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Vice Admiral Lloyd T. Chalker

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Lloyd Toulmin Chalker was born on 4 December 1883 at Mobile, Alabama.  He was appointed Cadet in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service on 26 September 1903.  He received his commission as Third Lieutenant on 27 October 1906 and was promoted Second Lieutenant on 20 March 1907.

 

His first assignment following his commissioning was on the cutter Winona, followed by duty on the Rush based out of Juneau, Alaska.  He then served in various capacities on vessels in the North and South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.  From August 1913 to January 1917 he was attached to the Seneca, first as Navigator and later as her Executive Officer.  During that time he participated in three International Ice Patrols, and again in 1924 when he commanded Modoc.

 

During World War I he was assigned to the USS Minneapolis as First Lieutenant while that vessel served on escort duty between New York and Europe.  From December 1918 to September 1919 he as Navigator on board the USS Von Steuben, attached to the Cruiser and Transport Force, and made seven round trips escorting troops between New York and Brest, France.  For service during the war he received the Victory Medal with Escort Clasp and one star.

 

Connected with placing the destroyer CGC Ericsson in commission in 1925, he served as her Commanding Officer and also the Commander of Coast Guard Destroyer Division One, until January 1928 when he was assigned to the cutter Tampa as Chief of Staff of the Florida Special Patrol Force.  From May of that year until September 1930 he was Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard Destroyer Force.  He was given command of the newly built cutter Saranac in October 1930 and he brought her from Oakland, California to her first duty station at Galveston, Texas.

 

From August 1931 until September 1934 he was Chief of the Personnel Section at Coast Guard Headquarters.  He then reported to the U.S. Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, for aircraft observer training and upon his completion of that training he was issued Coast Guard Observers’ Certificate No. 1 on 14 March 1935.  His next assignment was as the Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Air Station Miami, Florida.

 

He was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 June 1935 and on 11 July 1935 he became the head of the Aviation Division at Coast Guard Headquarters.  During his tour the aircraft-carrying cutter was introduced and the commercial aviation monitoring system began.  Commercial aircraft would report in flight to Coast Guard stations around the coastline thereby allowing the stations to monitor their progress.  He became the Assistant Commandant on 1 April 1940.  On 30 June 1942 he was promoted to the temporary rank of Rear Admiral and afterwards served as Acting Commandant and as Deputy Commandant.  During this time he was awarded the Legion of Merit for his part in the preparation of the Coast Guard as a potent fighting force and the effectiveness of the war-time program of the Coast Guard. 

 

He retired on 1 July 1946 after 43 years of active-duty service including two world wars.  He received a tombstone promotion to Vice Admiral, and a commission of Vice Admiral was issued to him upon his retirement.  Vice Admiral Chalker crossed the bar on 12 March 1981 at the age of 97.  He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on 17 March of the same year.

 

Vice Admiral Chalker’s service in the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard included 19 years of sea duty, both north and south of Cape Hatteras, in the Arctic, Bering Sea, and Alaskan waters as well as six years of duty with aircraft ashore.  He married Aline Brooks Risque of St. Louis, Missouri in April, 1908 and they had one daughter, Aline Beverly Chalker.

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