Following graduation from Annapolis and commissioning as an ensign, Hamilton served the required period in surface ships before applying for flight training. He qualified as a naval aviator and flew a variety of aircraft, including patrol planes from San Diego in 1938 and 1939.
During World War II, Hamilton served ashore and afloat, primarily in aviation training and aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He was her flight deck officer and executive officer in 1943 and 1944, commanding the ship during a brief refit in 1944.
In 1934, Hamilton became the 21st head football coach at his alma mater, and served as head coach at Navy for a total of five years—three years in his first stint from 1934 through 1936 and two more in 1946 and 1947. Hamilton moved on to become athletic director at Navy in 1948, a position which he held for two years before leaving to accept a similar position at the University of Pittsburgh, serving there until 1959. Twice during his tenure at Pitt, in 1951 and 1954, he also was the head coach of the football team.
Hamilton left Pitt in 1959 to take on the role of founding commissioner of the new Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), which later became the Pacific-8 Conference and eventually the Pac-12 Conference, a position which he held until 1971. He served as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, served 16 years on the U.S Olympic Committee, and was vice-president of the National Football Foundation.[3]
Hamilton was married to Emmie Spalding in 1932 and is buried in the Naval Academy cemetery.[9]
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Schmidt, Ray (February 2004). "The Greatest Army -- Navy" (PDF). College Football Historical Society Newsletter. XVII (II). College Football Historical Society: 9–13. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
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