Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Recently acquired from a highly respected private collection, this WWII Officer Visor Cap is named to Admiral Arthur Radford. Beyond originating from a respected collection which contained multiple named items with provenance, there is no provenance or paperwork offered with this hat. Based on the origin, quality, markings and other factors we believe this hat to be genuine.

Arthur William Radford (27 February 1896 – 17 August 1973) was a United States Navy admiral and naval aviator. In over 40 years of military service, Radford held a variety of positions including Vice Chief of Naval Operations, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet and later the second Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This is original U.S. WWII Admiral's visor cap in naval white is named to Admiral Radford. It features wicker frame construction with wool topped leather visor with bullion oak leaf embroidery and an American eagle cap badge with a gold chinstrap. The sweatband is embossed BANCROFT ZEPHYR in gold, the leather sweatband is in excellent supple condition. The cap is in very good condition overall, with some staining to the fabric but no damage or holes.

The most notable aspect of these hat is the name embossed in white lettering into the sweatband that reads:

A.W. RADFORD along with Naval Aviator Wings.

This hat most likely dates from just after WW2 as Radford wasn't promoted to Vice Admiral in late 1945. The design of these hats did not change until the 1950's so the hat dates from sometime during that period.

History of Admiral Radford:
World War II
Aviation Training Division
Radford took command of the Aviation Training Division in Washington, D.C. on 1 December 1941, seven days before the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II. He was appointed as Director of Aviation Training for both the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the Bureau of Navigation;[9] the double appointment helped to centralize training coordination for all naval aviators. With the U.S. mobilizing for war, Radford's office worked long hours six days a week in an effort to build up the necessary training infrastructure as quickly as possible. For several months, this around-the-clock work took up all of his time, and he later noted that walking to work was his only form of exercise for several months. During this time, he impressed colleagues with a direct and no-nonsense approach to work, while maintaining a demeanor that made him easy to work for. He was promoted to captain soon after.

Throughout 1942 he established and refined the administrative infrastructure for aviation training. Radford oversaw the massive growth of the training division, establishing separate sections for administration; Physical Training Service Schools; and training devices; and sections to train various aviators in flight, aircraft operation, radio operation, and gunnery. The section also organized technical training and wrote training literature. He also engineered the establishment of four field commands for pilot training. Air Primary Training Command commanded all pre-flight schools and Naval reserve aviation bases in the country. Air Intermediate Training Command administered Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi where flight training was conducted. Air Operational Training Command was in charge of all education of pilots between pilot training and their first flying assignments. Finally, Air Technical Training Command trained enlisted men for support jobs in aviation such as maintenance, engineering, aerography, and parachute operations. Radford sought to integrate his own efficient leadership style into the organization of these schools.

Radford was noted for thinking progressively and innovatively to establish the most effective and efficient training programs. He sought to integrate sports conditioning programs into naval aviator training. Radford brought in athletic directors from Ohio State University, Harvard University and Penn State University under football player and naval aviator Tom Hamilton, to whom he gave the remit to develop the conditioning programs. Radford also suggested integrating women into intricate but repetitive tasks, such as running flight simulators. When commanders rejected the idea of bringing women into the service, he convinced Congressman Carl Vinson, chair of the House Naval Affairs Committee of the merit of the idea. This effort eventually led to the employment of the "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service", and 23,000 WAVES would assist in aeronautical training in the course of the war. Radford also sought to best use the assets of businessmen and professionals who had volunteered for military service, establishing the Aviation Indoctrination School and Air Combat Intelligence School at Naval Air Station Quonset Point so as to enable these advanced recruits to become more experienced naval officers.

Sea duty
By early 1943, with Radford's training programs established and functioning efficiently, he sought combat duty. In April of that year, he was ordered to report to the office of Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific Fleet where he was promoted to rear admiral and tapped to be a carrier division commander. This was an unusual appointment, as most carrier division commanders were appointed only after duty commanding a capital ship. He then spent May and June 1943 on an inspection party under Gates, touring U.S. bases in the south Pacific. Following this, he was assigned under Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman, commander of Carrier Division 2 at Pearl Harbor. Radford spent several weeks observing flight operations and carrier tactics for various ships operating out of Hawaii. He was particularly impressed with how carrier doctrine had evolved in the time since his own assignment on a carrier, and in June 1943, he was ordered to observe operations on the light aircraft carrier USS Independence, learning the unique challenges of using light carriers.

On 21 July 1943, Radford was given command of Carrier Division Eleven, which consisted of the new Essex-class carrier USS Lexington as well as the light carriers USS Independence and USS Princeton. These carriers remained at Pearl Harbor through August, training and refining their operations. Radford got his first operational experience on 1 September 1943, covering a foray to Baker and Howland Islands as part of Task Force 11 under Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee. Radford commanded Princeton, USS Belleau Wood and four destroyers to act as a covering force for Lee's marines, who built an airfield on the islands. After this successful operation, and at the direction of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Task Force 11 was joined by Task Force 15, with Lexington, under Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall. The two task forces then steamed for Tarawa Atoll to strike it. On the night of 17 September, the carriers launched six strikes of fighter aircraft, dive bombers, and torpedo planes to work over the Japanese defenses.

Next, Radford and his carriers took part in an air attack and cruiser bombardment of Wake Island on 5 to 6 October 1943. He shifted his flag to Lexington for the operation, which took two days. Though the effects on Japanese positions were not known, Radford and other leaders considered the operations useful for preparing their forces for the major battles to come in the Central Pacific.

Major combat operations
Major operations in the Central Pacific began that November. Radford's next duty was in Operation Galvanic, a campaign into the Gilbert Islands with the objective of capturing Tarawa as well as Makin Island and Apamama Atoll. It would be one of the first times that American carriers would be operating against Japanese land-based air power in force, as U.S. Army troops and U.S. Marines fought the Japanese on the ground. For this mission, Radford's carrier division was designated Task Group 50.2, the Northern Carrier Group, which consisted of USS Enterprise, USS Belleau Wood and USS Monterey. He did not agree with this strategy, maintaining until his death that the force should have gone on an offensive to strike Japanese air power instead of being tied to the ground forces. Despite his objections, the force left Pearl Harbor for the Gilbert Islands on 10 November.

The invasion began on 20 November. Radford's force was occupied with air strikes on Japanese ground targets, and faced frequent attack by Japanese aircraft in night combat, which U.S. aircrews were not well prepared or equipped for. He improvised a unit to counter Japanese night raids, and was later credited with establishing routines for nighttime combat air patrols to protect carriers; these were adopted fleetwide. He commanded Carrier Division Eleven around Tarawa for several more days, returning to Pearl Harbor on 4 December.

Returning from Tarawa, Radford was reassigned as chief of staff to Towers, who was Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet. He assisted in planning upcoming operations, including Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall Islands. He had hoped to return to combat duty at the end of this assignment, but in March 1944 he was ordered to Washington, D.C. and appointed as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. He assumed this new duty on 1 April, a role which was primarily administrative in nature. His duties included establishing a new integrated system for aircraft maintenance, supply, and retirement, for which he was appointed the head of a board to study aircraft wear and tear. After six months in this duty, Radford was returned to the Pacific theater by Admiral Ernest J. King, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commander in Chief, United States Fleet.

Radford returned to Pearl Harbor on 7 October 1944, where he was appointed as commander of First Carrier Task Force, Carrier Division Six. While flying to his new command, he was held over in Kwajalein and then Saipan, missing the Battle of Leyte Gulf which took place in the Philippines during the layover. He flew to Ulithi where he reported to Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr., commander of Task Force 58. For the next two months, Radford remained on "make learn" status, again under Sherman's command, observing the operations and employment of carrier-based air power as a passenger aboard USS Ticonderoga, part of Task Group 38.3. During this time, he observed the strikes on Luzon and the Visayas, as well as air attacks on Japanese shipping and Typhoon Cobra.

"To every officer and man in this splendid group well done. In the last 45 days you have contributed much toward the victory announced today and I am proud of you."
—Radford's message to his fleet at the end of World War II.

On 29 December 1944, Radford was unexpectedly ordered to take command of Task Group 38.1 after its commander, Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery, was injured. The next day the fleet sortied from Ulithi and headed for scheduled air strikes on Luzon and Formosa (Taiwan). Throughout January 1945, Radford's fleet operated in the South China Sea striking Japanese targets in French Indochina and Hong Kong. In February, the U.S. Third Fleet was re-designated the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and as a part of this reorganization Radford's force was redesignated Task Group 58.4. He continued striking Japanese targets in the Inland Sea during March. On 1 April, the force was moved to support the Battle of Okinawa. Over the course of the next two months, his force continued its use of night raids, which by this point were effective in repelling Japanese attacks on U.S. Navy ships. After two months supporting ground forces on Okinawa, Radford's fleet was detached from that operation.

Returning to the Third Fleet and being re-designated Task Group 38.4, the force began operating off the Japanese Home Islands in July 1945. It began an intense airstrike campaign against military targets on Honshu and Hokkaido, striking Japanese airfields, merchant shipping, and ground targets. Radford commanded the force in this duty until V-J Day, the end of the war in the Pacific. Upon receipt of the orders to end hostilities, he signaled his ships that he was proud of their accomplishments.

Post-war years
Radford was promoted to vice admiral in late 1945. For a time he was Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air under Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal. During the post-war period, Radford was a strong advocate that naval aviation programs be maintained. When Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King issued a post-war plan calling for the U.S. to maintain nine active aircraft carriers, Radford suggested he double the number, a politically unrealistic proposal.

After the war, Radford was a principal opponent to a plan to merge the uniformed services. A plan existed to split the Army and the Army Air Forces into separate branches and unite them and the Navy under one Cabinet-level defense organization. Fearing the loss of their branch's influence, Navy commanders opposed the formation of a separate Air Force and favored a more loose defense organization. Radford was picked by Forrestal to form the Secretary's Committee of Research and Reorganization. Months of discussion resulted in the National Security Act of 1947, a political victory for the Navy because it created the U.S. Air Force while resulting in a coordinated, not unified, U.S. Department of Defense with limited power and with the Navy maintaining control of its air assets.[9] In 1947, Radford was briefly appointed commander of the Second Task Fleet, a move he felt was to distance him from the budget negotiations in Washington, but nonetheless preferred.

In 1948, Radford was appointed by President Harry S. Truman as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO). Debates continued with military leaders about the future of the armed forces as Truman sought to trim the defense budget. Radford was relied on by Navy leaders as an expert who would fiercely defend the Navy's interests from budget restrictions, but his appointment as VCNO was opposed by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, who feared his hard-line stance on the budget would alienate the generals in the other branches of the military. Some historians contend Radford brought strong leadership to the role. Naval aviation assets grew from 2,467 aircraft to 3,467 during this time, almost all aircraft for fast-attack carriers. He also oversaw the implementation of the "Full Air Program" which envisioned 14,500 total aircraft in the naval air force. Along with his predecessor John Dale Price, he favored reducing naval ship strength in order to develop stronger naval aviation capabilities. Then, in 1949, Truman appointed him as the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.