He became the navigator of the escort carrier USS Bairoko, and participated in Operation Sandstone at Enewetak Atoll in April and May 1948.

In March 1950, Ramage went to Sandia Base, where he was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), writing and reviewing nuclear war plans.

After becoming jet qualified in F9F Panther, he assumed command of Carrier Air Group 19, which embarked for Korea on USS Oriskany.

That year, he was nominated for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, by the local U.S. Representative, John W. Gwynne, as an alternative candidate.

Ramage married his wife, Emeleen Tyler, on 4 September 1941,[8] before leaving for flight training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.

[2] The United States entered World War II while Ramage was in training at Pensacola, learning to fly on N3Ns, OS2Us and finally SNJs.

Ramage saw his first combat in the Battle of Kwajalein in January 1944, and participated in the attack on Truk in February and landings at Hollandia in April.

Each time they would commence a run on the base element, our Air Group Commander, "Killer" Kane, would nose into them with his F6Fs.

The fighters would proceed to the rendezvous point to provide cover for the aircraft of the base element as they rejoined and formed a defensive formation.

The Japanese fleet was easy to locate; there were black AA puffs over a wide area – also some colored detonations.

[16] He was personally credited with crippling a Japanese aircraft carrier, which naval historian Barrett Tillman believes was Ryūhō.

Ramage made a slow and deliberate return to Enterprise in order to conserve fuel, but on reaching it found that its deck was obstructed by a crashed aircraft, and he had to land on USS Yorktown instead.

His citation read:for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Dive Bomber and Flight Leader in Bombing Squadron Ten (VB-10), attached to the USS Enterprise (CV-6), in action against enemy Japanese forces in the vicinity of the Marianas Islands from 12 to 20 June 1944.

An aggressive combat pilot, Lieutenant Commander Ramage led his squadron with consistent skill and daring on numerous bombing missions in the Marianas and, striking repeatedly against strongly defended military objectives, inflicted costly and excessive damage upon the enemy's defenses and ground installations.

Acting as air coordinator on 15 and 16 June, he directed brilliant attacks of all squadrons in support of the landings of our ground forces in their initial advance against the enemy.

By his expert airmanship, exceptional daring and courageous initiative, Lieutenant Commander Ramage contributed essentially to the success of our operations in this strategic area, and his great personal valor in the face of grave peril was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

[2] In September 1944, Ramage received his last wartime assignment, as commanding officer of Bombing Squadron Ninety Eight VB-98, a California-based training unit.

He wrote two theses, one on the possibility of future conflict with the Soviet Union, and the other on nuclear weapons and carrier aviation.

[22] This would eventually lead to new prospects, but on graduation Ramage could not obtain another flying assignment, and instead was posted to the escort carrier USS Bairoko as its navigator.

In June was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), and was promoted to commander in July.

While waiting for his Q clearance, he was put in charge of a board investigating a crash of an AJ Savage, then the Navy's frontline nuclear bomber, an aircraft that did not impress Ramage.

[26] At the end of this cruise in June 1954, he assumed command of VC-3, a large composite squadron that acted as a transitional training unit at Naval Air Station Miramar in California.

[28] On graduating a year later, Ramage once again expressed a preference for a flying job, so he received command of Heavy Attack Wing One, which was based at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida.

[29] To his surprise, he found that the aircraft was easy to fly, and he was successful at lifting the training level of the entire wing.

[34] Returning to shore duty in Washington, he was assigned to Joint Task Force 2, which was charged by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara with investigating whether it was necessary to have aircraft that could fly at low altitude at supersonic speeds.

[32] Tests were carried out at Sandia Base with the OV-1 Mohawk, A-1 Skyraider, A-4 Skyhawk, A-6 Intruder, F-4 Phantom, F-105 Thunderchief, B-52 and B-58 Hustler aircraft.

This formed part of Task Force 77, which was cruising off the North Vietnamese coast at Yankee Station during the Vietnam War.

[2] He also spent a brief time as commander of the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt after its skipper had a heart attack.

[38] His tenure was short, for in April he was assigned to the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Command (CINCPAC), Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp Jr., which was responsible for the overall direction of the war in Vietnam.

[41] On 21 July 2012, he died at his Coronado, California, home of congenital heart failure, and was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.