Henry Conger Pratt Henry Conger Pratt ( September 2 , 1882 - April 6 , 1966 ) , professionally known as H . Conger Pratt , was a Major General in the United States Army , most of whose career ( 1904 - 1946 ) was spent as an officer and pilot in the Army antecedents of the United States Air Force . In the 1930s he became one of the senior leaders of the Air Corps and was nearly chosen to become Chief of Air Corps in 1935 . Pratt was the first member in its history to be appointed to the permanent establishment rank of brigadier general of the line . In 1938 , after becoming a general officer , he served in non - aviation command billets including ground forces commands . During the World War II Pratt did not serve as a general in the Army Air Forces but as commander of service and defense commands in the Western Hemisphere . He was carried on the retired list of the United States Air Force as a major general after the creation of that service in 1947 . Pratt was appointed an Assistant Chief of Air Corps in 1930 , chosen as one of the wing commanders of the General Headquarters Air Force in 1935 , and served as commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School in 1938 . During the pre - war years 1935 - 1940 , Pratt commanded both an air force wing and an army division . Biography . Conger Pratt was born on September 2 , 1882 at Fort Stanton , New Mexico , the son of Captain Henry Clitz Pratt ( 1843 - 1887 ) of the 13th Infantry , a veteran officer whose career had begun in 1862 as a lieutenant in the New York Volunteers during the American Civil War . Captain Pratt died in March 1887 when his son was just four years old . Conger Pratt was also the grandson of Colonel Henry Clay Pratt ( 1814 - 1884 ) , West Point Class of 1837 , who had been cited for gallantry during the Mexican - American War and served 42 years in the Army . In 1909 , while serving as a military aide in Washington , D . C . , Conger Pratt met Sadie Murray , daughter of Brigadier General Arthur Murray , the Chief of Coast Artillery , at her debut . He remained associated with General Murray and his family for several years , and in October 1913 , while he was stationed in California , the couple became engaged and married on February 7 , 1914 . They remained wedded until her death in October 1963 . Career . Cavalry service . Pratt was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York from the state of Wisconsin , entering the Corps of Cadets on August 1 , 1900 and graduating on June 15 , 1904 , 57th in a class of 124 . By War Department General Orders No . 121 , dated July 11 , 1904 , he was appointed a second lieutenant in Troop E , 4th Cavalry , and entered active duty on September 15 . After a month at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , Pratt proceeded to his duty station at the Presidio of San Francisco , California , where his troop trained in preparation for being sent to Malabang , Mindanao , in the Philippine Islands in September 1905 for a two - year tour of duty . Following their overseas service , his troop transferred to Fort Snelling , Minnesota , in November 1907 . In April 1909 , Pratt was appointed aide - de - camp to President William Howard Taft with concurrent duty as assistant to the Officer - in - charge , Public Buildings and Grounds . In March 1911 , he was detached on temporary duty to the Southern Department at Fort Sam Houston , Texas , where he served five months as aide to Major General William Harding Carter , who had organized most of the Army into the Maneuver Division as a demonstration of force to revolutionaries in Mexico . After arrival in San Antonio , Pratt was promoted to first lieutenant on March 30 , filling a vacancy in the 9th Cavalry . In August he returned to Washington and finished his capital tour in December 1911 . Next assigned as aide - de - camp to Major General Arthur Murray , who had completed his term as Chief of Coast Artillery , Pratt awaited transfer to San Francisco . In March 1912 Pratt accompanied Murray to the Presidio , where the general took command of the Army ' s Western Department , and on December 16 , 1912 , transferred to the 1st Cavalry , posted at the Presidio . Pratt performed troop duties at numerous locations in California during 1913 - 1914 , including six months at the regiment ' s camp in Yosemite National Park between May and November 1913 . He spent most of 1915 as Murray ' s aide again , to the general ' s retirement in December . From there Pratt reported to San Antonio , Texas , in January 1916 as aide to Brigadier General George Bell , Jr . , and accompanied his headquarters to the El Paso District in support of the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico . There he was promoted to captain , 1st Cavalry , on July 1 . In October he was assigned as assistant adjutant of the District . On January 31 , 1917 , Pratt left El Paso to rejoin his original regiment , the 4th Cavalry , at Schofield Barracks , Hawaii , arriving in March . After the United States entered World War I in April , Pratt received temporary promotion to major in his branch . In August he secured another commission as temporary major , this one in the Signal Corps , and assignment to the Aviation Section . He left Hawaii in the first week of October 1917 . World War I and Air Service . As with most mid - career officers transferred into the Aviation Section during its wartime expansion , Pratt was assigned training duties . To gain experience , he reported to Kelly Field on October 14 and a month later became the post adjutant at Call Field , a newly opened flying training field at Wichita Falls , Texas . His three months at Call Field prepared him to be the first base commander of Brooks Field near San Antonio Pratt was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel within a few days of taking command in February 1918 . During this time he was an administrator , not a flier . In Europe the Air Service of the AEF organized and began combat operations , and Pratt was promoted to colonel ( temporary , Signal Corps ) at the end of August . To qualify himself for an aviation command , Pratt completed pilot training and received a rating of Junior Military Aviator on September 12 , 1918 . Within ten days , Pratt was on duty at the Division of Military Aeronautics in Washington , D . C . He was sent to Europe at the end of the first week of October , when the Meuse Argonne Offensive was underway , to participate in staff operations of the American Expeditionary Force . By the time of his arrival , the final push had begun that resulted three weeks later in an armistice with Germany on November 11 . Pratt returned to the United States and the DMA , assigned to the Board of Organization on December 2 . In January 1919 , with demobilization underway , he became base commander of Kelly Field . On March 9 President Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order formally consolidating all military aviation functions under the Director of Air Service , Major General Charles Menoher , and Pratt was assigned to his staff on March 17 to help organize and implement a " divisional staff " system along the lines of that used by the AEF . As acting Third Assistant Executive , Pratt supervised the Operations and Training Group until April , when General Billy Mitchell took over . In August 1919 , Congress extended the existence of the Air Service , created as a temporary wartime organization , for another year while decisions were made regarding the form that the peacetime military air arm would take . All of Pratt ' s wartime promotions expired by September 8 , returning him to his permanent establishment rank of captain , and he entered the course of study for junior officers at the General Staff School in Washington , D . C . on September 1 . By the date of his graduation , June 29 , 1920 , Congress passed the National Defense Act of 1920 which made the Air Service a statutory combatant arm of the line , enabling Pratt to transfer to that branch . He was initially promoted to major , Cavalry , on July 1 , 1920 , the effective date of the new law , and then transferred in grade to the Air Service on August 6 . Pratt served in the Office of the Chief of Air Service until July 13 , 1920 , when he again became post commander at Kelly Field . On September 25 Pratt moved up to Air Officer , Eighth Corps Area , located at Fort Sam Houston , until April 26 , 1921 . During that period his pilot rating was changed to " Airplane Pilot " . In the spring of 1921 Pratt began more than three years of continuous professional military education . From April to June he completed the two - month student officer course at the Air Service Bombardment School being established at Kelly by the 2nd Group ( Bombardment ) , then in September entered the courses of the General Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth : the School of the Line in 1921 - 22 , and the Regular Course of the General Staff School in 1922 - 23 . The commandant ' s annual report for 1922 described the curricula of both courses as paralleling each other , dealing with all aspects of military organization and the various service branches , with the Line course being " elementary " while the Staff course " reached the broader and higher phases . " Pratt completed the Line course as a Distinguished Graduate . Between August 15 , 1923 , and June 30 , 1924 , he successfully completed the course of study at the Army War College in Washington , D . C . On June 30 , 1924 , Pratt was assigned to the Operations and Plans Group in the Office of the Director of Air Service , serving in that capacity for four years . Air Corps . On July 1 , 1926 , the Air Service was renamed the United States Army Air Corps by act of Congress , but except for an increase in general officer positions from two to four , and an advocate in the War Department in the person of the new Assistant Secretary of War for Air F . Trubee Davison , little changed in the service . Pratt ' s position continued , now under the Chief of Air Corps . On June 5 , 1928 , Pratt was assigned command of Mitchel Field , New York , and promoted to lieutenant colonel , Air Corps . The Army ' s annual maneuvers were held in Ohio in the last two weeks of May 1929 . Pratt was assigned to command the aviation of the " Blue " force near Dayton . He established his headquarters at the Fairfield Air Depot and dispersed his 82 airplanes at several airports in the vicinity . During maneuvers , his bombardment and attack forces made several simulated air raids on " Red " force airfields in the vicinity of Columbus and Newark , Ohio , while his pursuit aircraft defended against Red force attacks , culminating a large mock air battle over Cincinnati at the end of the first week . The finale of the maneuvers was a live ordnance demonstration that Pratt orchestrated on the portion of the depot reservation that is now the main runway of Wright - Patterson Air Force Base . In July 1929 Pratt received orders transferring him to Fort Shafter , Hawaii , to assume the duties of Air Officer for the Hawaiian Department . This overseas tour was cut short in July 1930 by the retirement of Brig . Gen . William E . Gillmore , one of the three Assistant Chiefs of Air Corps . Gillmore ' s retirement left a vacancy in the billet of Chief of the Air Corps Materiel Division , and President Herbert Hoover named Pratt to fill the position . Pratt became a brigadier general and took charge of the division on August 1 , 1930 at its Wright Field headquarters . One of the key decisions of Pratt ' s tenure was to advise the Boeing Aircraft Company in 1932 that the design and production specifications of its proposed Boeing 247 airliner were developments of the Air Corps ' B - 9 monoplane bomber and therefore classified information , and that the Air Corps would block export of the airliner if Boeing responded to interest expressed by the Empire of Japan . His term as Assistant Chief of Air Corps expired July 16 , 1934 , and he returned to his permanent rank of lieutenant colonel with temporary duty in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps . Pratt had only once before commanded an air unit ( the 1st Wing in the summer of 1920 concurrent with his duties as base commander of Kelly Field ) when the War Department activated the General Headquarters Air Force on March 2 , 1935 and named him to command its 2nd Wing at Langley Field , Virginia . In December 1935 the GHQ Air Force conducted a major exercise under field conditions in which 55 of its best bombardment and attack aircraft simulated air raids on Miami , Florida , defended by 55 Boeing P - 26 fighters based at Miami Municipal Airport under Pratt ' s direction . The interceptors succeeded in defeating the first simulated attack on December 3 , launching 36 fighters just four minutes after 18 bombers were observed over Hollywood , Florida , theoretically wiping out the bomber force . In the week of operations that followed , the attackers succeeded in reaching their targets only when the bombers and attack aircraft approached simultaneously from different directions , or when the attacking bomber force split to use similar tactics . In September 1935 , politically embattled Chief of Air Corps Benjamin Foulois decided to retire in December " for the good of the service " and took his terminal leave . The Roosevelt administration scrutinized senior Air Corps officers for a replacement , and looked at Pratt as one of its two main candidates , the other being Brigadier General Oscar Westover . Foulois was leaving the service under a threat of being fired for the adverse aftermath of the Air Mail scandal of 1934 , but primarily because he had become a public advocate of an independent air force and a critic of both the administration and General Staff for opposing it . During subcommittee hearings of William N . Rogers , Foulois was accused of corruption in aircraft procurement and lost all of his support in Congress . Pratt testified about the accepted practice of negotiating contracts rather than using the competitive bid process , thus giving support to Foulois . Although Foulois was later exonerated regarding the allegations , and Pratt ' s credentials were obviously superior to those of Westover , he was viewed warily for his role in aircraft procurement and as possibly being another Foulois or Billy Mitchell . " He has greater mental ability than others on the list , " noted Secretary of War George Dern to Roosevelt , " but it is possible that he is not as cooperative as Westover . " Westover was selected to become the Chief of Air Corps because he opposed independence and considered anyone who advocated it as insubordinate . Pratt received his permanent promotion to colonel on August 1 , 1936 . On January 16 , 1937 , the Senate approved a promotion list to permanent brigadier general that included Pratt and , among others , George C . Marshall , with date of rank from January 1 . Pratt became commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School and " ex officio " president of the Air Corps Board at Maxwell Field , Alabama , on March 14 , his last assignment as a member of the Air Corps . 1938 to retirement . Pratt was the first member of the Air Corps to achieve the permanent grade of brigadier general , 16 years after the air branch became a combat arm with its own officers . He completed his assignment as commandant of ACTS on August 6 , 1938 , and with no vacancies in the Air Corps for a general officer , returned to Washington to prepare for his first assignment in the Army at large commensurate with his rank . On October 24 , 1938 , he arrived in Manila to take command of the 23rd Infantry Brigade , part of the Philippine Division , garrisoned at Fort William McKinley . The 23rd Brigade was the Philippine Scouts component of the division , consisting of the 45th and 57th Infantry Regiment s , with a tactical responsibility for the defense of the Lingayen area on Luzon . Pratt twice became interim commander of the Philippine Division when its commander was advanced to command of the Philippine Department , from July 25 , 1939 to November 1939 replacing Major General Walter S . Grant , and from May 31 , 1940 , to the end of his own tour on November 6 , 1940 , replacing Major General George Grunert , thus becoming possibly the only man ever to command both an air force wing and an army division . Just prior to his return to the United States , Pratt was promoted to temporary major general , with permanent rank bestowed on March 1 , 1941 . His next assignment was another field command , the II Corps , from December 26 , 1940 to the following August 21 , with his headquarters in the Pennsylvania Railroad Building in Wilmington , Delaware . During Pratt ' s time as commander , both the 28th and 29th Infantry Divisions were inducted into Federal Service as part of the II Corps , on February 17 and February 3 , 1941 , respectively . In August 1941 Pratt moved to Baltimore to command the Third Corps Area , which had begun functioning as a service command headquarters in 1940 , and was there when the United States entered World War II on December 7 , 1941 . In January 1942 , Pratt took command of the Trinidad Base Command at Fort Read . He had been chosen upon the recommendation of Lieut . General Frank M . Andrews , the former commander of GHQ Air Force now commanding the Caribbean Defense Command , to put a general of " higher rank and more diplomatic experience " in the position after friction developed between the previous U . S . commander and the colonial governor . He also held commands of the Puerto Rican Department ( March 1943 ) , and the Antilles Department ( July 1943 ) , which combined his previous commands . In November 1943 he returned to the United States for duty with the Third Service Command ( a redesignation of his previous command , Third Corps Area ) before becoming commanding general of the Southern Defense Command in January 1944 . His last command was of the Western Defense Command in October 1944 , and while its commanding general , he issued the revocation order of December 17 , 1944 , rescinding the February 1942 order for Japanese American internment . At the end of the war he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff . His retirement was effective September 1 , 1946 , like his grandfather , after 42 years of service . Pratt was carried on the retired list of the United States Air Force in the rank of major general . Pratt ended his career with ratings of Senior Pilot , Combat Observer , and Technical Observer . Decorations he received included the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster . Pratt was also a " Knight " of the Order of the Crown of Italy , " Grand Officer " s of the Order of the Liberator ( Venezuela ) and the Order of the Southern Cross ( Brazil ) , " Commander " of the Order of Merit , Juan Pablo Duarte ( Dominican Republic ) , and " Knight Commander " of the Order of the British Empire ( KBE ) .