Thomas F. Connolly
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Vice Admiral Thomas Francis Connolly Jr. (October 24, 1909 – May 24, 1996) was a three-star rank admiral in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, aviator,
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and Olympic medalist in the 1932 Summer Olympics. Connolly served in Navy for 38 years. Over his career he served in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, oversaw the development of a program that later evolved into the
United States Naval Test Pilot School The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experi ...
, commanded two aircraft carriers, and served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare, retiring from that post in 1971. Connolly was instrumental in the development of the
Grumman F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...
. The plane was named in his honor and for
Thomas Hinman Moorer Thomas Hinman Moorer (February 9, 1912 – February 5, 2004) was an admiral and naval aviator in the United States Navy who served as the chief of naval operations from 1967 to 1970, and as the seventh chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from ...
, then Chief of Naval Operations.


Early life

Connolly was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Most of his childhood was spent in
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. He attended the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
. In 1929, he received an appointment for the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
.


Olympics

Connolly competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where he received a bronze medal in
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. This was the fourth and last time this was an Olympic event. There were five competitors in the event.


Naval career

Connolly graduated 52nd out of a class of 435 at the Naval Academy. Following graduation from the Naval Academy in 1933, Connolly was ordered to
Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...
for flight training, and subsequently received his naval aviator wings. In 1939 he was assigned to conduct post graduate studies in aeronautical engineering at the Naval Academy. He received a master's degree in the subject at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
in 1942. In March 1943, Connolly assumed command of Patrol Squadron 13, at which time they were flying
Consolidated PB2Y Coronado The PB2Y Coronado is a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft, and used by the US Navy during World War II in bombing, antisubmarine, and transport roles. Obsolete by the end of the war, Coronados were quickly taken ...
aircraft. He remained at that posting until September 1944. During his time in command, the unit saw action at the Gilbert Islands, the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...
, and bombed
Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...
. While serving in command of this unit, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the
Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...
, both with two gold stars indicating additional awards. In 1944, Connolly was assigned to
Naval Air Station Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air S ...
as Assistant Director of Flight Test. He became one of the first 50 USN pilots to pilot a jet plane, flying a YP-59A on February 24, 1945. During his time at Patuxtent, Connolly found that working with multiple personnel from different fields that nobody communicated in the same technical language. As a result, he recommended starting a school within the command to train pilots and engineers to use the same language. This school began operating in 1945. This school became the Test Pilot Training Division, and would later evolve into the United States Navy Test Pilot School. In early 1947, he commenced a tour at sea as executive officer of , completing the tour in September, 1948. Connolly returned to Patuxtent and became the second commander of the Test Pilot School in December 1948. In 1948 while at Patuxtent, he co-authored the textbook "Airplane Aerodynamics", which became a standard textbook at multiple universities. While in command of the school, he qualified as a helicopter pilot. Connolly remained the commander of the school until April 1951. In June 1951 he assumed command of Heavy Attack Squadron Six (VAH-6), remaining in that post until July 1952. His next posting came that month as the Experimental Officer at the
Naval Ordnance Test Station Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installat ...
. On August 21, 1957, he assumed command of the aircraft carrier . During his time as commander, ''Hornet'' deployed to the Western Pacific in the
United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...
area of operations. He remained in command until August 25, 1958. In 1958, he assumed the position of Assistant Chief of the Pacific Missile Range within the Bureau of Aeronautics. It was during this time that he put together a group which came to be known as the "Connolly Committee". That group's seminal work was "The Navy in the Space Age". This group's work and recommendations were approved by the Chief of Naval Operations on July 13, 1959, and became pivotal in the development of the Navy Navigation Satellite System, the first system of its kind in the world. Following this posting, Connolly was Commander, Carrier Division Seven. From May 18, 1964 to August 28, 1965 he was Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Operations and Readiness. During this posting he was the Director of the Combat Consumables Requirement Study (Non-Nuclear Ordnance Study), for which he received the Legion of Merit. On October 30, 1965 he became Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific in a ceremony held onboard the carrier . On November 1, 1966, he was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare. He remained in that posting until his retirement on August 31, 1971.


Role in F-14 development

During the time of his posting as DCNO for Air Warfare, the Navy was developing the
TFX Program The United States Air Force and Navy were both seeking new aircraft when Robert McNamara was appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense in January 1961. The aircraft sought by the two armed services shared the need to carry heavy armament and fuel loads, ...
together with the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
. The Navy's version of this replacement for the
F4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and ...
was the
General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B The General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B is a long-range carrier-based interceptor aircraft that was planned to be a follow-on to the F-4 Phantom II for the United States Navy (USN). The F-111B was developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics in con ...
. As American air operations in the
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ramped up, the Navy's requirements for the plane evolved to include capabilities for
air combat manoeuvring Air combat manoeuvring (also known as ACM or dogfighting) is the tactical art of moving, turning and/or situating one's fighter aircraft in order to attain a position from which an attack can be made on another aircraft. Air combat manoeuvre ...
, a task for which the F-111 was not designed. Responding to this, Connolly set out requirements for a replacement naval interceptor. In 1968, during testimony before the
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for ''Senate Armed Services Committee'') is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Def ...
, Connolly was asked by chairman John C. Stennis for his opinion on what would make the F-111B work for naval service. He responded, "There isn't enough power in all Christendom to make that airplane what we want!". On being contradicted by
Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...
Paul Ignatius, who referenced a report written by Connolly the prior year that praised the F-111B, Connolly reversed himself. Nevertheless, Connolly's testimony was the death knell for the F-111B project, with it being cancelled in May 1968. Subsequently, Connolly effectively became the F-14 project manager.


Later life

Following retirement, Connolly lived in the
McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxi ...
area until the early 1990s, when he moved to
Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black Ri ...
. He worked as a consultant on national defense. Connolly died May 24, 1996 in Holland, Michigan from emphysema and an aortic aneurysm at the age of 86. His wife of 58 years passed away April 26, 2010.


Honors

Connolly was awarded Tailhooker Of The Year in 1969 by the Tailhook Association. In 1998 he was inducted into the
Naval Aviation Hall of Honor The United States Naval Aviation Hall of Honor, located at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, recognizes individuals "who by their actions or achievements made outstanding contributions to Naval Aviation." Since its inception ...
, and in 1999, he was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame.


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Thomas 1909 births 1996 deaths American male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics United States Navy pilots of World War II People from Saint Paul, Minnesota United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Military personnel from Minnesota