WASHINGTON -- James W. (Bud) Nance, the retired Navy admiral and former test pilot named Sunday to take over temporarily as President Reagan's national security adviser, has long experience as a international strategist.
The 60-year-old Nance has been serving as the No. 2 member of the national security team and stepped into the front role when Richard Allen announced he was taking administrative leave in order to publicly air the controversy over a payment he received from Japanese journalists.
Nance graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1944 and reached flag rank -- rear admiral -- in 1970.
During his 35-year career, he served as a naval aviator, including being a jet test pilot, and was commander of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal from 1968-70.
Nance began his career in planning and strategy in January 1970 under the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he was named deputy director of the National Military Command Center and also chief of the Studies Analysis and Gaming Agency.
From 1972 to 1975 he served in various high positions in Europe. His last Navy duty was as assistant vice chief of naval operations at the Pentagon.
Nance retired from the Navy in 1979 and served as a policy adviser to Republican senators and also as a special consultant to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during its deliberations on the SALT II treaty.
