Jackson Dominick Arnold (November 3, 1912 – December 8, 2007) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as Chief of Naval Material (CNM) from 1970 to 1971.

[1] A far-ranging adventurer, AC Arnold had fought in the Boer War on the side of the Boers; joined the Seventh Cavalry as a trooper; been a riverboat gambler; fought beside Brigadier General John J. Pershing on the Mexico Punitive Expedition; been awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for actions with the 1/326 Infantry at Château-Thierry during World War I;[2] gone to law school; and been assigned to several positions in the peacetime Army before rejoining the Seventh at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he died in 1932.

Jack was appointed to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland from Fort Lewis, Washington, where his father was serving as judge advocate general for the Seventh Cavalry and was responsible for federal law west of the Mississippi River.

His first assignment as a naval aviator was as Material Officer with Torpedo Squadron Six,[1] flying Douglas TBD Devastators aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise on her maiden voyage, which included a goodwill tour of South America.

Arnold attended the state dinner that night in his dress whites, complete with blood spatters at the President's request.

His most memorable aviation experience occurred during this tour when he performed night test flights to see if a floatplane could be operated in blackout conditions at sea.

His next assignment was to Ford Island, Pearl Harbor in 1940, as the Engineering Test Pilot, where he met his wife-to-be, Muriel McChesney.

Arnold jumped out of the airplane near the base of the airfield control tower and picked up a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) from a Marine who did not need it anymore.

Discovering it belonged to the first wave's Torpedo Squadron Commander, they drank the downed pilot's sake and returned to the battle.

After a short time, then-Commander Arnold was designated Commander Air Group TWO, callsign "Ripper Leader", flying the F6-F Hellcat fighter.

The job was offered at 2200, the night before the invasion of Iwo Jima, where Hornet was to play a pivotal role in close air support.

At the Battle of the Philippine Sea, he was handed a contact report that indicated the possible presence of the enemy fleet at a point too far west for a round-trip flight.

Eager for battle, he declared that regardless of how far west the enemy was found, he would lead an attack, regroup as many planes as possible, and fly eastward until fuel ran out.

[4] Hornet and her Air Group supported operations in Palau, Guam, Iwo Jima, Saipan and Tinian and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

He retired from the Navy on November 30, 1971,[6] and was replaced at Naval Material Command by a longtime friend and shipmate, Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr.[5] After moving around the country and being at sea for years, Arnold retired to Rancho Santa Fe, California, where he built a home of his own design for himself and his wife Muriel.

Occasionally, he would put an entry into the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club show, almost always gaining a ribbon or two.