On December 7, 1941, he was base operations officer (in the rank of major) at Hickam Field and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action that day.
In October 1942, he shifted back to communications work and commanded Army Airways Communications System in the Pacific for the rest of World War II, with the exception of the period October 1943 to January 1944, when on temporary duty in Alaska, he established the Air Communications Office for Alaska.