During the 1930s, he served in an air patrol squadron and as a scouting pilot aboard the heavy cruiser USS Chester (CA-27), and studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan, where he received a master's degree in 1937.

From 1937 to 1940, he was attached to Scouting Squadron Six aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), then was a flight test officer at Naval Air Station Anacostia from 1940 to 1942.

[1][4] Griffin played a key role in the Revolt of the Admirals, an incident of civil-military conflict over the long-term funding priorities of the armed services.

In September 1948, as a captain, Griffin received sudden orders to report to the Strategic Plans Division (OP-30) in the Department of the Navy as officer in charge of special projects.

[2]In October 1949, Griffin was directed to prepare a position paper on the controversy for Chief of Naval Operations Louis E. Denfeld to present in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

Using Griffin's paper as a rough draft, the four men worked all day long, eating lunch and dinner in Denfeld's office.

[1][4] He was commanding officer of the attack carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) from June 1953 to July 1954, operating with the Seventh Fleet to monitor the recent Armistice in Korea.

[15] Griffin was Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) from March 31, 1965 to January 31, 1968, succeeding Admiral James S.

However, Griffin's superiors in Washington remained convinced that the Soviet Union was not interested in a direct confrontation with American power.

[17] At his retirement ceremony at his headquarters in Naples, Italy on January 31, 1968, Griffin asserted that the relatively peaceful Soviet posture in central Europe was a tactical move to cover a thrust of naval forces into the Mediterranean, and complained that France's recent withdrawal from NATO was tantamount to freeriding off the contributions of allies who met their treaty obligations.

[17]Griffin married Camilla Yvonne Ganteaume on September 14, 1935; after her death at the age of 49 on August 10, 1963, he remarried to Marion Hopkins Schaefer on November 21, 1964.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 90 while playing golf at his summer residence, Bald Peak Colony Club, in Melvin Village, New Hampshire.

[3] Griffin held the Gray Eagle Award as the senior active-duty aviator in the Navy from July 31, 1967, until his retirement on February 1, 1968.