“I greatly desire active service at sea...”
Gerald Ford began his World War II Navy service with initial training at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In May 1942 he began his first assignment as a physical fitness instructor at the Navy Pre-Flight School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Ford didn’t want to spend the war on land, however. He sought advice from a family acquaintance in the Navy’s Office of the Judge Advocate General, who encouraged him to actively apply for sea duty. On January 8, 1943, he wrote to the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel outlining his qualifications and requesting that he be considered for active sea duty. “My health is excellent; I am unmarried, 29 years old, and have no dependents so feel that active duty at sea is what I am best qualified for, if given some additional training,” he wrote.
Ford’s request was granted a few months later. In May 1943 he reported to the Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey, “for duty in connection with the fitting out of the U.S.S. Monterey and for duty on board that vessel when placed in commission.” Ford would serve at sea aboard the light aircraft carrier Monterey (CVL 26) for the remainder of 1943 and 1944.
Images: Memorandum from Lieutenant Gerald R. Ford to the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel Requesting a Transfer for Further Training Leading to Active Duty at Sea, 1/8/1943
