Radford achieved the rank of lieutenant commander by 1927, and served with aircraft units aboard , , and . In 1936, he was promoted to commander and took charge of fighter squadron VF-1B aboard . By 1939, he was given command of Naval Air Station Seattle in Seattle, Washington. On 22 April 1939, he married Miriam J. (Ham) Spencer at Vancouver Barracks, Washington. Spencer (1895–1997) was a daughter of George Ham of Portland, Oregon, and the former wife of (1) Albert Cressey Maze (1891–1943), with whom she had a son, Robert Claude Maze Sr., Major, USMC who was killed in action in 1945 and (2) Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. In May 1940, Radford was appointed executive officer of the , a post he served in for one year.