Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost, USN, Retired
Class of 1953
Admiral Trost retired from active naval service on 1 July 1990, following completion of a four-year term as the Navy’s 23rd Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He graduated first in his Naval Academy Class of 1953 and was commissioned as Ensign in the U.S. Navy. During his more than 37 years of commissioned service, Admiral Trost served at sea in destroyers and diesel-powered and nuclear submarines, including tours as Executive Officer of two nuclear-powered submarines and as Commanding Officer of a Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine. Subsequent to selection to Flag Rank in 1973, he commanded Submarine Flotilla One/Submarine Group FIVE. Later operational assignments included Deputy Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Commander, Seventh Fleet; Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet and Deputy Commander, U.S. Atlantic Command. Ashore, he served as Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and on the Navy Staff as Director, Systems Analysis Division, Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel and Director, Navy Program Planning.
Admiral Trost’s decorations and awards include seven Distinguished Service medals (2 DOD, 3 Navy, 1 Army, 1 Air Force), the Legion of Merit (3 awards), the Navy Achievement medal, numerous campaign and service awards and personal decorations from a number of foreign nations.
Since his retirement from the Navy, Admiral Trost has served on the Boards of Directors of a number of U.S. corporations and has been active in Naval Academy and Alumni Association activities. He chaired the search committee for the current head of the Naval Institute and is a long-time Life Member of the Alumni Association. Admiral Trost has twice served a three-year term as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Trustees and has chaired and been a member of several nominating committees. He has been a trustee of the Naval Academy Foundation (now Athletic and Scholarship division) since 1967 and currently serves as class giving coordinator for classes USNA 1959 and earlier on the Campaign Executive Committee. He was the chairman of the first USNA Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award committee, which selected Admiral Thomas H. Moorer ’33 as the first DGA recipient in 1999, and he was the recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award in 2002. Additionally, he was the keynote speaker representing the Class of 1953 to the Class of 2003 at one of the first Commitment Night dinners. Currently, Admiral Trost is Chairman of the Class of 1953 Fundraising Committee, and he has been appointed to the Stadium Memorial Committee, which oversees the appropriateness of existing and proposed memorials.
Admiral Trost is married to the former Pauline Haley of Cottage City, Md. They have four children and six grandchildren. The Trosts reside in Annapolis.
November 19, 2002