Editing Chester R. Bender (section)

===Mid-career assignments===
In December 1945, he was assigned to U.S. Coast Guard headquarters, as the executive officer of the Air-Sea Rescue Agency. From 1946 to 1950, he served as personal aide and pilot to  U.S. Coast Guard Commandant [[Joseph F. Farley]]. In 1950, Bender was transferred to [[Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater|Coast Guard Air Station St. Petersburg]], Florida, where he served as executive officer. In 1953 he assumed command of the [[Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City]], Michigan. In 1955, he returned to Coast Guard headquarters, assuming command of the War Plans Division. Three years later in 1958, he was promoted to captain and given command of the [[Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point]], Hawaii.<ref name=USCG1 />

In 1959, after two decades of aviation duty, he assumed command of {{USCGC|Bering Strait|WAVP-382|2}}, based in [[Honolulu, Hawaii]]. From 1961 to 1964, he served as mobilization and readiness officer for the [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]]-based Western Area Command. On July 1, 1964 Bender was promoted to the rank of rear admiral and assumed command of the [[Cleveland, Ohio]]-based [[Ninth Coast Guard District]]. From 1965 to 1967, he served as superintendent of the [[United States Coast Guard Academy]]. During his tenure, he established the [[U.S. Coast Guard Museum]] in order to preserve and display artifacts from early Coast Guard history. From 1967 to 1970, he served as commander of the San Francisco-based Twelfth Coast Guard District, where he was responsible for most Coast Guard operations in the [[Pacific Ocean]], Northern [[California]], and most of [[Nevada]] and [[Utah]].<ref name=USCG1 />