps to require of all personnel under their command a high standard of conduct” ––“dignity and decorum.” “Neither familiarity and open forgiveness nor abuse and vituperation should be permitted.” He rejected the concept of “us and them.”

In Nimitz we see balance between strategy & tactics, reason & emotion, and science & art. Nimitz demonstrated how a good ethical structure can allow creativity to thrive and how progress can be achieved and sustained.

And in that vein Hone introduces us to Nimitz the artist.

Admiral Nimitz embraced collective action, effective collaboration, and rapid learning. He always kept the flow moving in synergistic rhythm by modifying and adapting –– in other words “riffing.”

As a leader, he harmonized, sometimes took the lead, and whenever possible let others solo.

His art? Jazz!

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“In ‘Learning War,’ Trent Hone described the elements of success for the Navy as a complex learning system before and during WWII. In ‘Mastering the Art of Command,’ he focuses on Admiral Nimitz himself and the leadership qualities he demonstrated to achieve the Navy’s learning potential and win the war in the Pacific. Together, these two books are a master class in leading complex learning systems, and should be required reading for every aspiring leader.” —Adm. John Richardson, USN (Ret.), 31st Chief of Naval Operations

Not Forgotten: Adm. Joseph M. Reeves

Review by Bill Doughty––

“Saratoga’s bow cut through the black water, her stern leaving a luminescent trail in her wake as she moved through the darkness in the early hours of 26 January 1929 … On her flag bridge, standing in the cool night air, stood Rear Adm. Joseph Mason Reeves, the commander of the Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet.”

That’s from the opening paragraph of a book that takes readers back nearly a hundred years to the nascent development of aircraft carrier warfare tactics and strategies: “All the Factors of Victory: Adm. Joseph Mason Reeves and the Origins of Carrier Airpower” by Thomas Wildenberg (Naval Institute Press, 2003).

This not-to-be-overlooked book covers more than a half-century of Admiral Reeves’s service in a Navy uniform and beyond.

Aboard Saratoga, as described in the book’s prologue, Reeves demonstrated the power of a carrier task force. It was “a stunning success of the aerial operations” under his command, according to Wildenberg, who presents an indispensable biography and history of Reeves and his achievements.

The author takes us into the U.S. Naval Academy with Reeves, who became a star on the Navy’s football team, especially against Army. Wildenberg describes how Reeves developed his own football headgear –– made of moleskin –– the first helmet used in collegiate football.

As a junior officer, Reeves saw action in the Spanish-American War at the Battle of Santiago. His career was “intertwined” with that of his colleague and fellow junior officer aboard USS Oregon (BB-3), William D. Leahy. Leahy would later become Reeves’s chief of staff in the spring of 1946.

Reeves and Leahy (NHHC)

This book shows Reeves’s connections with cryptanalyst Joseph Rochefort, well-before the intelligence officer reported to Station Hypo, Pearl Harbor, and cracked the code to help the Navy win at the Battle of Midway. We see the admiral's influence on Adm. "Bull" Halsey, Adm. Marc Mitscher, and Adm. Ernest J. King, among others.

In an unadorned style, Wildenberg introduces us to the people, places, and events that shaped the early days of naval air power and the man considered “the father of carrier warfare” and a stickler for training and preparedness. “[H]e was a major, if not the leading, proponent of readiness in the entire prewar Navy.”

Reeves's aggressive style was a double-edged sword, winning praise from some but alienating others, especially those who were stuck to the past or worried only about making rank. One of the best Reeves quotes is: “A commander who stops to appraise the impact of a military decision upon his personal fortunes has no right to be entrusted with command.”

Prior to USS Saratoga becoming his flag ship, Reeves commanded the U.S. Fleet aboard USS Pennsylvania (BB-38).

Admirals assemble aboard USS Pennsylvania, which would become flagship of Adm. Reeves (front, second from left). The full caption is at the bottom of this post.

Reeves, Wildenberg notes, was the first U.S. naval officer qualified in aviation promoted to flag rank; the first officer in the Navy to carry the title of Carrier Commander, U.S. Fleet; and the first flying officer to be selected as Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Reeves to lead “lend-lease” efforts to supply Navy ships to Great Britain.

Lend-lease was FDR’s way to legally equip Churchill’s Royal Navy in the early months of World War II, prior to United States’ entry into the war after the attack by Imperial Japan on Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.

Reeves also played a pivotal role for the Navy and the nation in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor and other targets on Oahu.

SECNAV Frank W. Knox and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson selected Reeves, along with Admiral William H. Standley, as Navy representatives on a commission directed by FDR to investigate readiness failures at Pearl Harbor. The Army appointed two senior general officers. Supreme Court Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts led the commission.

At Fort Shafter, an Army base near Pearl Harbor, the commission members interviewed their first witness, Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, commander of all Army forces in Hawaii.

“It was obvious from his responses to the commission’s questions that Short, veteran infantry officer, did not have a good grasp of the Army’s mission to protect the fleet while it was anchored in Pearl Harbor. When Reeves’s turn came, he ‘raked the general over the coals’ with his probing questions about the status of Hawaii’s air defense system, the Army’s inability to detect the threat of a carrier attack, and its communication procedures with the Navy. Short, who had been obsessed with sabotage and training, freely admitted that he had made a serious mistake by not placing his forces on alert against the threat of an all-out attack.”

Adm. Joseph M. Reeves

The commission also heard from Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, the Navy commander of Pearl Harbor who was faulted for lack of preparedness, even though the Navy had held simulated air attacks on Pearl Harbor, led by Reeves himself. Kimmel was faulted for not protecting the harbor against torpedo attacks and his failure to order 360-degree air patrols.

Reeves insisted on the need for accountability for the military’s lack of readiness at Pearl Harbor. Wildenberg writes, “Reeves regarded the debacle at Pearl Harbor as a disgrace to the United States Navy.”

You’ll find captivating vignettes, photos, leadership examples, and a sweep of history in this excellent and timeless book.

In All the Factors of Victory's: epilogue, Wildenberg discusses the leadership qualities that made Reeves a great admiral:

“...knowing the job thoroughly, setting examples, and taking care of one’s personnel, gaining their confidence, and then making them feel stronger than they actually are.” Reeves, he said, could both take initiative and delegate authority, always thinking about new, innovative ways to achieve goals. Wildenberg lists a number of other key qualities Reeves possessed, “well-versed in all aspects of naval science … a teacher and a tactician who had a lifelong commitment to learning.”

“Perhaps Reeves’s greatest legacy to the Navy, however, lay in the contribution he made to carrier warfare. As historian William F. Trimble was quick to note, ‘Reeves more than any other single figure, pointed the way to making carrier aviation an indispensable part of the fleet.’ He was a farsighted man who did more to shape the future role of carrier aviation than any other officer in the Navy. His ‘Thousand and One Questions’ fostered the development of a host of innovative doctrines and tactics that laid the foundations for all of the major tenets of modern carrier doctrine. He was the first flag officer to employ the aircraft carrier as an offensive weapon that could be used to mount long-range attacks on an enemy’s coast. Under his leadership, carrier commanders began to exercise the freedom of movement that later [would] become the hallmark of U.S. naval operations in the Pacific during World War II. Most important of all, Reeves deftly fashioned an offensive role for carrier aviation that did not threaten the supremacy of the battleship, thereby assuring that the resources needed to further the development of carrier-borne air power would continue to be allocated during the lean years of the Depression.”

In other words, Reeves’s insistence in readiness and training, coupled with his commitment to innovation in carrier aviation, would lead to the U.S. Navy’s success in the Pacific War, especially in the Battle of Midway. That success would be carried forward into the Cold War by USS Midway (CV-41), among other great aircraft carriers.

USS Reeves (CG-24) underway in the Indian Ocean, Aug. 20, 1975. (PH1/AC R. H. Green, NHHC)

I was working for the Navy when USS Reeves (CG-24), namesake of the great admiral, transferred from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Yokosuka, Japan, arriving Aug. 14, 1980. Reeves swapped with USS Worden (CG-18), to become “the Only Cruiser in Town” of the Forward-Deployed Naval Forces.

Reeves was the anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) picket for Battle Group Alpha for Midway.

USS Pennsylvania photo caption: Aboard USS PENNSYLVANIA, flagship of the U.S. fleet. Quoted from the Long Beach Press-Telegram: The largest gathering of flag officers of the United States Fleet was recorded aboard the USS PENNSYLVANIA. Twenty Rear Admirals, Vice Admirals, and Admirals assembled at the request of Admiral David Foote Sellers, Commander in Chief of the Unites States Fleet, to discuss final details of the Atlantic Cruise which begins Monday morning. L to R (seated): Vice Admiral Harris Laning, COM Cruisers, Scouting Force; Admiral Joseph M. Reeves, COM Battle Force; Admiral Sellers; Vice Admiral Frank H. Brumby, COM Scouting Force; Vice Admiral Walton R. Sexton, COM Battleships, Battle Force. (Standing): Rear Admiral Manley H. Simons, Chief of Staff to Vice Admiral Laning; Rear Admiral Sinclair Gannon, Ordered AS COM Minecraft, Battle Force; Rear Admiral A.E. Watson, COM Destroyers, Scouting Force; Rear Admiral H.E. Lackey, COM CRUDIV 4, Scouting Force; Rear Admiral Edward B. Fenner, COM CRU Battle Force; Rear Admiral John Halligan, COM Aircraft, Battle Force; Rear Admiral Henry V. Butler, COM Battleship DIV 3; Rear Admiral Charles P. Snyder, Chief of Staff to Admiral Sellers; Rear Admiral Thomas T. Craven, COM Battleship DIV 1; Rear Admiral W.T. Tarrant, COM 11th N.D; Rear Admiral E.C. Kalbfus, COM DES, Battle Force; Rear Admiral C.E. Courtney, Ordered as COM CRU, Battle Force; Rear Admiral Frederick J. Horne, COM Base Force; Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, Chief of Staff to Admiral Reeves; Rear Admiral W.S. Pye, Chief of Staff to Vice Admiral Brumby. Photo taken April 6, 1934. (NHHC)