Post-war
At the conclusion of the war and in the face of markedly reduced military spending, a political battle ensued over the need for a military, with advocates from the Army Air Corps insisting that with the development of the atomic bomb the nation could be defended by the devastating power that stategic bombers could now deliver, doing away with the need for Army or Navy forces. In their view, air assets in the Navy should be brought under the control of the soon to be formed Air Force. In the face of such proposals Mitscher remained a staunch advocate for Naval aviation, and went so far as to release the following statement to the press:
Japan is beaten, and carrier supremacy defeated her. Carrier supremacy destroyed her army and navy air forces. Carrier supremacy destroyed her fleet. Carrier supremacy gave us bases adjacent to her home islands, and carrier supremacy finally left her exposed to the most devastating sky attack - the atomic fission bomb - that man has suffered.
When I say carrier supremacy defeated Japan, I do not mean air power in itself won the Battle of the Pacific. We exercised our carrier supremacy as part of a balanced, integrated air-surface-ground team, in which all hands may be proud of the roles assigned them and the way in which their duties were discharged. This could not have been done by a separate air force, exclusively based ashore, or by one not under Navy control.
By July 1946, when he returned to the United States to serve as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air), Mitscher received, among other awards, two Gold Stars in lieu of a second and third Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal with two Gold Stars.
He served briefly as commander 8th Fleet and on March 1, 1946 became Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, with the rank of admiral.
While serving in that capacity, Mitscher died at Norfolk, Virginia at the age of 60. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Marc Mitscher
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