Donald S. Jones, 76, pilot for Apollo recovery missions
WASHINGTON -- Vice Admiral Donald S. Jones, the naval helicopter pilot who in 1969 plucked Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong from the Pacific Ocean after he returned from the moon and who in 1986 was one of five Pentagon officials initially involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, died of cancer Monday at the Essa Flory Hospice Center in Lancaster, Pa. He was 76.
In the late 1960s, Admiral Jones was commanding officer of a helicopter antisubmarine squadron when he was ordered to develop night and all-weather astronaut recovery procedures for the Apollo program. He was designated the helicopter recovery pilot for the first moon flights of Apollo 8 and 11.
In 1986, he succeeded Colin Powell, then a major general, as military assistant to Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger. Four times in 1986, Weinberger secretly and illegally ordered his deputies -- including Admiral Jones, Powell, Richard L. Armitage, then assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, and Deputy Defense Secretary William H. Taft IV -- to transfer Army TOW antitank missiles and Hawk antiaircraft components to the Central Intelligence Agency.
The weapons were shipped by the CIA to Iran in exchange for American hostages held in Lebanon. The profits from the sale went to Nicaraguan Contras.
Weinberger, who was charged with four counts of false statements and perjury, was pardoned before trial by President George H. W. Bush.
Admiral Jones, who was not charged, retired from the military in 1987.
Admiral Jones was born in Madison, Wis. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and received a master's degree from George Washington University. He completed the Naval Postgraduate School course in national security affairs and courses at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
He became a naval aviation cadet in 1950, beginning a careerlong association with helicopter and fixed-wing antisubmarine warfare.
Admiral Jones had seven command assignments at sea and was commander of the Third Fleet, based in Hawaii, from August 1983 to September 1985. He flew more than 6,000 hours in 20 aircraft types and made more than 2,000 shipboard landings. He also worked from 1973 to 1975 at the Naval Intelligence Command as head of intelligence operations and as the deputy director of naval intelligence to the chief of naval operations.
He was the only officer to have been senior military assistant for both the deputy secretary of defense and secretary of defense.
Among his military awards were two Defense Department Distinguished Service Medals, two Navy Distinguished Service Medals, and the Legion of Merit.
After retiring, he was a consultant, a corporate officer with Tracor Inc. and a trustee of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, the Naval Helicopter Association, and the Association of Naval Aviation. He was a past vice chairman of the Retired Officers Association. He also was a member of the board of 
