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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.
Research and Development Foundation leader remembered
Date
Jun 11, 2015
Last Updated: Nov 6, 2015
Comments
Retired Naval Vice Admiral Albert Joseph Baciocco Jr. was a founding member and board chairman of the MUSC Foundation for Research and Development, a non-profit organization that collaborates with the business community to commercialize new inventions and discoveries made at the medical university. Baciocco died May 22 at age 84.
When MUSC launched the FRD in 1995, Baciocco must have seemed tailor-made for a leadership role. Born in San Francisco, he attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating just in time to serve out the final days of the Korean War. During a 2014 interview for the Veterans History Project, Baciocco shared that his ship, the USS St. Paul, fired what might have been the final shot of the war. "I think the round landed in North Korea about 23 seconds after the cease-fire," he said. "I always thought that was an appropriate end to the war."
As the interview continued, Baciocco explained that aboard ship, there was a lot of downtime. "?We had a Monopoly board so we played Monopoly all the way across the Pacific." He soon learned two things: how to be prepared for anything and how to beat Marines at Monopoly. "While I'm very proud of the Marines, and I love that service, I must say, they were not the best Monopoly players"
In 1957, Baciocco transferred to the USS Wahoo, a diesel-electric submarine, before becoming one of the first volunteers for the Navy's new nuclear submarine program. "I learned to be a naval officer on the St. Paul," he said. "I learned to be a submariner on the Wahoo."
Baciocco quickly went from student to teacher, teaching undergraduate-level physics and reactor engineering to enlisted men at the Nuclear Power School in New London, Connecticut. "That was a great experience. I learned to speak on my feet. I learned to teach. I used to say that Enrico Fermi was rolling over in his grave at some of the examples I used in class," he said, referring to the Italian physicist who built the first nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago.
Baciocco wasn't in the classroom for long. After serving on the commissioning crew of the USS Scorpion, he went on to serve as executive officer of the USS Barb and commanding officer of the USS Gato - all nuclear-powered attack submarines.
From 1969 to 1982, Baciocco served as commander of Submarine Division 42, Submarine Squadron 4 and Submarine Group 6, during which time he was responsible for more than 40 submarines and 20,000 military personnel. In 1982, he was appointed commander of Naval Base Charleston.
Baciocco served as chief of naval research from 1978 to 1981. In 1983, he was promoted to vice admiral and appointed director of Research, Development, Test and Evaluation in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he was responsible for oversight of naval research and development and tasked with managing a budget in excess of $10 billion.
While on active duty, Baciocco was awarded many commendations and unit citations, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, United Nations Medal, and French National Order of Merit. After 34 years of service, Baciocco retired from the Navy in 1987 but remained very active in the Charleston community. Among his many ventures, he raised more than $2 million to fund the Cold War Submarine Memorial at Patriot's Point, which features the actual sail and rudder of the USS Lewis and Clark, a ballistic missile submarine stationed in Charleston throughout the Cold War.
"The legacy of Charleston is built on deeper things than wine and cheese and social gatherings," Baciocco said in the Veterans History Project interview. Baciocco went on to serve as a member of the National Research Council, Naval Studies Board and Army Science Board and as a trustee for the South Carolina Research Authority. He was a senior fellow and regent of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and a lifetime national associate of the National Academies, which includes the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.
Baciocco served on the boards of several private companies, including Honeywell, Nekton Research and Pacific Nuclear Systems, of which he was the president and chief executive. He holds honorary doctorates from Florida Atlantic University and MUSC.
Michael Rusnak, executive director of the FRD, called Baciocco an indispensable leader. "As a founding member and former chairman of the Foundation for Research and Development, Admiral Baciocco's commitment and contributions to MUSC have been unparalleled. We owe him a debt of gratitude for his tireless dedication to our board and our cause." Baciocco is survived by his wife, Mary Jane Baciocco, whom he married in June 1955, four children and nine grandchildren.
"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. 
