Evening star., 1944-05-16
GEN. QUESADA TO GIVE
FLYERS THE INVASION 60


the tireless and not infrequently
misunderstood labors of Gen. House
to smooth out the new tactical
problems.
Gen. Quesada inherits all this
development and is building on it.
All indications are that the field of
operations will be rather favorable,
certainly smuch more so than was
the case in Sicily. His command
remains independent of the ground
forces, but will work, of course, in
the closest possible cooperation
with them. With each infantry
force there will be an air force
operations officer and intelligence
officer. Detailed to work with them
will be an infantry intelligence Of
ficer and operations officer. 1t will
be entirely the job of these four
men, with whatever assistants may
be assigned them, to facilitate CO.
operation and they will be able to
make on the spot many of the de-
cisions which formerly passed
through three or four hands.
Invasion Rehearsal.
Here is typical scene as staged
in Gen. Quesada's headquarters as
an invasion rehearsal:
The infantry air operations officer
tells the Air Forces operations officer
that the force commander wants a
dive bomber sortie to break up a
German battery which has been in
stalled on a newly-built railroad
siding and which is preventing an
assembly OF tanks from rushing
through and securing a corridor
opened up by an infantry regiment.
why doesn't he silence that bat
terry with his own artillery instead
of tying up plane on the job? asks
the air men.
Because its position is such that
the shells would be likely to hit our
own infantry"
The two intelligence officers are
consulted. They agree, although
with some discrepancies, on the gen.
eral picture. The air intelligence
officer says that plane can be made
available, although there are other
purposes to which it might profitably
be put. But the four of them at
length agree this particular job is
essential and can best be done by
the Air Forces. The request is trans
mitted with all the pertinent data.
All this takes no more than two
minutes. In the early days of air
support it might have required two
hours-in some cases I have heard
about very much longer.
just such request missions are ex-
pected to rise quite often in the
course Of battle. The decision rests
with the air commander. But he
can make UP his mind Immediately
and his job is to do everything pos
sible to further the success of the
Army.
20 Years Of Experience.
Maj. Gen. Elwood r. Pete
Quesada, leader of the 9th Air
Force Fighter Command, has packed
many experiences into his 2O-year
Air Force career.
Gen. Quesada was nominated April
28 by President Roosevelt to be a
major general. In 1929 he was CO.
pilot OF the Army transport plane
Question Mark, which set 150-
hour endurance refueling record.
He and 1t. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, who
was his superior when Gen. Quesada
began his career as an engineering
officer at Boiling Field, piloted a
relief expedition to Greenly Island,
OH Labrador, when the German
plane Bremen was forced down on
the first East-West Atlantic crossing
by air.
Gen. Quesada once piloted an
elephant-hunting expedition into
Africa, and was flying aide to Gen.
Hugh johnson, former National Re-
covery Administration chief.
He has the Distinguished FLYING
Cross, the Legion of Merit and the
Medal of the Commander of the
British Empire. He was born here |
graduated from Mckinley High
School, where he was quarterback
on the football team, and attended
the University of Maryland and
wyoming Seminary in Pennsyl-
vania.
His mother, Mrs. Helen A. Ouesada.
lives at 4716 Ninth street NV.