James D. Ramage

James D. Ramage
Lieutenant Commander James D. Ramage in an SBD Dauntless aboard the USS Enterprise during World War II
Nickname(s)	Jig Dog
Born	(1916-07-19)19 July 1916 Waterloo, Iowa
Died	21 July 2012(2012-07-21) (aged 96) Coronado, California
Buried at	Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1939–1976
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	Carrier Division Seven USS Independence USS Salisbury Sound Heavy Attack Wing 1 VC-3 Carrier Air Group 19 VB-98 VB-10
Battles/wars	World War II: Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign Attack on Truk Island Landings at Hollandia Mariana and Palau Islands campaign Battle of the Philippine Sea Vietnam War Operation Rolling Thunder
Awards	Navy Cross Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (4) Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Air Medal (6)

World War II:

Vietnam War

James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage (19 July 1916 – 21 July 2012) was a naval aviator in World War II and a major factor in putting nuclear-capable aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.

A graduate of the United States Naval Academy class of 1939, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise before being sent to the Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training. He rejoined the Enterprise in 1943, and became executive officer, and later commanding officer of Bombing Squadron Ten (VB-10), flying the SBD Dauntless dive bomber. He saw his first combat in the Battle of Kwajalein in January 1944, and participated in the attack on Truk in February and landings at Hollandia in April. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, he led 12 Dauntlesses and 17 other aircraft from Enterprise in a maximum-range twilight attack against the Japanese fleet, and was personally credited with crippling a Japanese aircraft carrier, probably the Ryūhō. He later commanded Bombing Squadron Ninety-Eight (VB-98), a California-based training unit.

After the war, Ramage attended the first postwar class at the Naval War College, where he wrote a thesis on nuclear weapons and carrier aviation. He became the navigator of the escort carrier USS Bairoko, and participated in Operation Sandstone at Enewetak Atoll in April and May 1948. In March 1950, Ramage went to Sandia Base, where he was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), writing and reviewing nuclear war plans. After becoming jet qualified in F9F Panther, he assumed command of Carrier Air Group 19, which embarked for Korea on the USS Oriskany. He then assumed command of VC-3, a large composite squadron that acted as a transitional training unit. He became chief of the Sea Base Striking Forces Planning Unit (OP-05W) in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, DC in June 1955, and then entered the National War College in July 1957. After graduating a year later, he assumed command of Heavy Attack Wing One, and then of the seaplane tender USS Salisbury Sound. He returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as head of Special Weapons Plans in 1961, and in 1963, received command of the aircraft carrier USS Independence.