Promoted to lieutenant commander, in 1911 he took command of the destroyer , followed by an assignment to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., until 1915. This duty gave Taussig the background experience which resulted in his exposing personnel shortcomings in the navy following World War I. In 1915, he first locked horns with then Assistant Navy Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt and Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels when he and several other navy officers, notably Admiral William Sims, were critical of a program that provided for the use of paroled criminals to fill the depleted ranks of enlisted personnel. In 1915, Taussig returned to sea in command of the newly commissioned destroyer and Division 6, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet. The following year, Taussig received promotion to the rank of commander.