After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1940, Captain Laning served on board the USS Yorktown (CV-5), was radar officer on the USS Hornet (CV- 8) when she launched the Doolittle raiders for Tokyo and in the Battle of Midway, made five war patrols in the USS Salmon (SS-182), and was the executive officer on the USS Stickleback (SS-415) when the war ended. He later commanded the submarines Pilotfish (SS-386), Trutta (SS-421), Harder (SS-568), Seawolf (SSN-575), and the USS Proteus (AS-19), the first fleet ballistic missile submarine tender. After retiring in 1963, he worked for United Technologies as a corporate planner.