[1] Quiggle′s first tour after graduation was aboard the battleship USS Idaho (BB-42)[1] based at San Pedro, California, which conducted training operations while he was on board.

[1] He was aboard Astoria for a lengthy shakedown cruise she made in the Pacific Ocean during the summer of 1934 in which she visited the Hawaiian Islands; American Samoa; Fiji; Sydney, Australia; and Nouméa on New Caledonia.

He left Overton in December 1942 and reported for duty aboard the new battleship USS Iowa (BB-61), then fitting out at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

[1] He received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for his tour aboard Iowa,[1] the citation for the award stating: For meritorious service as Gunnery Officer of the USS Iowa from February 1943 to March 1944...By his ability to organize and train the personnel of his department, [he] was in large measure responsible for bringing the gunnery crew of this newly commissioned battleship to a high state of efficiency with excellent results during her first encounter with the enemy...[1]From May 1944 to June 1945, Quiggle performed duties at the Bureau of Ordnance in the U.S. Department of the Navy.

[1] For his tour there, he received a letter of commendation for from the chief of the bureau for his "great determination to the tremendous task of planning the production of the weapons of war..."[1] He then returned to Iowa as her executive officer.

On 1 March 1946 Quiggle received a promotion to the temporary rank of captain,[1] and that month he detached from Iowa and became a member of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet.

[1] In November 1949 he began a tour as Head of the Atlantic, European, and Middle East Section of the Strategic Plans Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

[1] In October 1953 he began a tour with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as executive officer of the Plans and Operations Division on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe.

"[3] Passengers aboard the liner told the press that Quiggle had acted peculiarly during the voyage and also conveyed the story of Quiggle′s statement to his wife.

[2] U.S. Navy personnel from the 12th Naval District immediately launched an investigation into Quiggle′s disappearance[2][3] and Anne Quiggle reportedly denied that her husband had told her she would be better off as a widow before he vanished.