Rear Admiral J. M. "Bull" Reeves is responsible in many respects for the way carrier aviation still operates.
When Captain Joseph M. Reeves arrived on board the USS Langley (CV-1) in October 1925, none on board could have foreseen that this white bearded, 53-year-old was destined to be the first "air admiral" to command the U.S. Fleet. Known as "Bull" since his football-playing days at the U.S. Naval Academy, Reeves knew how to get the most out of his men. A shrewd and innovative tactician, he was an officer "trained to the gun, but not wedded to it."
As Reeves climbed the gangway, he may have felt a tinge of deja vu, for the network of steel girders under the flight deck did not hide the familiar lines of the former collier Jupiter (AC-3), his first command. In this new assignment, Reeves was Commander Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, and the "Covered Wagon," as the Langley euphemistically was called, was to serve as his headquarters at sea.
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