Department of the United States Air Force LogoBiography
                  United States Air Force110323-F-JZ022-126.JPGEffective Dates of Promotion
                      
                      Major General                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    July 16, 1971
            Major General EARL O. ANDERSONMaj. Gen. Earl O. Anderson is vice commander of the Air Force Reserve, with headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
General Anderson was born in Mead, Neb., in 1924, where he graduated from Mead High School in 1941. He attended York Junior College, Pa., and the University of Arizona; and received a bachelor of science degree in military science from the University of Omaha in 1953, and a master of science degree in systems management from the University of California in 1968. He is a graduate of the Air Tactical School and the Air Command and Staff School and completed the Air War College correspondence course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
He entered active military duty in February 1943 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps and awarded his pilot wings at Ellington Field, Texas, in January 1944. He then completed B-24 transition training at Liberal Army Airfield, Kan., and was assigned as a B-24 aircraft commander.
In August 1944, during World War II, he was assigned to the 307th Bombardment Group of the 13th Air Force in the Southwest Pacific where he flew 49 combat missions with a total of 506 combat hours as an aircraft and flight commander. Among targets on these missions were the airfields of Balikpapan, Borneo and Manila during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.
General Anderson was released from active duty in January 1947 and then attended York Junior College. He returned to active duty in March 1948 and served until April 1955 in key staff and command positions with the Strategic Air Command, including SAC Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and the 7th Air Division Headquarters in England.
He entered the Air Force Reserve Program in 1955 and served as operations officer, squadron commander and wing comptroller of the 512th Troop Carrier Wing at Willow Grove, Pa. He was appointed deputy wing commander of the same organization in August 1958 as an Air Reserve technician during the establishment of that new management program.
In June 1960 General Anderson was named Commander of the 452nd Troop Carrier Wing of the Air Force Reserve at Long Beach Municipal Airport, Calif., and later that year he directed the relocation of that wing to March Air Force Base, Calif.
General Anderson was recalled to extended active military duty in May 1969 as deputy to the chief of Air Force Reserve. In June 1970 he returned to Reserve status as commander of the Eastern Air Force Reserve Region, with headquarters at Dobbins Air Force Base, Ga. General Anderson again returned to active duty to become vice commander of the Air Force Reserve in May 1973, at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
He is a command pilot with more than 7,200 flying hours, and is qualified in the C-119 Flying Boxcar, C-124 Globemaster, and C-141 Starlifter aircraft. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Combat Readiness Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem, and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Emblem.
He was promoted to the grade of major general on July 16, 1971, with date of rank July 16, 1971. (Adjusted temporary date of rank is March 30, 1970.)
(Current as of June 1976)Department of the Air Force Logo