Promoted to the ranks of lieutenant commander in 1930 and commander in 1937, during that decade Sherman served at the Naval Academy, commanded Fighter Squadron VF-1B, had charge of the Aviation Ordnance Section of the Bureau of Ordnance, was Navigator of the aircraft carrier USS Ranger, and had duty on a number of flag staffs. In 1941–42, he served with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and was a member of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense, Canada-United States.
Commander Sherman worked closely with then US Army Major Albert C. Wedemeyer, author of the "Victory Plan of 1941", "the blueprint... for the mobilization of the United States Army for World War 2". Wedemeyer, while working in the War Plans Department, was commissioned to write the "Victory Plan by General George C. Marshall."
The Victory Plan predicted the future organization for an army that did not yet exist, outlined combat missions for a war not yet declared, and computed war production requirements for industries that were still committed to peacetime manufacture." Captain Forrest Sherman's personal relationship with Major Albert Wedemeyer "ensured a community of planning effort between the two services and pointed to a future in which the services would acknowledge that mobilization planning was a joint responsibility that one service alone could not conduct adequately.
— Charles E. Kirkpatrick, Writing the Victory Plan of 1941
Midshipman Forrest Sherman
In May 1942, after reaching the rank of captain, Sherman took command of the carrier USS Wasp, taking the ship through the first month of the Solomon Islands campaign.
After Wasp was sunk by a Japanese submarine on September 15, 1942, Sherman was awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism in command of the carrier during the opening days of the South Pacific operations. Sherman then became Chief of Staff to Commander Air Force, Pacific Fleet. In November 1943, Rear Admiral Sherman was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. He held that position for the remainder of World War II, playing a critical role in planning the offensives that brought victory in the Pacific, and was present when Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945. Following a short tour as a carrier division commander, in December 1945 Vice Admiral Sherman became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. During 1946 and 1947 he had a vital role in the negotiations for the unification process leading to the 1947 National Security Act.
Sherman's next assignment, beginning in January 1948, was to command the navy's operating forces in the Mediterranean Sea. He was recalled to Washington, D.C., at the end of October 1949 to become Chief of Naval Operations, with the rank of admiral. During the next sixteen months, he helped the navy recover from a period of intense political controversy (as in the so-called "Revolt of the Admirals"). Sherman's absence from the recent controversy, and his role in the unification negotiations made him the logical candidate. [1] As Chief of Naval Operations, he oversaw the responses to the twin challenges of a hot war in Korea and an intensifying cold war elsewhere in the world.
On July 22, 1951, while on a military and diplomatic trip to Europe, Admiral Forrest Sherman died in Naples, Italy, following a sudden series of heart attacks. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on July 27, 1951.
^ Palmer, Michael A., Origins of the Maritime Strategy. The Development of American Naval Strategy 1945-1955
^"The Admiral". Ussforrestsherman.org. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
The quotes[which?] from the "Victory Plan of 1941" and Captain Forrest Sherman are from Writing the Victory Plan of 1941, Charles E. Kirkpatrick, Center of Military History, Washington, D.C., 1942
