In this audio excerpt from his oral history, Admiral Duncan describes the Navy’s V-12 College Training Program, which was launched to beef up the numbers of commissioned naval officers during World War II (some 125,000 participants passed through the program during and immediately after the war years).
Admiral Duncan was XO of the USS Hutchins (DD-476) in 1942 in combat action in the Aleutians and South Pacific, then CO of the USS Wilson (DD-408), taking part in action in the South and Central Pacific. After World War II, he served as XO of the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) and CO of the Chilton (APA-38), Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations CinCPac, Commander Amphibious Group One, and Commander Amphibious Training Command, Pacific Fleet. Discussions in his oral history cover various naval topics: neutrality patrol in the Atlantic, transfer of 50 destroyers to the Royal Navy, planning for CinCLant and newly established SACLant command, amphibious warfare in its early stages and later developments, naval education, and Navy Reservists.
