Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Bayan da Amurka ta shiga yakin duniya na biyu, Ballentine ya zama kwamandan kwamandan na biyu na jirgin ruwa mai suna USS "Long Island" daga ranar 26 ga Disamba, 1941 zuwa 18 ga Afrilu, 1942. An daukaka shi zuwa kyaftin a ranar 30 ga Yuni 1942. Ballentine ya yi aiki a matsayin shugaban ma'aikata ga Kwamandan Task Group 34.2 Rear Admiral Ernest D. McWhorter a cikin jirgin lokacin mamayewar Allied na Faransa Arewacin Afirka
a watan Nuwamba na shekara ta 1942.