Charles K. Duncan

Charles Kenney Duncan (December 7, 1911 – June 27, 1994) was a United States Navy four star admiral who served as Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic/Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Command/Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (SACLANT/CINCLANT/CINCLANTFLT) from 1970 to 1972.

Military career Duncan was born on December 7, 1911, in Nicholasville, Kentucky. At the age of nine his mother became a full professor at the University of Kentucky, and the family moved to Lexington, where he attended University High School, Kavanaugh Preparatory School, and the University of Kentucky before entering the United States Naval Academy.

Duncan became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Manpower and Naval Reserve) and the Chief of Naval Personnel, serving in that capacity from April 1968 to August 1970, before becoming the seventh NATO Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic on September 30, 1970, and concurrently Commander in Chief Atlantic (the United States Unified Command) and the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. As Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, he conducted the largest NATO naval exercises held until that time. He received the Order of Orange-Nassau from the Netherlands, and the Grand Cross of the Order of Aviz from Portugal. He retired from the U.S. Navy on November 1, 1972, as a full admiral.