World War II United States Navy Admiral. An Aviation Pioneer, he is best remembered for commanding Task Force 58 during World War II. Born in Hillsboro, Wisconsin, he grew up and attended high school in the Washington DC area. In 1906, he received an appointment to the US Naval Academy. Graduating in 1910, he then served at sea for two years, as required by law at the time, before being commissioned an Ensign on March 7, 1912. Following commissioning, he served on the Battleship USS California and later, on the destroyers USS Whipple and USS Stewart. He took an early interest in flying, and became assigned to the USS North Carolina, one of the first Navy ships to carry an airplane. He completed flight training at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, on June 2, 1916, to earn his “wings of gold.” In May 1919, he was one of the pilots aboard NC-1, one of three seaplanes that attempted the first trans-Atlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Portugal via the Azores (only one of the planes, NC-4, made the entire flight). His plane was forced down just short of the Azores Islands, the midway point. Although he did not make the entire flight, he was awarded the Navy Cross for his valor, skill, and perseverance. Between the World Wars, Mitscher was instrumental in the development of naval aviation, working on improving the technology, tactics and doctrine. He had a variety of assignments, including the Naval Bureau of Aeronautics and two of the first Aircraft Carriers. His most lasting contribution was the development of the fast carrier task force, changing the employment of aircraft carriers alone to combining fleets of aircraft carriers for a single operation. On October 1941, Mitscher assumed command of the USS Hornet, and launched Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle’s Tokyo raiders from her decks on April 18, 1942. After that, Mitscher enjoyed strategic success with Naval aviation commands from the Solomon Islands to the Central and Western Pacific, culminating with his leadership of Task Force 58. In January 1944, he became commander of Carrier Division 3, which later became Fast Carrier Task Force 58. He commanded this force in the Campaign to capture the Marshall Islands, in the Battle of Philippine Sea, June 19-20, 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 24-25, 1944, as well as the Okinawa Campaign in the Spring of 1945. At the end of the war, he was offered the position of Chief of Naval Operations, but turned it down to become Commander of the 8th Fleet, and later Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. Mitscher died of a heart attack on February 3, 1947, while serving as Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. At his eulogy, Admiral Arleigh Burke praised him as a “bulldog of a fighter, a strategist blessed with an uncanny ability to foresee his enemy’s next move, and above all else, a Naval Aviator.”