Leonard Alexander "Swoose" Snead II
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Leonard Alexander Snead II was born on 29 March 1925 in VA.

Snead graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946. In 1950 Snead earned his Wings, then spent the next six years serving in junior officer billets. By 1956, he was selected to serve as Flag Lieutenant for the Commander Carrier Group Three. He next graduated from the Naval War College and went to Test Pilot School where he remained until 1963. He later became the Head of the Flying Qualities and Performance Branch. He assumed command of Attack Squadron Seventy-Five, the Navy's first fleet operational A-6A squadron, which embarked for Viet Nam the following year. A second tour as Commanding Officer of an A-6 training Squadron followed with some sea time as Operations Officer aboard the USS Independence.

He became the Aircraft Program Coordinator in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations in June of 1967, serving until August of 1969. His next assignment was as Commanding Officer of the USS Diamond Head and in 1971 as the Commanding Officer of the Aircraft Carrier USS Forrestal. In 1961 Snead was promoted to Rear Admiral and in July of the same year was assigned as the Program Manager of the F-14 Aircraft/Phoenix Missile/F-401 Advanced Technology Engine.

His last command was in 1974 when he was transferred to the Navy's Master Jet Base at Miramar, CA, to Command the Fighter Airborne Early Warning Wing Pacific which included the Top Gun School. He retired in 1976.

In Retirement

Snead joined the Grumman Corporation and was assigned to the London Regional Office, encompassing all of Europe and the Middle East.

Death and Burial

Rear Admiral Leonard Alexander Snead II died on 17 April 2003 in West Palm Beach, FL. He is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, MD.