This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Kent Weekly (SS/DSV) (DBF), EMCS
to remember
Raborn, William Francis, Jr., VADM USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Decatur, TX
Last Address McLean, VA
Date of Passing Mar 07, 1990
Location of Interment U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium (VLM) - Annapolis, Maryland
VADM Raborn led the development of the Polaris nuclear missile while working in the Fleet ballistic Missile Program. After his retirement from the Navy, he was chosen to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency where he served from April 1965 until June 1966.
Other Comments:
Navy Distiguished Service Medal Awarded for Actions During Cold War
Service: Navy
General Orders: Board Serial 704 (August 5, 1960)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Rear Admiral William F. Raborn, Jr. (NSN: 0-62102/1310), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States from 2 December 1955 to 20 July 1960. In late 1955, Rear Admiral Raborn was charged with the task of developing a Fleet Ballistic Missile System. Exhibiting outstanding organizational ability and technical competence, he established the Special Projects Office, Department of the Navy, and directed his attention to the inauguration of definitive management methods which would provide not only the necessary degree of control but insure that expenditures would be in accord with budgetary considerations as well as the urgency of the program. He established a single yet forceful management system which encompassed all elements of his responsibility, implementing a totally new management tool - the Progress Evaluation Reporting Technique. The widespread adoption of this method of evaluating the progress of a complex research and development program by large sections of American industry reflects his keen perception and resourcefulness. Rear Admiral Raborn's dynamic leadership, enthusiasm and initiative were the motivating factors in the successful accomplishment of this important task when, on 20 July 1960, the U.S.S. GEORGE WASHINGTON (SSBN-598) proved the operational readiness of Fleet Ballistic Missile System by launching two POLARIS missiles from the ocean depths. This deterrent signaled an historic contribution to the military strength of the United States and attested to Rear Admiral Raborn's extraordinary executive methods by bringing the Fleet Ballistic Missile System into being in the short period of three and one-half years. His outstanding professional ability, leadership, and inspiring devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Okinawa Gunto Operation
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
June / 1945
Description The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg. was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan, and planned to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.
The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, and tetsu no ame ("rain of steel") or ("violent wind of steel") in Japanese. The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based on Okinawan government sources, mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths (with an estimated total of more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds). Simultaneously, 42,000–150,000 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, a significant proportion of the local population. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting on Okinawa.
