Navy records state that 1,000 miles of new coastline was discovered by survey missions by the Bear and aircraft.

After the expedition, Cruzen was commended by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox for "superior seamanship, ability, courage, determination, efficiency and good judgment in dangerous emergencies".

He served as an operations officer on the staff of Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid during the campaign to liberate the Philippines in 1944 to 1945.

[5] In 1946, Admiral Richard E. Byrd was selected as officer in charge of the Navy's Antarctic Developments Project, also known as Operation Highjump.

Cruzen was chosen to commanded Task Force 68, which constituted the vast majority of the resources assigned to the operation.

[citation needed] Cruzen departed the United States on board his flagship, the USS Mount Olympus, on December 2, 1946.

[1] Cruzen's task force navigated through several hundred miles of ice before reaching the Little America base camp.

Among the discoveries made during Operation Highjump were finding two "oases", one a region of ice-free lakes and land.

[citation needed] After Operation Highjump, Cruzen was placed in command of Cruiser Division Two which was a unit of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.