Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Marion Case Cheek, USN(R) (October 18, 1888 – June 20, 1969) was a

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

. During World War II, he served as an intelligence officer in the Pacific. After retiring from the Navy, he worked for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Biography

Cheek graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

at Annapolis in 1911.

World War II

As a lieutenant commander at the outbreak of World War II, in September 1942 he received the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

"For distinguished service in the line of his profession as Intelligence Officer of the Sixteenth Naval District in the city of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

" during which he volunteered for a number of assignments which brought him under enemy fire. He was sent to

Corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

and later to Australia along with a million pesos of Philippine government funds. Promoted to commander, he became part of Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet staff and part of its unofficial "Dirty Tricks Department," which also included Rear Admiral

Robert Bostwick Carney Robert Bostwick Carney (March 26, 1895 – June 25, 1990) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as commander-in-chief of the NATO forces in Southern Europe (1951–1953) and then as Chief of Naval Operations (1953–1954) duri ...

, Commander

Harold Stassen Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician, military officer, and attorney who was the List of governors of Minnesota, 25th governor of Minnesota from 193 ...

, Captain Ralph E. Wilson, Captain Leonard J. Dow, and Commander Horace D. Moulton. During his time with the Third Fleet he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

twice, and the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on August 1, 1943 Captain Cheek returned to his role in the reserves as a commander after the war, but was promoted to captain on July 25, 1949, with relative precedence to his previous promotion to captain, and rear admiral on November 10, 1949.

Post-war career

He went to work for the

where he received the

Intelligence Medal of Merit The Intelligence Medal of Merit is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency for performance of especially meritorious service or for achievement conspicuously above normal duties. Notable recipients *Gust Avrakotos *I. Nathan Briggs *George Ca ...

for his service. He retired from government service in 1958. He is buried at San Francisco National Cemetery.

References

1888 births 1969 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy rear admirals Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit {{US-navy-bio-stub