James L. Holloway III graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1942 and served in destroyers during World War II, shooting down three Zeros at the Battle of Leyte Gulf as gunnery officer of the Bennion. He became a naval aviator in 1945 and flew combat missions in Korea, where he was promoted to the command of a jet fighter squadron. After nuclear reactor training under Vice Adm. Hyman Rickover, Holloway became captain of the first nuclear carrier, Enterprise, for two combat deployments to Vietnam. In 1968 he returned to the Pentagon and established the nuclear-powered carrier program. Four years later he took command of the Seventh Fleet in Southeast Asia. In 1974 he was selected as Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Among Admiral Holloway's more than forty medals and decorations are the French Legion of Honor, Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cross of Germany, Knight of the Italian Order of Merit, U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He recieved the Admiral of the Navy George Dewey Award from the Naval Order of the United States in 2011.
After his retirement from the service in 1978, Admiral Holloway began a civilian career in public service that included directing a presidential task force on combating terrorism and serving as a special envoy to the Middle East. Today he is chairman of the Naval Historical Foundation and chairman emeritus of the Association of Naval Aviators and the Naval Academy Foundation. He and his wife live in Alexandria, Virginia.
