July enough amphibious ships had arrived in SWPA to allow Barbey to divide the VII Amphibious Force. Fechteler assumed command of Amphibious Group 8, while Amphibious Group 9 was formed under Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble. In 1945, a third group, Amphibious Group 6, was formed under Rear Admiral Forrest B. Royal. For the invasion of Leyte, MacArthur and his naval commander, Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid expected that Barbey would continue in command of the amphibious forces, but Nimitz preferred the commander of the III Amphibious Force, Vice Admiral Theodore S. Wilkinson, who was senior and in Nimitz's opinion, more experienced. In the end, a compromise was reached, with both amphibious forces participating, and Kinkaid in overall command. For his part, Barbey was awarded a second Navy Distinguished Service Medal. His citation read: Promoted to vice admiral on 9 December 1944, Barbey directed 30 more assaults in 1945, mostly in the southern Philippines and Borneo. He conducted the last amphibious operation of the war, the landings at Balikpapan, Borneo on 1 July 1945. In all, "Uncle Dan", as he was known, planned and conducted 56 amphibious operations, landing more than one million Australian and American soldiers and marines. For his wartime service in the Southwest Pacific, the U.S. Army awarded Barbey the Army Distinguished Service Medal. On Australia Day in 1948 the Australian government honored him with an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire, which was presented at the Australian embassy in Washington by Norman Makin, the Australian Ambassador to the United States. Post-war After the war, Barbey replaced Kinkaid as commander of the Seventh Fleet. He continued the task of landing occupation forces in South Korea and North China. While providing training, transportation and support to the Chinese Nationalist Party forces, he attempted to prevent his own forces from becoming embroiled in the Chinese Civil War, which was engulfing North China. In March 1946 he became Commander Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet. In September he became commander of the Fourth Fleet. He briefly returned to the Far East in February 1947 as Chairman of the Joint Military Board on fact-finding mission to evaluate strategic requirements there. He returned to the U.S. in March to become Commandant of the 10th Naval District and commander of the Caribbean Sea Frontier from 1 May 1947 until 10 October 1950. His final assignment was as Commandant of the 13th Naval