Strategic Air Command: General LeMay

General Curtis Emerson LeMay was born on 15 November 1906 in Columbus, Ohio. He attended Columbus public school and Ohio State University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. In 1928 LeMay 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 Reserve in 1920. He received a regular commission in January 1930. 

General LeMay'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 for which the 2nd Bombardment Group was awarded the Mackay Trophy for outstanding aerial achievement. Prior to the United States entering 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-17 bomber units throughout the European Theater of Operations. These fundamental procedures and techniques were later adapted to the B-29 Super Fortress which fought the war to its conclusion in the Pacific. 

As commanding general of the 3rd Bombardment Division (England), General LeMay led the famed Regensburg raid, a B-17 shuttle mission that originated in England, struck deep in Germany and terminated in Africa. In July 1944 General LeMay was transferred to the Pacific to direct the B-19 heavy bombardment activities of the 20th Bomber Command in the China-Burma-India Theater. He later commanded the 21st Bomber Command headquartered on Guam, and then became the chief of staff of the Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific. At the conclusion of World War II, General LeMay returned to the United States piloting a B-29 Super Fortress on a non-stop record flight from Kokkaido, Japan, to Chicago, Illinois. 

General LeMay's first post-war assignment was the Headquarters, Air Materiel Command. He was then transferred to the Pentagon as the first deputy chief of air staff for research and development. In October 1947 Lemay was selected to command U.S. Air Forces in Europe with  headquarters at Wiesbaden, Germany. During his tenure at USAFE, General LeMay was tasked with organizing air operations for the Berliin Airlift.

In 1948, LeMay returned to the United States to take command of the Strategic Air Command and established its headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. This central location would become the nerve-center of a worldwide bomber-missile force. When General LeMay took over SAC it consisted of little more than a few B-29 bombardment groups left over from World War II; half the aircraft were operational and the crews were undertrained. General LeMay proposed to AF Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg that SAC should be capable of delivering 80% of the United States' atomic bombs in one mission and his position was that the service's highest priority was to deliver the SAC atomic offensive in one fell swoop telescoping mass and time. General Vandenberg concurred with LeMay's vision for SAC.  LeMay wrote a report,  Emergency War Plan of March 1949,  called for dropping 133 atomic bombs on 70 Soviet cities in 30 days.  Though the Harmon Committee released a report stating such an attack would not end a war with the Soviet Union, the Joint Chiefs committee recommended tripling America's nuclear arsenal, calling for enough bombs to attack 220 targets. General LeMay was instrumental in SAC's acquisition of a large fleet of new strategic bombers, establishment of a vast aerial refueling system, formation of many new units and bases, development of a strategic ballistic missile force, and establishment of a strict command and control system with an unprecedented readiness capability. He also insisted on rigorous training and very high standards of performance for all SAC personnel, through he was also known for his concern for the physical well-being and comfort of his Airmen and found ways to encourage morale and individual performance. When General LeMay relinquished command of SAC, it had 224,000 Airmen, almost 2,000 heavy bombers and nearly 800 tanker aircraft. 

After nearly ten years of commanding SAC, General LeMay was appointed vice chief of staff of the USA Air Force in July 1957. He was appointed chief of staff of the US Air Force in July 1961 and retired from active duty at the end of his tenure in 1965.

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