U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General. A veteran World War II combat bomber, he was the inspiration for the main character in the 1948 novel and subsequent film, "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) that starred actor Gregory Peck. He rose in rank to become the commander of the Alaskan Air Command. Born Frank Alton Armstrong, he graduated from Wake Forest College (now Wake Forest University) in Wake Forest, North Carolina with a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1923 and a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1925. In February 1928 he enlisted as a flying cadet in the US Army Air Corps and received his pilot wings and reserve officer's commission in February 1929, followed by his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the Regular Army three months later. His first assignment was to the 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field (not Langley Air Force Base, a part of Joint Base Langley-Eustis), Virginia. In 1930 he was assigned to March Field (now March Air Reserve Base), California as a flight instructor, and the following year he performed the same duties at Randolph Field (Now Randolph Air Force Base, a part of Joint Base San Antonio), Texas. In October 1934, he was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant and two months later he was assigned to the Panama Canal Zone as a pursuit pilot. In March 1937 he transferred to the 13th Attack Squadron, Barksdale Field (now Barksdale Air Force Base), Louisiana, part of the 3rd Attack Group, flying Northrop A-17 Nomad attack planes, and in May 1939 he became its commander and continued in command of the squadron on July 1, 1939, when it became the 13th Bombardment Squadron (Light), converting to B-18 Bolo bombers until October 1940. In November 1940 he was assigned to England as a combat observer with the British Royal Air Force and in February 1941 he returned to command the 90th Bombardment Squadron at Savannah Army Airfield, Georgia. He was promoted to the rank of major the following month and to lieutenant colonel in January 1942, after the US entry into World War II, and became the Assistant Chief of Air Staff of Operations at US Army Air Forces (USAAF) headquarters in Washington DC. Almost immediately he was selected to accompany Brigadier General Ira Eaker to England with five other officers to establish the 8th Bomber Command, 8th Air Force, where he became its operations officer and was promoted to the rank of colonel two months later. In July 1942, he became commander of the inadequately trained 97th Bomb Group, the first group of B-17 Flying Fortress bombers sent to England, and put it through an intensive training period, and from August to September of that year, he led it in combat on six of its first 10 missions, including the first daylight heavy bomber raid made by the US Army Air Force over Nazi-held Europe. In January 1943 he was directed by General Eaker to rebuild another bomb group performing well below standards and he commanded the 306th Bomb Group and led the first mission by the 8th Air Force to bomb a target in Nazi Germany that same month. His experiences with the 97th and 306th groups became the basis of Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay Jr.'s novel and film "Twelve O'Clock High". In February 1943 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and became commander of the 101st Provisional Combat Wing, continuing to fly combat missions over Germany. The following June he was advanced to command of the 1st Bombardment Wing. In September 1943 he returned to the US and commanded the 46th Bombardment Operational Training Wing until April 1944, and the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing at Peterson Field, Colorado. When the Manhattan Project (producer of the first atomic bombs) was still in its development stage, he was one of the leading candidates to command the unit designated to drop the atomic bomb. However, his age and injury from a fire in England mitigated against his selection and it went to Colonel Paul W. Tibbets instead. In November 1944 he assigned command of the 315th Bomb Wing at Peterson Field, Colorado, a B-29 Superfortress wing then in training, and between March and April 1945, the wing deployed to Northwest Field, Guam on to fly missions against the Home Islands of Japan. On August 15, 1945, he led the longest and final heavy bombing raid in the war, with the distinction of having led both the first and last USAAF strategic bombing missions of World War II. In November 1945 he flew the first non-stop flight from Japan to Washington DC in a B-29 Superfortress aircraft. He became the Chief of Staff for Operations of the Pacific Air Command, US Army in January 1946. After the US Air Force became a separate branch of the Armed Forces in September 1947, he served as deputy commanding general of the Alaskan Air Command at Fort Richardson, Alaska from March 1948 until February 1949, and its commanding general from February 1949 until December 1950. In January 1950 he was promoted to the rank of major general and named base commander of Sampson Air Force Base, New York (now closed), in January 1951. The following May he became commanding general of the 6th Air Division, training the first B-47 Stratojet Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, and in 1952 he became the commander of the 2nd Air Force of the Strategic Air Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. In July 1956 he returned as commander of the Alaskan Air Command, and upon his promotion to the rank of lieutenant general, as commander of the unified Alaskan Command at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska and retired in that position in July 1962 with 34 years of continuous military service. His military and foreign decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross (with four oak leaf clusters), the Air Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), the American Defense Service Medal (with one battle star), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with three battle stars), the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with one battle star), the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the British Distinguished Flying Cross, the Belgian Croix de Guerre (with palm), and the Philippine Independence Medal. He died at the age of 67.