moses then served at marine corps base san diego as commanding officer of the recruit depot and the separate infantry battalion, before departed back to china for duty as executive officer, 4th marine regiment under colonel richard s. hooker. he was stationed again at shanghai international settlement, where 4th marines served as a defense force during a period of tensions between china and japan. on december 23, 1932, colonel hooker suffered a heart attack and died following day. moses assumed temporary command of the regiment and held it until arrival of new commanding officer, colonel fred d. kilgore, on march 12, 1933.