Admiral James L. Holloway III, US Navy (Ret.) is the author of Aircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation and Aircraft Carriers, All the Questions You Ever Wondered About but Were Afraid to Ask.

According to the book description of Aircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation, “Adm. James Holloway describes this book as a contemporary perspective of the events, decisions, and outcomes in the history of the Cold War Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet confrontation that shaped today s U.S. Navy and its principal ships-of-the-line, the large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Without question, the admiral is exceptionally well qualified to write such an expansive history. As a carrier pilot in Korea, commander of the Seventh Fleet in Vietnam, Chief of Naval Operations in the mid-1970s, and then as a civilian presidential appointee to various investigative groups, Holloway was a prominent player in Cold War events.

Here, he casts an experienced eye at the battles, tactics, and strategies that defined the period abroad and at home. Holloway's first-person narrative of combat action conveys the tense atmosphere of hostile fire and the urgency of command decisions. His descriptions of conversations with presidents in the White House and of meetings with the Joint Chiefs in the war room offer a revealing look at the decision-making process. Whether explaining the tactical formations of road-recce attacks or the demands of taking the Navy s first nuclear carrier into combat, Holloway provides telling details that add valuable dimensions to the big picture of the Cold War as a coherent conflict. Few readers will forget his comments about the sobering effect of planning for nuclear warfare and training and leading a squadron of pilots whose mission was to drop a nuclear bomb.

Both wise and entertaining, this book helps readers understand the full significance of the aircraft carrier s contributions. At the same time, it stands as a testament to those who fought in the long war and to the leadership that guided the United States through a perilous period of history while avoiding the Armageddon of a nuclear war.”

Admiral James L. Holloway III, US Navy (Ret.) is a former Chief of Naval Operations. The following is taken from Biographies in Naval History” “Admiral Holloway graduated from the US Naval Academy in June of 1942 as a member of the first three-year class accelerated by World War II. In that war he served in destroyers on North Atlantic convoy duty, in North African waters and in the Pacific where he participated in the Saipan, Tinian, and Palaus campaigns and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He was gunnery officer of USS Bennion (DD-662) which at the Battle of Surigao Strait took part in a night torpedo attack which sank the Japanese battleship Yamashiro, assisted in the destruction of the Japanese destroyer Asagumo, attacked the cruiser Mogami with torpedoes, and then the following day shot down two Japanese Zeroes at short range. For this service he received the Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medals.

After World War II he became a naval aviator. He made two carrier tours to Korea, flying Grumman F9F-2 Panther jets on combat missions against the North Korean and Chinese Communists. He assumed command of Fighting Squadron 52 when his commanding officer was shot down. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals during the Korean War, and shared in a Navy Unit Commendation awarded to the carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45).

In 1958, as Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron 83, flying Douglas A-4 Skyhawks from the carrier USS Essex (CVA-9), he covered the Marine landings in Lebanon and flew patrols in support of US operations there until Essex was redeployed through the Suez Canal to join the Seventh Fleet in the Formosa Straits. There he flew missions in defense of Quemoy and Matsu against the threat of a Chinese Communist invasion of those offshore islands.

From 1965 to 1967 he commanded USS Enterprise (CVA(N)-65), the Navy's first, and at that time, only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for two combat cruises in the Gulf of Tonkin against the North Vietnamese. Enterprise established a record for the number of combat sorties flown, won the Battle Efficiency “E” award for the best carrier in the fleet, and was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation. He twice received the Legion of Merit for his leadership.

Returning to the Pentagon, in 1968 he established the Navy's Nuclear Powered Carrier Program, building USS Nimitz (CVAN–68) and paving the way for nine more supercarriers of this class. He was awarded the Navy's Distinguished Service Medal for this achievement.

In 1970, he was Commander of the Carrier Striking Force of the Sixth Fleet and deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct carrier air operations in reaction to the Syrian invasion of Jordan. After the strong US military response brought about the withdrawal of the Syrian forces, his task force covered the evacuation of an Army MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit from Amman, Jordan, by a Marine Expeditionary Group. For his performance of duty he was awarded a second Distinguished Service Medal and shared in a Meritorious Unit Commendation awarded to his flagship, the carrier USS Independence (CVA-62).

He took command of the US Seventh Fleet in 1972 during the Vietnam War, and personally led a cruiser-destroyer gunfire strike against the main North Vietnamese port of Haiphong. During Operation Linebacker Two, he directed the massive carrier strikes against Hanoi which were a part of the intensive joint air effort which led to the Vietnam cease-fire in 1973. Under his command the Seventh Fleet subsequently performed the airborne mine clearing operations in North Vietnam ports in accordance with the terms of the Paris Peace Accords. For duty as Commander, Seventh Fleet, he received a third Distinguished Service Medal.

As Chief of Naval Operations from 1974 to 1978, he was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and served as Chairman of the JCS during the evacuation of Cyprus; the rescue of the merchant ship SS Mayaguez and its crew, and punitive strike operations against the Cambodian forces involved in its seizure; the evacuation of US nationals from Lebanon; and the Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone) incident in August 1976, which led to an ultimatum and an armed standoff between the Allied and North Korean armies before the North Koreans backed down. For this service he was presented a fourth Navy Distinguished Service Medal and two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.”