Charley Gallloway is a twenty eight year old captain in the United States Marine Corps. He is a pilot who is on a secret mission at the opening of the book. He is nicknamed the Skipper or The Old Man and is rated as an instructor pilot. When he returns to Henderson Field, the plane is full of food and alcohol from Australia. Galloway often flies search missions in the area, usually with Pick. There squadron, the VMF-229 has been pulled from service and Galloway, Pick and Dunn go to Pearl Harbor on their way to Ewa to be refitted.