Division. He served under then-Chief of the Bureau and future Chief of Naval Operations, Ernest J. King and made recommendations to the Navy's General Board that oversaw all military spending. Bellinger recommended the types of aircraft the Navy should acquire and their rate of production, the scope of new construction at shore stations, and the distribution, organization, and assignment of all aircraft squadrons and detachments. While in this capacity, Bellinger was promoted to Captain on June 30, 1935. Outbreak of War in Europe One year later, Bellinger was appointed Commanding officer of aircraft carrier USS Ranger, serving with the Atlantic Fleet until June 1937, when transferred to duty as Chief of Staff and Aide to Commander, Aircraft, Battle Force, and Carrier Division One, United States Fleet under Vice admiral Frederick J. Horne. In July 1938, Bellinger was appointed commanding officer of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia, the base he had commanded in 1917. He was responsible for the civilians who repaired, overhauled and assembled aircraft. But he also commanded and trained 44 officers and 450 enlisted men assigned to Patrol Wing Five. These planes were later used to search for German submarines from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Wilmington, North Carolina. Following the outbreak of War in Europe, Bellinger supervised the enlargement of his station and also recommended the location for future Naval Air Station Oceana. The aircraft under his command were used for the Neutrality Patrols within a line extending east from Boston to 65 degrees west and thence south to the 19th parallel and seaward around the Leeward and Windward Islands. World War II Pearl Harbor and Midway Bellinger was promoted to Rear admiral on December 1, 1940 and assumed command of Patrol Wing Two based in Honolulu, Hawaii. During 1941, he assumed additional duty as Commander, Aircraft, Scouting Force and together with Army Air Corps Major General Frederick L. Martin, they submitted a report in March 1941 pointing out the vulnerability of Hawaii to a dawn air raid from carriers. At the time of Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was present on Oahu and was responsible for sending the message, "Air raid, Pearl Harbor. This is no drill", which was the first notice to the outside world of the attack. The majority of his seaplanes were destroyed in the attack, because they were parked closely together in the middle of