US Air Force General. He was drafted into the Army in April 1943 and entered the aviation cadet program, graduating in September 1944 as a pilot and was commissioned a second lieutenant. During World War II he flew B-29 aircraft combat missions in the Southwest Pacific theater. After World War II, his assignments included an aircraft commander in the 307th Bombardment Wing at MacDill AFB FL, aircraft commander and chief training in the 93rd Bombardment Wing at Castle AFB CA. When the Korean War broke out, he was assigned to the Far East Air Forces Bomber Command as the chief of combat operations, where again he flew B-29 aircraft combat missions with the 98th Bombardment Wing. In September 1953 he became the chief, Combat Crew Section at Headquarters 15th Air Force at March AFB CA and in 1957 he was assigned to Fairchild AFB WA as the director of operations. He entered Air War College at Maxwell AFB AL in August 1962. Upon graduation, he was assigned to HQ Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt AFB NE where he worked in the Operations Plans Division. In July 1966, he was assigned to the 454th Bombardment Wing at Columbus AFB MS as the vice commander and in December 1966 he became the commander of the 449th Bombardment Wing at Kincheole AFB MI. He returned to HQ SAC in April 1968 where he held several positions and duties, one of which was administering the contingency war plans for HQ SAC, where he planned B-52 missions, weaponeered the target boxes and executed the strikes, as well as managing the SAC tanker support for the Southeast Asia geographic region. He also flew B-52 combat missions over Vietnam and tanker support sorties out of Thailand. In June 1972 he was assigned to HQ U.S. Air Force, Washington DC as the director of plans in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Programs, becoming the deputy chief of staff, plans and operations in 1973. During this time, he participated in the decision-making process that resulted in the C-130 Hercules aircraft being assigned to the Military Airlift Command (now Air Mobility Command) and the designation of this command as the Department of Defense's 3rd specified command. In September 1975, he became the deputy commander in chief of the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) at Stuttgart-Vaihingen GE. In January 1979, while he was the EUCOM deputy, President Carter sent him to Iran on a controversial mission. The U.S. position is that he went there in an attempt to stabilize Iran during the turbulent early stages of the Islamic revolution. Others take the view that his mission was to rally the Iranian military commanders to help them prepare for a last-resort coup d'état or to destabilize the Shah's government. In his memoir "Mission to Tehran", he called the mission "one that started with desperation and disunity and ended in disaster." In June 1979, he assumed command of the Military Airlift Command (now Air Mobility Command) at Scott AFB IL and retired from that position on 1 July, 1981. During his military career, he flew more than 5,000 hours in SAC bomber aircraft, nearly 2,000 hours in SAC tanker aircraft, nearly 1,400 hours in single jet engine aircraft, and 1,500 hours in B-29, C-54, T-39, and other light aircraft. Among his top military decorations were the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He died at the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, California.