US Air Force General. He was instrumental in the work of the Manhattan Project, a research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II. Born in Centralia, Pennsylvania, he was the son of a US Army officer. After graduating from high school, he entered the US Military Academy at West Point, New York in July 1924, graduating in June 1928 with a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the field artillery. In September of that year he entered flight training at Brooks Field, Texas (now closed). After further training at the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field (now Kelly Field Annex of Joint Base San Antonio) Texas, and he received his pilot's wings and transferred to the US Army Air Corps in November 1929. He was then assigned to the 1st Observation Squadron at Mitchel Field, New York (now closed). From July 1932 until June 1933 he attended the Air Corps Engineering School at Wright-Patterson Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base), Ohio and after graduating, he was assigned to the Aircraft Design Section of the Aircraft Laboratory there, where he worked on the development of the P-39, XB-15, B-17 and XB-19 aircraft. In February 1934 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and became Director of the Special Research and Test Laboratory and Director of Accessory Design and Test Laboratory there. In 1937 he returned to West Point as an instructor in the Department of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, as the Science Department was then known. He was promoted to the rank of captain in July 1938 and from May to August 1939, he attended the Air Corps Tactical School at Langley Field Virginia (now Joint Base Langley-Eustis), after which he returned to West Point as an assistant professor. While there he built a wind tunnel, and wrote a book entitled "Preliminary Airplane Design," which was published in 1941. In June 1940 he returned to Wright Field as Assistant Chief of the Air Laboratory of the Air Materiel Command, where he was promoted to the rank of major in January 1941, lieutenant colonel in February 1942, and colonel in March 1942. He became Assistant Chief of Development Engineering at US Army Air Forces Headquarters (USAAF) in Washington DC in May 1942, and then its Chief in June 1943. He was then designated the USAAF alternate to the Manhattan Project and became its main USAAF contact. From March to April 1944 he was assigned to England, where he was involved in an exchange of technical information with the Royal Air Force. In December 1944 he became Chief of Staff of the 316th Bombardment Wing, which was then based at Colorado Springs, Colorado, but soon moved to Topeka, Kansas. In June 1945 its B-29 aircraft deployed to Okinawa and he participated in the last air bombing raids on Japan. After the end of World War II, he was involved in a survey of the damage done by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He then served in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Materiel and Supply, the Office of the Deputy Commander of the Army Air Force, and Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development, Washington DC. In July 1947 he became one of the Deputy Chiefs of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, and was temporarily promoted to the rank of brigadier general in April 1948. Additionally, he also served on the Military Liaison Committee of the US Atomic Energy Commission. In July 1948 he became Deputy Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, for Atomic Energy and in January 1950 he was permanently promoted to the rank of brigadier general and became Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, for Atomic Energy, although he remained on the Military Liaison Committee. In August 1950 he was temporarily promoted to the rank of major general with a permanent promotion to that rank in April 1954. From October 1951 to May 1954 he was Commandant of the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He then became commander of 3rd Air Force in England, also becoming head of the Military Assistance Advisory Group there in November 1956. He returned to the US in July 1957 and became the Air Force member of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Development, Washington DC. In July 1958 he was temporarily promoted to the rank of lieutenant general when he became Deputy Chief of Staff, Development and 3 years later he became Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Technology. He retired in that position in November 1961 with 33 years of continuous military service in the US Army and US Air Force. Among his military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit medal with two oak leaf clusters and the World war II Victory Medal. He was a rated command pilot and a senior aircraft observer. After his military retirement, he became President and Chairman of Allied Research in Concord, Massachusetts, a defense contractor, but retired from that position in 1963 and moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he died at the age of 81.