*** Welcome to piglix ***

Ira Eaker

Ira C. Eaker
LTG Ira Eaker.jpg
Lt Gen Ira C. Eaker, USAAF, Deputy Commander of the Army Air Forces
Birth name Ira Clarence Eaker
Born (1896-04-13)April 13, 1896
, Texas
Died August 6, 1987(1987-08-06) (aged 91)
Andrews AFB, Maryland
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch USA - Army Infantry Insignia.png Infantry, United States Army
Prop and wings.svg Air Service, United States Army
USAAC Roundel 1919-1941.svg United States Army Air Corps
US Army Air Corps Hap Arnold Wings.svg United States Army Air Forces
 United States Air Force
Years of service 1917–1947
Rank US-O10 insignia.svg General (1985)
Commands held Eighth Air Force
Battles/wars World War II
Awards
Other work VP of Hughes Aircraft (1947–57) and Douglas Aircraft (1957–61)

General Ira Clarence Eaker (April 13, 1896 – August 6, 1987) was a general of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Eaker, as second-in-command of the prospective Eighth Air Force, was sent to England to form and organize its bomber command. However while he struggled to build up airpower in England, the organization of the Army Air Forces kept evolving and he was named commander of the Eighth Air Force on December 1, 1942.

Although his background was in single-engine fighter aircraft, Eaker became the architect of a strategic bombing force that ultimately numbered forty groups of 60 heavy bombers each, supported by a subordinate fighter command of 1,500 aircraft, most of which was in place by the time he relinquished command at the start of 1944.

Eaker then took overall command of four Allied air forces based in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, and by the end of World War II had been named Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces. He worked in the aerospace industry following his retirement from the military, then became a newspaper columnist.

Eaker was born in , Texas, in 1896, the son of a tenant farmer. He attended Southeastern State Teachers College in Durant, Oklahoma, and then joined the United States Army in 1917.

He was appointed a second lieutenant of Infantry, Officer's Reserve Corps, and assigned to active duty with the 64th Infantry Regiment at Camp Bliss, El Paso, Texas. The 64th Infantry was assigned to the 14th Infantry Brigade on December 20, 1917, to be part of the 7th Infantry Division when it deployed to France.


...
Wikipedia

...