US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

Service in the Naval Aeronautical Organization 113
McVay, and the senior naval member of the Advisory Group sent to Geneva,
Rear Admiral A. J. Hepburn, later Commander in Chief of the United States
Fleet.’oz
Commander Turner felt he had profitted greatly. And fortunately he
came out of it with three good pieces of paper, the most important of which
were orders to the carrier Saratoga ( CV-3 ) as Executive Officer. The Saratoga
was one of the only two real battle line carriers in the Navy, the other being
the Lexington (CV-2 ). The other two pieces of paper were commendatory
letters from Secretary of State H. L. Stimson and from the Chairman of the
American Delegation, Hugh Gibson. The latter is reproduced herewith.
The Honorable the SECRETARYOF STATE.
Washington
Geneva, Switzerland
~uIy 27, 1932
SIR: I have the honor to refer to the services of Commander Richmond
K. Turner, Naval Adviser to the American Delegation to the General Dis-
armament Conference. Commander Turner’s technical knowledge and skill
in handling all matters pertaining to air questions rendered his services of
great value to the Delegation. He was often called upon to present the views
of this Delegation during the meetings of the Air Commission, and he
rendered this service most effectively.
I desire to commend his services most highly to both the Department of
State and the Navy Department, and should be pleased if a copy of this
despatch were made available for the records of the Navy Department.
Respectfully yours,
AS A SPEECHMAKER
(Signed) HUGH GIBSON
During this tour of shore duty, Commander Turner was in considerable
demand as a speechmaker. He received five sets of official orders from
the Bureau of Navigation for this purpose in 1930, which should have been
something of a record considering the parsimony of the Bureau in doling
out travel funds during those money-hungry days.
Commander Turner talked to the Naval Postgraduate School on:
a. Aircraft Policies of the Army and Navy
‘mTurner.