David C . Jones David Charles Jones ( July 9 , 1921 – August 10 , 2013 ) was a U . S . Air Force general and 9th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Early life . Jones was born in Aberdeen , South Dakota and raised in Minot , North Dakota , where he graduated from Minot High School . He attended both University of North Dakota and Minot State Teacher ' s College . While attending college he received his private pilots license from the Civilian Pilot Training Program . In April 1942 he left college to join the U . S . Army Air Corps . Military career . In February 1943 , Jones graduated from Roswell Army Airfield flight school in New Mexico , received his pilot wings , and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U . S . Army Air Forces . After serving as a flying instructor in New Mexico , Arizona and Texas , Jones was assigned to the 3rd Emergency Rescue Squadron of the Fifth Air Force in Japan in 1945 . He began as a unit pilot , flying Catalina flying boats , and rose to command the squadron . From 1948 to 1949 Jones was a unit instructor and then assistant operations and training officer with the 2236th Air Force Reserve Training Center , Godman Field , Kentucky . Also during this period , he attended specialized professional military training courses . Jones was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Squadron at March AFB , California , in January 1950 . During his years with the 19th , he rose to aircraft commander , then operations officer and finally commander of the squadron . He flew more than 300 hours on combat missions over North Korea , when the squadron was one of the first bombardment units committed to the Korean War . In May 1953 he transitioned from bombers to tankers , taking command of the 22nd Air Refueling Squadron at March . Promoted to lieutenant colonel in June 1953 , he remained at March but returned to bombers the following year as commander of the 33rd Bombardment Squadron . Jones next served at Headquarters Strategic Air Command , Offutt AFB , Nebraska , during SAC ' s build - up period . He was assigned initially in September 1954 as an operations planner in the bomber mission branch and remained there until January 1955 , when Gen . Curtis LeMay selected him as his aide . Promoted to colonel in April 1957 , Jones became director of materiel and later deputy commander for maintenance of SAC ' s 93rd Bombardment Wing at Castle AFB , California . Jones is a 1960 graduate of the National War College . Following that , Jones was assigned to the Air Staff ' s operations directorate for four years . As chief of the manned systems branch , he worked on the B - 70 bomber project . He then served as deputy chief and chief of the Strategic Division . After F - 100 and F - 4 training , Jones assumed command of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing , Eglin AFB , Florida , at its activation in 1965 and bought it to operational status . Jones then served in key staff assignments with U . S . Air Forces Europe . He received his second star in November 1967 . In February 1969 Jones was assigned to Headquarters Seventh Air Force , Tan Son Nhut Airfield , Vietnam , as deputy chief of staff for operations and became vice commander in June . Promoted to lieutenant general , he returned to SAC in August 1969 as commander of the Second Air Force , headquartered at Barksdale AFB , Louisiana . In April 1971 , Jones returned to USAFE as vice commander in chief . He assumed command of USAFE and the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force in August and was promoted to general in September . In his North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) capacity as commander of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force , Jones directed an international planning team that integrated central region air forces into a more cohesive organization . Key to that effort was his creation of a small operational and planning headquarters , Allied Air Force , Central Europe . Capping a career that had included operational and command positions in bomber , tanker , training and tactical fighter units as well as headquarters staff positions , Jones became Chief of Staff of the Air Force in July 1974 . Jones pursued a policy of developing high - technology weapons systems . In addition , he reorganized the Air Force command structure and substantially reduced headquarters staffs . He supported modernization with such systems as the F - 15 , F - 16 , the A – 10 , and the E – 3A . Much of the modernization program was focused on the European area , where the United States developed initiatives in response to Department of Defense and congressional interest for an increase in the capability of NATO . On 31 May 1978 , Jones was awarded the Order of the Sword , the Air Force enlisted force ’ s highest honor for officer leadership . Jones accompanied President Jimmy Carter to Vienna , Austria , in June 1979 for the final stage of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II negotiations with the USSR . When the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan raised fears that Soviet forces there might move into neighboring Iran , where an anti - Western militant Islamic regime had taken power in early 1979 , Carter created a rapid deployment force for Southwest Asia to counter any such attempt in the region . Subsequently , at the direction of the secretary of defense , Jones oversaw planning for the transformation of the Rapid Defense Force into a regional unified command . The planning for what in 1983 became the United States Central Command ( USCENTCOM ) was essentially completed during his chairmanship . Jones also oversaw the planning for the rescue of the U . S . embassy personnel taken hostage in November 1979 by followers of the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini , and he survived the criticism for that rescue mission ' s failure . During his second term as chairman , Jones worked to make the chairman , rather than the corporate JCS , the principal military adviser to the president and the secretary of defense , arguing that such a change of the National Security Act would improve the quality and timeliness of military advice and the combined readiness and effectiveness of the nation ' s combat forces . Jones continued his efforts toward that goal after his retirement as chairman of the JCS and saw it come to fruition with the passage of the Goldwater - Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act in 1986 . Jones was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1974 , an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Louisiana Tech University in 1975 , and an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree from Minot State College in 1979 . Jones was the final Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be decorated for service in World War II , Korea , and Vietnam . Jones was a member of the Air Force Association , the Falcon Foundation , the Council on Foreign Relations , the Alfalfa Club , the Bohemian Club and the Family . Personal life and death . In 1942 , he married Lois Tarbell . She died in 2009 . They had three children , two daughters Susan and Kathy ; and a son , David Curtis . Jones died August 10 , 2013 . at a military retirement community in Potomac Falls , Virginia at age 92 . He had Parkinson ' s disease . References . 5 . America ' s Joint General : Leadership Analysis of Air Force General David C . Jones the Ninth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff : Thesis at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies . Published : http : / / www . amazon . com / Americas - Joint - General - Leadership - Analysis / dp / 1249415519 / ref = wl _ it _ dp _ o _ pC _ nS _ nC ? ie = UTF8 & colid = 3N7FMMEILOF5X & coliid = I1906CYNBU5Z2Y