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Steven Loomis (SaigonShipyard), IC3
to remember
Baciocco, Albert J., Jr. (Al), VADM USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town San Francisco, CA
Last Address Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Date of Passing May 22, 2015
Location of Interment U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium (VLM) - Annapolis, Maryland
Vice Admiral (SS) Albert Baciocco, Jr., USN (Ret.)
Admiral Baciocco was Chairman of the Cold War Submarine Memorial Foundation,
the driving force in establishing the memorial by that name at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.
Vice Admiral Albert Joseph Baciocco, Jr. graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1953, where he received a Bachelor of Science in engineering and later completed graduate level studies in the field of nuclear engineering as part of his training in the naval nuclear propulsion program. He served as Chief of Naval Research from 1978-1981 and as the Director of Research, Development, and Acquisition from 1983-1987. Upon retirement, he established the Baciocco Group, Inc., a technical and management consulting practice and has since been engaged in a broad range of business and pro bono activities with industry, government, and academe, including memberships on the Naval Studies Board and the Army Science Board. He has also provided his time to serving on the Boards of Directors of several corporations, both public and private. He is a Trustee of the South Carolina Research Authority, and serves as a Director of the Foundation for Research Development at the Medical University of South Carolina. Vice Admiral Baciocco has been designated a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies by the Council of the National Academies of Sciences.
Other Comments:
Vice Admiral Baciocco was born in San Francisco, California, on March 4, 1931. He graduated from Lowell High School and was accepted into Stanford University prior to entering the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in June 1949. He graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, and completed graduate level studies in the field of nuclear engineering in 1958 as part of his training for the naval nuclear propulsion program.
Admiral Baciocco served initially in the heavy cruiser USS SAINT PAUL (CA-73) during the final days of the Korean War, and then in the diesel submarine USS WAHOO (SS-565) until April of 1957 when he became one of the early officer selectees for the Navy's nuclear submarine program. After completion of his nuclear training, he served in the commissioning crews of three nuclear attack submarines: USS SCORPION (SSN-589), as Main Propulsion Assistant (1959-1961); USS BARB (SSN-596), as Engineer Officer (1961-1962), then as Executive Officer (1963- 1965); and USS GATO (SSN-615), as Commanding Officer (1965-1969). Subsequent at-sea assignments, all headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, included COMMANDER SUBMARINE DIVISION FORTY-TWO (1969-1971), where he was responsible for the operational training readiness of six SSNs; COMMANDER SUBMARINE SQUADRON FOUR (1974-1976), where he was responsible for the operational and material readiness of fifteen SSNs; and COMMANDER SUBMARINE GROUP SIX (1981-1983), where, during the height of the Cold War, he was accountable for the overall readiness of a major portion of the Atlantic Fleet submarine force, including forty SSNs, 20 SSBNs, and various other submarine force commands totaling approximately 20,000 military personnel, among which numbered some forty strategic submarine crews. During this period, in 1982, he served additionally as COMMANDER NAVAL BASE CHARLESTON.
Commencing in 1971, Admiral Baciocco also served ashore in senior technical and management positions within Department of the Navy headquarters in the fields of submarine warfare, antisubmarine warfare, financial management, science and technology, and acquisition. Initially assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations staff within the submarine warfare directorate, he was selected as Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management) and so served until 1974. In 1976, he returned to the Chief of Naval Operations staff and, upon selection to Flag rank in early 1977, became the division director responsible for all matters related to Navy attack submarines and deep submergence systems, including policy, planning, and budgeting for force structure, readiness, modernization, and the supporting infrastructure.
In 1978, the President of the United States nominated and the Senate confirmed Admiral Baciocco as Chief of Naval Research. In this position, he was the responsible official and principal interface with academe for the execution of the Navy's basic research program. He also was responsible for management oversight of the government- sponsored Independent Research & Development conducted by the defense industry. Subsequently assigned additional duty as Deputy Chief of Naval Material (Technology), he established the Office of Naval Technology and effectively became the Navy's Chief Technology Officer, directing the planning and execution of the entire technology base program for the Department of the Navy, then an $800 million annual investment in basic research and exploratory development being conducted in academe, industry and government laboratories. Admiral Baciocco served as Chief of Naval Research until June 1981.
In 1983, Admiral Baciocco was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed as Director, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In this position, he was the Navy Department principal for all research and development, test and evaluation, and acquisition matters. He was responsible for a budget in excess of $10 billion, directing the process and policies that governed the Navy's science and technology programs, the Navy RDT&E infrastructure, and Navy acquisition programs during a period of intense Navy buildup. He was the principal Navy interface with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a principal advisor on issues related to technology transfer and transition, and to U. S. industrial and manufacturing preparedness as it related to national security and defense. In addition, he served as the Navy's senior military interface with NATO and other allied governments, and with the defense industry for a broad range of technology transfer initiatives and cooperative research and development programs.
"HOLLAND CLUB MEMBER" United States Submarine Veterans Inc. (USSVI). The Admiral was sub qualified, July 1956, on board the USS Wahoo SS-565. He was listed as a member of the Holland Club (50+ years Submarine Qualified). He was killed in an automobile accident on 22 May, 2015. Admiral Baciocco is currently on Eternal Patrol.
Description Korea, Summer 1953, 1 May - 27 July 1953. There was little activity anywhere along the front as 1953 began. Then, as spring approached, the enemy renewed his attacks against the Eighth Army 's outpost line. By July these attacks had increased in frequency and intensity until they were nearly as heavy as those of May 1951.
In January 1953 Van Fleet had twelve South Korean and eight U.N. divisions to defend the army front. Total strength of combat, service, and security troops was nearly 768,000. Opposing the U.N. forces were seven Chinese armies and two North Korean corps, totaling about 270, 000 troops. Another 531,000 Chinese and North Korean troops remained in reserve. With service and security forces, total enemy strength in Korea was estimated at more than a million men.
Other than a few patrol clashes, little fighting occurred during January and February 1953. On 11 February Lt. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor took command of the Eighth Army as Van Fleet returned to the United States for retirement. The enemy increased his attacks during March, striking at outposts of the 2d and 7th Divisions and the 1st Marine Regiment. During the period 9-10 March the Chinese were successful in ambushing several U.N. patrols, inflicting heavy casualties in each instance. After these flare-ups the front quieted down until late May, when the enemy struck at the outposts of the U.S. 25th Division that were guarding the approaches to the Eighth Army's western positions. Although the enemy was successful in occupying three of the division outposts, he suffered nearly 3,200 casualties.
On the night of 10 June three Chinese divisions struck the ROK II Corps in the vicinity of Kumsong, attacking down both sides of the Pukhan River. Several attacks forced these units to withdraw about two miles. Both sides lost heavily; the Chinese suffered about 6,000 casualties and the ROK units about 7,400. By 18 June the attacks had subsided. By the end of the month, action along the entire front had returned to routine patrolling and light attacks.
Operation LITTLE SWITCH, an exchange of Allied and Communist sick and wounded prisoners, began on 20 April. When it was completed in the latter part of the month, 684 Allied prisoners had been exchanged for more than 6,000 Communists.
Armistice negotiations were resumed in April. The prisoner-of-war question was settled by providing each side an opportunity to persuade those captives who refused repatriation to their homeland to change their minds. By 18 June the terms of the armistice were all but complete; but on this date President Syngman Rhee ordered the release of 27,000 anti-Communist North Korean prisoners of war unilaterally, in protest against armistice terms which left Korea divided. U.N. officials disclaimed any responsibility for this action; but the enemy delegates denounced it as a serious breach of faith and delayed the final armistice agreement for another month. Enemy forces took advantage of this delay. On 13 July the Chinese launched a three-division attack against the left flank of the ROK II Corps and a one-division attack against the right flank of the U.S. IX Corps, forcing U.N. forces to withdraw about eight miles to positions below the Kumsong River. By 20 July, however, U.N. forces had counterattacked, retaken the high ground along the Kumsong River, and established a new main line of resistance. No attempt was made to restore the original line, as it was believed that the armistice would be signed at any time. Enemy casualties in July totaled about 72,000 men. Out of the five Chinese armies that had been identified in the attacks, the enemy had lost the equivalent of seven divisions.
By 19 July the negotiators at Panmunjom had reached an accord on all points. Details were worked out within a week and the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed at 1000 hours 27 July 1953.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
May / 1953
To Month/Year
July / 1953
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Admiral Baciocco served initially in the heavy cruiser USS SAINT PAUL (CA73) during the final days of the Korean War.