He received the Navy Cross in 1918 for distinguished service as commanding officer of Remlik and Lamson in the Atlantic campaign.

[4][5] A lieutenant commander by the end of World War I, Beary's first post-war assignment was duty at the U.S. Navy Bureau of Navigation from 1919 to 1921.

[7] Beary went back to sea in 1937 as executive officer of the battleship USS Colorado (BB-45), serving aboard her until 1938, when he was promoted to captain.

He then was commanding officer of the light cruiser USS Richmond (CL-9) from 1938 to 1939 before returning to duty at the United States Naval Academy, serving a second tour as an instructor there from 1939 until 1941.

[8] Mount Vernon was in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a convoy steaming from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, bound for Cape Town, South Africa, when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II on 7 December 1941.

She then operated in the Indian Ocean and Southwest Pacific until March 1942 to move additional reinforcements from the Middle East to Southeast Asia and evacuate refugees from Australia.

[9] Beary received the Bronze Star Medal in 1943 for meritorious achievement in these operations, and was especially cited for his conspicuous professional ability, leadership, and organization during Mount Vernon's stay in Singapore.

[12] On 1 November 1948, having reached the rank of vice admiral, Beary returned to the Naval War College as its president.

[17] He was interred alongside his wife at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium with full military honors.