Captain John F. Frost was born in Newport News, VA and raised in Norfolk, where he graduated from Granby High School. In 1949, after two years of service in the U. S. Naval Reserve, Captain Frost received a Secretary of the Navy appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy and graduated, with distinction, in June 1953.
His first duty assignment was in USS BARTON (DD 722) as Communications Officer and CIC Officer. While he served in BARTON, the ship participated in Task Force 77operations off Korea and completed an “around the world” cruise. Subsequent duty at sea included tours as Commander, LCU Division 23, in operations with the Second and Sixth Fleets; USS HIGBEE (DDR 806) as Weapons Officer; USS GOLDSBOROUGH(DDG 20) as commissioning Executive Officer; and tours as Commanding Officer in BERKELEY and in USS WORDEN (CG-18). Operations in GOLDSBOROUGH and BERKELEY included three deployments to the Vietnam area. Both HIGBEE and WORDEN were “forward-deployed” as units of the Seventh Fleet, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. Shore and Staff duty tours included the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, where he earned a MSEE degree; Staff, Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Force, Pacific as Anti-Air Warfare/Electronic Warfare Officer; U. S. Navy Nuclear Power School and Reactor Training; the Naval War College, Newport; Bureau of Weapons Naval Ordnance Systems Command as Advanced Missiles Branch Head, SAMID/ASMD Weapons System Manager; 2-D Radar Manager and AAW Readiness Manager; ASMD Project Office, Naval Material Command; Naval Sea Systems Command as Deputy, Surface Warfare Systems; and Staff, Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force as assistant Chief of Staff, Surface Warfare. Captain Frost is a member of the Surface Warfare Association and the U. S. Naval Institute. His personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star. Captain Frost retired from active duty in July 1979. Captain Frost passed away 5 December 2003 and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.