Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders

    HomeAbout UsBiographiesDisplay      This is the official portrait of Brig. Gen. Harold Arthur Bartron.Engage On
        
        This is the official portrait of Brig. Gen. Harold Arthur Bartron.Brigadier General HAROLD A. BARTRONHarold Arthur Bartron was born in Frankfort, Ind., in 1896. Enlisting as a private in the Marine Corps in the fall of 1912, he was discharged four years later in that grade.
When World War I broke out General Bartron was admitted to the first officers training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., early in April 1917, and was transferred shortly thereafter to Columbus, Ohio, where he was a member of the third ground school class in preliminary training for an aviation career. Upon graduation he was sent to the overseas detachment in New York, having been discharged as a candidate, and enlisted in the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps for flying training.
Going to England in September 1917, General Barton received additional ground instruction at Oxford prior to flying training. His flying training in France consisted of primary training at Tours and advanced training at Issodoun before he graduated in the first class of the American gunnery school at St. Johns De Monte, France. Joining the 13th Squadron of the Second Pursuit Group after completing his training, he remained with it until the cessation of hostilities, returned to the United States, and was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in February 1919.
Appointed a second lieutenant in the Air Service, Regular Army, in July 1920, after a short tour of duty at Fort Sill, Okla., General Barton was ordered to Patterson Field, Ohio, moving to Kelly Field, Texas, in 1929, and then Randolph Field, Texas. From there he was sent to the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Ala., graduating in 1939, and then served at March Field, Calif., and the Panama Air Depot in 1939.
Two years later General Barton was transferred to Waller Field, Trinidad, and six months later he went to Losey Field, Puerto Rico. In October 1942 he joined the invasion force on the West Coast of North Africa, landing in November 1942, and assumed command of the First Area Northwest African Air Service Command. He was transferred to Constantine in April 1943, and later moved to Tunis. That June he was appointed to command the Air Service Command, Northwest African Theater. With the invasion of southern Italy he moved to Bari, Italy, and later Naples, remaining there until August 1944 when he returned to the United States.
Assuming command of the Fairfield Air Technical Service Command, in November 1945 he became commanding general of San Bernardino Air Technical Service Command. In August 1947 he was assigned to Air Materiel Command headquarters, Dayton, Ohio.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit, and he is rated a command pilot and combat observer.
(Up to date as of June 29, 1948)
  Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil