Thomas Bibb Hayward (3 May 1924-3 March 2022) was Chief of Naval Operations for the US Navy from 1 July 1978 to 30 June 1982.
Biography[]
Thomas Bibb Hayward was born in Glendale, California in 1924, and he graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1947 and served in the Korean War, during which he befriended fellow pilot Neil Armstrong. Afterwards, Hayward became a test pilot and a lead instructor at TOPGUN, and he flew 36 combat missions during the Vietnam War. From 1978 to 1982, he served as Chief of Naval Operations, and he retired in 1982. He supported the Republican President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, claiming that the United States "has taken a hard left turn toward socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government." He died in 2022.