John T. Hayward: History of the U.S. Naval War College, oral history transcription

VADM John T. Hayward was born in New York City on November 15, 1908. He served in the Navy as an enlisted man for fifteen months prior to his appointment to the Naval Academy which he graduated in 1930.

Immediately after graduation, he served on the USS RICHMOND and then entered flight training school at Pensacola, Florida. He was graduated as a naval aviator in 1932 and subsequently served in various patrol squadrons and aviation units.

Prior to and following the outbreak of World War II, he served as Assistant Chief Engineer for Instruments at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia and while so assigned had duty in 1940-1941 as a Naval Observer with the Royal Air Force in Britain. During World War II, Hayward saw action in the Central, South, and Southwest Pacific as Commander of Bombing Squadron 106. He was awarded numerous medals including the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and bravery in action.

Before the end of the war in 1944, Hayward became Experimental Officer at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern, California, where he worked on all phases of rocket development and the development of and study of destruction caused by the atom bomb. In 1948, he became Director of Plans and Operations for the Armed Forces, Sandia Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, concerned with the use of atomic weapons and the integration of military requirements with the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

VADM Hayward has had over 12,000 hours of flight hours as a pilot and has participated in the development of new aircraft. He was the first pilot to land attack aircraft on heavy carriers and had the job of introducing the atom into the fleet. For three years he commanded heavy attack Squadron Five. He then served with the Atomic Energy Commission, commanded the escort carrier POINT CRUZ, and from 1954 to 1956 was in command of the Naval Ordnance Laboratory.

In 1956 and 1957, VADM Hayward commanded the FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, a giant aircraft carrier. Shortly thereafter he became Special Assistant to the Director of the Strategic Plans Division in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In October 1957, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Research and Development and then in 1959 became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Development.

From 1962 to 1963 he was Commander of Carrier Division Two and then he assumed command of the anti-submarine warfare force, Pacific Fleet. In 1966, he was President of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and served in that position until his retirement in September 1968.

Since his retirement from the Navy, VADM Hayward served as Vice President of International General Dynamics and a member of the board of the Stedman Mutual Fund, the MIT Laboratory, and the Hertz Foundation. In addition, he served as a consultant to UNIVAC, Babcock and Wilcox, and the Livermore Laboratory. Admiral Hayward married Leila Hyer of Pensacola, Florida and they had five children. Hayward died on May 23, 1999, in Atlantic Beach, Florida and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.