Description:
Official portrait of General Curtis Emerson Lemay, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, 1961 - 1965. Curtis Emerson LeMay was born at Columbus, Ohio, on 15 November 1906. He attended Columbus public schools and the Ohio State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree. In 1928 he entered the armed services as a flying cadet. He completed pilot training at Kelly Field, Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserves in October 1929. He received a Regular Commission in January 1930. The General's first tour of duty was with the 27th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field, Michigan. He served in various assignments in fighter operations before transferring to bomber aircraft in 1937. General LeMay participated in the first mass flight of B-17 Flying Fortresses to South America in 1938. This earned the 2nd Bomb Group the Mackay Trophy for outstanding aerial achievement. Prior to entry into World War II, he pioneered air routes over the South Atlantic to Africa and over the North Atlantic to England. General LeMay organized and trained the 305th Bombardment Group in 1942 and led that organization to combat in the European Theater. He developed formation procedures and bombing techniques that were used by B-167 bomber units throughout the European Theater of Operations. These fundamental procedures and techniques were later adapted to the B-29 Super Fortresses which fought the war to its conclusion in the Pacific. As Commanding General of the 3rd Bombardment Division, (England), he led the famed Regensberg raid, a B-17 shuttle mission that originated in England, struck deep in Germany, and terminated in Africa. In July 1944 he was transferred to the Pacific to direct the B-29 heavy bombardment activities of the 20th Bomber Command in the China-Burma-India Theater. He later commanded the 21st Bomber Command with headquarters on Guam, and still later became Chief of Staff of the Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific. At the conclusion of World War II, he returned to the United States piloting a Super Fortress (B-29), on a non-stop, record flight from Hokkaido, Japan, to Chicago, Illinois. The General's first post-war assignment was to Headquarters, Air Materiel Command. He was then transferred to the Pentagon at Washington, D.C., to be the first Deputy Chief of Air Staff for Research and Development. In October 1947 General LeMay was selected to command the U.S. Air Forces in Europe with headquarters at Wiesbaden, Germany. He organized air operations for the famous Berlin Airlift. A year later he returned to the United States, assumed command of the newly formed Strategic Air Command, and established its headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. This central location was to become the nerve center of a world-wide bomber-missile force. Commanding SAC for nearly ten years he built, from the remnants of World War II, an all jet bomber force, manned and supported by professional airmen dedicated to the preservation of peace. Under his leadership and supervision, plans were laid for the developments and integration of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability. In July 1957 the General was appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force and served in that capacity until July 1961, at which time he was appointed Chief of Staff. General LeMay died on October 1st, 1990.
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