Robert L.J. Long

Infobox Military Person
name=Robert Lyman John Long
lived= 1920-2002


caption=Admiral Robert L. J. Long
placeofbirth=Kansas City, Missouri
placeofdeath=Bethesda, Maryland
allegiance= flagicon|United States United States of America
branch= United States Navy
serviceyears=1943-1983
rank=Admiral
unit=
commands=USS Sea Leopard
USS Patrick Henry
USS Casimir Pulaski
ComSubLant
Vice Chief of Naval Operations
United States Pacific Command
battles=World War II
Vietnam War
Cold War
awards=Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
relations=

Robert Lyman John Long (1920 – 2002) was a four star admiral in the United States Navy who served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations from 1977-1979 and Commander in Chief Pacific from 1979 to 1983. [The Reminiscences of Admiral Robert L.J. Long U.S. Navy (Retired), US Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD, 1995] cite web
accessdate=2008-01-05
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20061211074728/www.pacom.mil/leadership/j00.shtml
title="U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND Commanders"
publisher=U.S. Pacific Command] cite web
accessdate=2008-01-05
url=http://www.history.navy.mil/library/guides/rosters/vice%20chief%20naval%20operations.htm
title="Vice Chief of Naval Operations"
publisher=NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER]

Early years and education

Long was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up there. He was the son of Trigg Allen and Margaret (Franklin) Long. He attended Paseo High School, Kansas City Junior College, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri before enrolling at the United States Naval Academy.

Naval career

Long graduated from the Naval Academy in 1943, served on the battleship USS Colorado in the Pacific and entered the submarine service after World War II. Admiral Long saw combat in the Vietnam conflict and commanded the USS Sea Leopard, a diesel-powered submarine, the USS Patrick Henry and the USS Casimir Pulaski, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

He also commanded the Submarine Force, United States Atlantic fleet; Submarines, Allied Command; and Submarine Force, Western Atlantic area. He was executive assistant and naval aide to the under secretary of the Navy; deputy chief of naval operations and vice chief of naval operations.

Admiral Long's final Navy posting was as Pacific Commander in Chief.

After the Navy

Following his retirement from the Navy in 1983, Admiral Long was active in a variety of governmental and the military affairs. He served as the principal executive of President Ronald Reagan's fact-finding committee, the "Long Commission", that investigated the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing attack that killed 241 U.S. Marines. The Commission's report was widely praised for being tough and direct. The report found senior military officials responsible for security lapses and blamed the military chain of command for the disaster.

Long participated in the Security Review Commission led by General Richard Stilwell that grew out of the Walker spy case and which was tasked with review of security procedures conducted for security clearances. He was a member of an American election observer team sent to the Philippines in 1986 and headed by Senator Richard Lugar to observe the Presidential election contest involving Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino. Admiral Long was teamed with the then first-term senator from Massachusetts John Kerry. Admiral Long joined the Defense Policy Board in 1984, and was a part of the Advisory Committee on Command and Control of Nuclear Weapons, chaired by Jeane Kirkpatrick.

Admiral Long served as President of the Naval Academy Alumni Association from 1991 to 1994.cite web
accessdate=2008-01-04
url=https://www.usna.com/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?pid=467&srcid=457
title="Past Presidents"
publisher=United States Naval Academy Alumni Association]

Admiral Long served on several corporate boards, including Northrop, ConTel, and GTE.

Personal life

He married Sara Katherine Helms August 28, 1944 in Jacksonville, Florida. His wife died May 14, 2004 in Annapolis, Maryland. They had three children and five grandchildren.

Notes

External References

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E4D91431F930A35754C0A9649C8B63 New York Times Obituary]
* [http://starbulletin.com/2002/06/29/news/story13.html Honolulu Starbulletin Obituary]
* [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Jun/29/ln/ln14a.html Honolulu Advertiser Obituary]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/library/guides/rosters/vice%20chief%20naval%20operations.htm List of VCNOs from the Department of the Navy -- Naval Historical Center]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/XX/MidEast/Lebanon-1982-1984/DOD-Report/index.html Report of the DoD Commission on Beirut International Airport Terrorist Act, October 23, 1983]
* [http://www.beirut-memorial.org/history/long.html The Lessons of Beirut: Testimony Before The Long Commission]
* [http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_16/downlink.html "UnderSea Warfare" Obituary, Issue 16]

Further reading

* [http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairsbooks-cgi-bin/display?book=1891620088 "Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage"] , Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, Annette Lawrence Drew, Public Affairs, New York, 1998.