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NOTAM 05-2014 (Turner)
Dear Golden Eagles, It is my sad duty to inform you that VADM Frederick C. Turner, USN (Ret), 90, made his Last Take-Off on 24 April 2014 at his home in Fairfax, Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Betty, three sons, Frederick C. III, Robert, and David, two daughters, Pamela, a retired Naval Officer, and Susan, and one grandchild. Funeral services will be conducted at Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined. Details will be provided by separate correspondence. Admiral Turner was born in 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Charles and Margaret Turner. After graduation from high school in 1941, he entered the Navy through the V-5 program and began flight training in September 1942. He received his wings in December 1943, and underwent operational training at Melbourne, FL in early 1944. He subsequently flew 28 combat missions in the Pacific Theater with VF-82 and VF-17A. After the war, he was a member of the first test pilot school class at NAS Patuxent River, and was selected to continue his test pilot training at the Empire Test Pilot School then located at Farnborough, England. He graduated No. 2 in his class at ETPS. A tour at VX-3 in Atlantic City followed after which he continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland. He returned to operational flying in 1954 with VA-83, served a two year assignment at BUPERS in 1959, and then reported to VF-174 in August 1962 en route to command VF-32 at NAS Cecil Field. During this assignment, he demonstrated the F8U-1 on the French carrier Clemenceau and journeyed to Paris to help sell the F8U to the French Navy (his French language skills helped greatly in this endeavor). He was in command of VF-32 for only nine months because he was ordered to assume command of Air Wing THREE which he led from September 1962 until July 1963. This was just the beginning the fast track he was on as further evidenced by the following assignments: Student at ICAF for nine months, followed quickly by ten months on a CARDIV staff, then command of his deep draft, USS Sandoval (APA-194) for nine months followed by command of USS America (CVA-66) for fifteen months. He was selected to flag rank at the end of his America tour. Over the next ten years he served as CNAVANTRA at Corpus Christi; on the staff at BUPERS; COMCARDIV-2/ CTF-60 Athens, Greece; COMSIXTHFLT in Gaeta, Italy where he participated in the reopening of the Suez Canal in 1975; and for his final tour of duty he was DCNO (Air Warfare) on the OPNAV staff during which he sponsored the development of the F/A-18. He retired from active duty in July 1979. In retirement Admiral Turner worked as a consultant for Teledyne and for several other international corporations. Admiral Turner, “Fox” Turner to his many friends and admirers, was clearly one of the greats of Naval Aviation. He did it all and did it with professionalism. From his days as a junior officer when he formed an F7U Cutlass flight demonstration team which performed during the commissioning of the USS Forrestal, through his tour as CO, USS America where I can personally attest to the loyalty and devotion to duty that he inspired in the crew, and finally to his tour as OP-05, the leader of Naval Aviation, when he brought forward the next generation of great Navy aircraft, he was out front with a clear vision of how best to serve the Navy’s and the Nation’s interests. It is indeed sad to realize that another member of the Greatest Generation has left us behind. He will be missed. In sadness, Fred Lewis-Pilot
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