Admiral Marc A. Mitscher

Throughout his naval career, Marc Mitscher epitomized the qualities that made him an outstanding leader: honor, courage and commitment. Born on January 26, 1887, in Hillsboro, Wisconsin, he went on to graduate from the Naval Academy in 1910, earn his commission as an Ensign on March 7, 1912 and completed flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola in July 1916 to earn his "wings of gold."

Early in his career as a Naval Aviator Lieutenant Commander Mitscher learned the value of commitment, dedication and perseverance. In 1919 the Navy planned an attempt to be the first to fly across the Atlantic. Mitscher was assigned as one of the pilots aboard the NC-1 aircraft. His aircraft was part of a three-plane squadron attempting the trans-Atlantic flight. As one of the pilots, he quickly learned about courage and honor during the attempted trans-Atlantic flight. To fly this massive NC seaplane required skill, endurance and perseverance. The physical exertion and skill to maintain the aircraft in flight, especially in rough weather, was a true test of a person's mettle. His plane, along with the NC-3, was forced down in heavy seas due to thick fog before reaching the Azores, the midway point en route to Portugal. Keenly disappointed in not achieving the goal of being the first to cross the Atlantic, he drew from this experience a sharpened sense of duty and commitment necessary for success, thus setting the stage for his future accomplishments in Naval Aviation. For this attempted trans-Altantic flight he was awarded the Navy Cross "For distinguished service in the line of his profession as a member of the crew of the Seaplane NC-1, which made a long overseas flight from Newfoundland to the vicinity of the Azores in May 1919."

During the period between World War I and World War II Mitscher's experience with the Navy's developing carrier forces were instrumental in making carrier aviation a true striking force for the Navy in the Pacific war. He sought to improve the technology, tactics and doctrine for Naval Aviation. Certainly one of his most lasting contributions is the development of the carrier task force. Early in World War II aircraft carriers tended to operate alone. Mitscher sought to change this doctrine with the concentration of carrier forces that would eventually become the carrier task force. During the years of bitter naval combat in the Pacific, his name and the words "fast carrier task force" came to be synonymous. Carrier forces led by Admiral Mitscher gained and maintained control of the sea and air up to the very shores of Japan.

Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, involved in Naval Aviation for almost his entire career, died on February 3, 1947 while serving as Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. The words of Admiral Arleigh Burke provide the greatest tribute and recognition of his leadership, "He spoke in a low voice and used few words. Yet, so great was his concern for his people--for their training and welfare in peacetime and their rescue in combat--that he was able to obtain their final ounce of effort and loyalty, without which he could not have become the preeminent carrier force commander in the world. A bulldog of a fighter, a strategist blessed with an uncanny ability to foresee his enemy's next move, and a lifelong searcher after truth and trout streams, he was above all else--perhaps above all other--a Naval Aviator."