Frank Benton Kelso II (July 11, 1933 – June 23, 2013) was an admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1994.

He attended public school and the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, prior to entering the United States Naval Academy in 1952.

On June 30, 1986, Kelso was promoted to admiral and assumed the duties of Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet.

Secretary of the Navy Lawrence Garrett ultimately resigned and Kelso was forced to retire two months early amid the scandal and aviator complaints that he had failed to ensure due process for accused personnel.

An example of this was the case of Pacific Fleet commander Husband Kimmel following the Pearl Harbor attack, who was reassigned to a position/job of 2-stars, thus losing his “temporary” assignment with 4-star status; another case was Richard Dunleavy, Kelso's Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare, who was reassigned from his 3-star job to a 2-star job as a result of Tailhook.

Boxer claimed Kelso was deserving of punishment on the grounds that as the Navy's top officer he bore ultimate responsibility for what happened at Tailhook.

Boxer's attempt failed when more Senators agreed Kelso had taken the correct and proper actions in handling the affair, and he was allowed to retire at full rank.

He died from complications of a fall and severe head injury on June 23, 2013, in Norfolk, Virginia, where he had gone to attend his grandson's graduation.