Elwood R. Quesada
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Elwood Richard Quesada CB CBE |
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|---|---|
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| Nickname(s) | "Pete" |
| Born |
April 13, 1904 Washington, D.C. |
| Died | February 9, 1993 (aged 88) Jupiter, Florida |
| Buried at | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | |
| Years of service | 1924–1951 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Unit | Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
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| Other work | |
Elwood Richard Quesada, CB, CBE (April 13, 1904 – February 9, 1993), nicknamed "Pete", was a United States Air Force Lt. General, FAA administrator, and, later, a club owner in Major League Baseball.
Elwood Richard Quesada was born in Washington, D.C. in 1904 to an Irish-American mother and a Spanish father. He attended Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa., University of Maryland, College Park, and Georgetown University.
In September 1924, Quesada enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a flying cadet and was commissioned as a reserve officer a year later. He had a wide variety of assignments as aide to senior officers, military attaché and technical adviser to other air forces, and in intelligence. He was also part of the team (with Ira Eaker and Carl Spaatz) that developed and demonstrated air-to-air refueling in 1929 on the Question Mark. All five crew members were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their participation in the mission.
Lieutenant General Quesada was promoted and held commands as follows:
As a junior officer, Quesada became interested in the concept of close air support of ground forces, which was thoroughly developed by the 9th AF during his time as commander in North Africa and Europe.
Quesada was instrumental in developing many of the principles of tactical air-ground warfare for the Ninth Air Force during the European campaign. Innovations attributed to him included adapting a microwave early warning radar (MEW) for real-time direction of fighter bombers that were already in-flight, as well as placing pilots as forward air controllers inside tanks equipped with VHF aircraft radios on the front lines. This latter technique allowed for direct ground communication with overhead fighter-bombers by personnel who understood what pilots needed to identify ground targets. Besides reducing friendly fire incidents, such tactics allowed attacking ground troops to use close air support with greater precision and speed, allowing for air cover to take the place of artillery support in a rapid armored advance. These improved tactics enormously expanded the contributions of tactical airpower to the Allied defeat of Germany on the Western Front.
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