US Air Force General. He served as the Air Force Chief of Staff from 1965 until 1969. The son of a doctor, after graduating from high school, he attended Henderson Brown College in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1927. In 1928 he entered US Military Academy at West Point, New York and graduated in 1932 with a commission as a 2nd lieutenant. After undergoing flying training at Randolph and Kelly Fields, Texas, he received his Army Air Corps pilot wings in 1933. From 1933 to 1943 he served in various positions, including an assistant executive in the Office of the Chief of Army Air Forces in Washington DC. In 1943 he became chief of staff of the China-Burma-India Air Force Training Command at Karachi, India (later Pakistan), and remained in Asia for the duration of World War II. In 1944, as the senior air staff officer, Air Command Southeast Asia, and deputy commander of the Third Tactical Air Force in 1944, he participated in combat operations against the Japanese forces in Burma. In 1946 he was named senior air adviser to the Chinese government while serving as the commander of the Air Division, Nanking Headquarters Command. In 1947 he returned to Headquarters Air Force in Washington, DC and became the chief of the Reserve and National Guard Division and, the following year, was appointed chief of the Air Force's Civilian Components Group. In 1950 he was transferred to England where he served as deputy commander and later, commander of the 3rd Air Force. He then took command of the 7th Air Division of the Strategic Air Command, while commanding the 3rd Air Force at the same time. This was followed by a four-year tour as Director of Plans at Headquarters Strategic Air Command (SAC), Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. In 1957 he was assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana where he became commander of the 2nd Air Force, and in 1961 he returned to SAC to become its vice commander-in-chief. In 1962 he was assigned to Europe as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, US European Command and promoted to the rank of general. He returned to the US in August 1964 and was appointed Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters US Air Force, Washington DC, and assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the US Air Force on 1 February 1965, replacing General Curtis E. LeMay. His appointment as the Air Force Chief of Staff was extended to July 1969, and he retired on July 31, 1969 with 37 years of continued military service. Among his military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Army Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, the Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and the French Legion of Honour, Degree of Commandeur. In June 1965 he was presented an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, and in 1966 he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. The public library in his hometown of Booneville, Arkansas is named in his honor.