List of United States Coast Guard tombstone vice admirals

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This is a list of tombstone vice admirals in the United States Coast Guard. A tombstone promotion transferred an officer to the retired list with the rank and sometimes the pay of the next higher grade. More than a dozen rear admirals received tombstone promotions to vice admiral when they retired, for either completing 40 years of service or being specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II. Tombstone promotions for years of service ended on November 1, 1949, and for combat citations on November 1, 1959.

List of U.S. Coast Guard tombstone vice admirals

A tombstone vice admiral's date of rank was the date he retired. The Coast Guard made no distinction on the retired list between tombstone vice admirals and vice admirals who achieved that rank before retiring, unlike the Navy, which gave precedence to retired officers who had served on active duty in a grade over those who only received a tombstone promotion to that grade.[1][2]

Forty years of service

Lloyd T. Chalker

From 1923 to 1949, Coast Guard officers could retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade if they had at least 40 years of service, including time as a cadet,[3] although the retired pay for a vice admiral was the same as for a rear admiral (upper half).[4][5][6]

The promotion was meant as an incentive for officers to complete a full 40-year career in the Coast Guard, which was so small in 1923 that its only flag officer was the commandant of the Coast Guard. Even the commandant held only the ex officio rank of rear admiral and reverted to his permanent grade of captain upon leaving office, so a tombstone promotion was the only way Coast Guard officers could retire with the same rank and pay as line officers with comparable length of service in the much larger Navy.[7] A similar incentive had long been offered to Navy staff corps officers, who could retire in the grade of commodore after 40 years.[8]

The first two commandants to retire after 1923 each had more than 40 years of service but did not receive tombstone promotions to vice admiral because that grade did not exist in the Coast Guard until March 1942, when the incumbent commandant, Russell R. Waesche, was promoted to temporary vice admiral.[9] On July 1, 1946, Lloyd T. Chalker became the second Coast Guard officer to achieve three-star rank when he retired as a vice admiral after more than 40 years of service.[10][11] Former commandant Harry G. Hamlet and former assistant commandant Leon C. Covell had both retired before the vice admiral grade was established, and subsequently received tombstone promotions to that grade, ranking from their retirement dates.[12]

Flag grades were established in the Coast Guard in 1947, giving its officers the same promotion opportunities as their Navy counterparts, so Congress repealed the tombstone promotion for years of service, effective November 1, 1949.[13] Even after that date, Wilfrid N. Derby and Joseph E. Stika were still able to retire as vice admirals because they had already accumulated 40 years of service prior to the repeal.[14][15]

Name Date retired as vice admiral [16] Commission [17] Notes
Harry G. Hamlet 1 Sep 1938   1896 (USRCSSI) (1874–1954)[18] Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1932–1936.
Leon C. Covell 1 Jan 1942   1902 (USRCSSI) (1877–1960)[19]
Lloyd T. Chalker 1 Jul 1946   1903 (USRCSSI) (1883–1981)
Edward D. Jones 1 Oct 1946   1906 (USRCSSI) (1885–1954)
James Pine 1 Aug 1947   1908 (USRCSSI) (1885–1953)
Thomas A. Shanley 1 Sep 1947   1907 (USRCSSI) (1885–1965)
Stanley V. Parker 1 Nov 1947   1906 (USRCSSI) (1885–1968)
Gordon T. Finlay 1 Jun 1948   1909 (USRCSSI) (1886–1965)
William K. Scammell 1 Apr 1949   1911 (USRCSSI) (1889–1965)
Wilfrid N. Derby 1 Sep 1950   1911 (USRCSSI) (1889–1973)[20]
Joseph E. Stika 1 Oct 1951   1910 (USRCSSI) (1889–1976)[21]

Combat citations before the end of World War II

From 1942 to 1959, officers of the maritime services—Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Coast and Geodetic Survey—could retire with the rank but not the pay of the next higher grade, if they were specially commended for the performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II.

The Coast Guard claimed that a tombstone promotion for combat citations was a two-step process that first placed an officer on the retired list in his final active-duty rank, and then advanced him to a higher grade on the retired list; whereas a tombstone promotion for years of service placed an officer on the retired list directly in the higher grade, a distinction that justified the retired pay of the higher grade for the second type of tombstone promotion, which was only available in the Coast Guard.[13]

Tombstone promotions for combat citations were halted on November 1, 1959.[22]

Name Date retired as vice admiral [16] Commission [17] Notes
Lyndon Spencer 1 Nov 1946   1918 (USCGA) (1898–1981)
Roy L. Raney 1 Aug 1956   1924 (USCGA) (1900–1991)
Raymond J. Mauerman 1 Jul 1957   1922 (USCGA) (1898–1987)
Russell E. Wood 14 May 1959   1924 (USCGA) (1903–1981)
Kenneth K. Cowart 1 Jul 1959   1926 (USCGA) (1905–1996)
Harold C. Moore 1 Oct 1959   1926 (USCGA) (1901–1981)


Legislative history

The following list of Congressional legislation includes all acts of Congress pertaining to appointments to the grade of vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard before 1960.

Each entry lists an act of Congress, its citation in the United States Statutes at Large, and a summary of the act's relevance.

Legislation Citation Summary
Act of January 12, 1923  42 Stat. 1130
 42 Stat. 1131
  • Authorized commandant the rank and pay of rear admiral (lower half).
  • Authorized officers with 40 years of service to retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade.
Act of April 23, 1930  46 Stat. 253
  • Authorized commandant the same rank and pay as a Navy bureau chief (i.e. rear admiral (upper half)).
Act of June 25, 1936  49 Stat. 1924
  • Authorized commandant serving after June 1, 1936, to retire with the pay of rear admiral (upper half).
Act of June 6, 1942  56 Stat. 328
  • Authorized officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of February 21, 1946  60 Stat. 28
  • Authorized officers to be placed on the retired list with the rank and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the highest temporary grade in which they served satisfactorily on or before June 30, 1946.
Act of August 4, 1949  63 Stat. 516
 63 Stat. 561
  • Reauthorized officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to be placed on the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade and three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement, unless the duty was performed after December 31, 1946.
  • Repealed authorization for officers with 40 years of service to retire with the rank and retired pay of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1949.
Act of August 3, 1950  64 Stat. 406
  • Repealed authorization for officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with three-fourths of the active-duty pay of the grade in which serving at the time of retirement.
Act of August 11, 1959  73 Stat. 338
  • Repealed authorization for officers who were specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat, to retire with the rank of the next higher grade, effective November 1, 1959.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Register of Officers and Cadets of the United States Coast Guard in the Order of Precedence, 1 January 1967. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1967. p. 119.
  2. ^ Register of Retired Commissioned and Warrant Officers, Regular and Reserve, of the United States Navy. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. September 30, 1976. p. iii.
  3. ^ Acts of January 12, 1923 (42 Stat. 1131) and August 4, 1949 (63 Stat. 543).
  4. ^ "Statutory Construction—General And Specific Provisions—Pay—Retired—Coast Guard Commandant (19 Comp. Gen. 293)". Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States. Vol. 19. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1940. pp. 293–300. "William E. Reynolds v. The United States (95 C. Cls. 160)". Cases Decided in the Court of Claims of the United States. Vol. XCV. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1942. pp. 160–179.
  5. ^ "L. C. Covell v. The United States (111 C. Cls. 793)". Cases Decided in the Court of Claims of the United States. Vol. CXI. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1948. pp. 793–797.
  6. ^ "Retirement—Coast Guard Officers—Advancement In Rank Upon Retirement In Temporary Rank (27 Comp. Gen. 742)". Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States. Vol. 27. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1948. pp. 742–746. "T. A. Shanley v. The United States (122 C. Cls. 692)". Cases Decided in the Court of Claims of the United States. Vol. CXXII. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1952. pp. 692–697.
  7. ^ Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Eighty-Fourth Congress, First Session: Coast Guard Retirement Bills. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1955. pp. 21–36.
  8. ^ "Section 1481, Revised Statutes". Hearings Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives on Sundry Legislation Affecting the Naval Establishment, 1922–1923. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1923. pp. 1701–1705.
  9. ^ "U.S. Coast Guard". Army and Navy Journal. LXXIX (30): 819. March 28, 1942.
  10. ^ Waesche's successor as commandant, Joseph F. Farley, was promoted directly from rear admiral to admiral, skipping three-star rank entirely. "Adml. Waesche Funeral Held". The News (Frederick, Maryland). October 22, 1946. p. 10.
  11. ^ Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers and Cadets of the United States Coast Guard in the Order of Precedence, May 1, 1948. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1948. p. 89.
  12. ^ Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers and Cadets of the United States Coast Guard in the Order of Precedence, April 1, 1950. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1950. p. 67.
  13. ^ a b Hearings Before the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Eighty-Fourth Congress, Second Session: Sundry Legislation. Vol. 4. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1956. pp. 6966–1973.
  14. ^ "Coast Guard Icebreaker Sails Within 445 Miles Of Pole To Set Record". U.S. Coast Guard Bulletin. 6 (4). Washington, D.C.: 46 October 1950.
  15. ^ "Stika Promoted To Vice Admiral". The Honolulu Advertiser. October 5, 1951. p. 10.
  16. ^ a b Dates taken from the Coast Guard Register.
  17. ^ a b Sources of commission are listed in parentheses after the year of commission, and include the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) and the United States Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction (USRCSSI).
  18. ^ Retired as rear admiral, 1 Sep 1938; rank adjusted to vice admiral between 21 Oct 1946 and 1 Mar 1948, retroactive to date retired.
  19. ^ Retired as rear admiral, 1 Jan 1942; recalled to active duty as rear admiral, Jun 1943–Apr 1945; rank adjusted to vice admiral between 1 May 1949 and 1 Apr 1950, retroactive to date retired.
  20. ^ Retired as vice admiral, 1 Sep 1950, having completed 40 years of service before 1 Oct 1949.
  21. ^ Retired as vice admiral, 1 Oct 1951, having completed 40 years of service before 1 Oct 1949. Awarded Navy Cross, but for non-combat action.
  22. ^ Act of August 11, 1959 (73 Stat. 338).
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