Richard E . Nugent Richard Emmel Nugent ( December 12 , 1902 – November 5 , 1979 ) was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who , among other positions , commanded the XXIX Tactical Air Command supporting the Ninth Army during World War II . His first five years of service as a second lieutenant were spent as a tank officer . In 1929 he transferred to the United States Army Air Corps during its five - year expansion program . Of Nugent ' s 22 - year career in the Air Corps , Army Air Forces and USAF , three were spent in career training and 19 years were in duty positions : four in operational units and commands , and 15 years in staff positions . 11 of those in staff positions were as a personnel specialist , and nearly ten in the Office of Chief of the Air Corps , the General Staff Corps , or Headquarters USAF . While a major general in the Air Force Office of Personnel , Nugent was involved in the preparatory work , and instrumental in the creation and implementation of the plan , in integrating the Air Force in 1949 and 1950 . Biography . Born in Altoona , Pennsylvania , he graduated from the United States Military Academy on June 12 , 1924 , and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry . After attending Tank School in 1925 he served in both the 17th Tank Battalion and on temporary duty with the school . From September 1 , 1927 , to February 25 , 1929 , he was stationed with the automotive division of the Ordnance Department at the Aberdeen Proving Ground , then was sent to Brooks Field , Texas , in March 1929 for primary flying school to obtain the rating required for permanent assignment to the Air Corps . He received his pilot ' s rating and commission of first lieutenant in the Air Corps on March 24 , 1930 . In the Air Corps , 1st Lt . Nugent was posted to France Field , Panama Canal Zone , for flying duties with the 25th Bombardment Squadron , 7th Observation Squadron , and 44th Observation Squadron , all of the 6th Composite Group , between September 1930 and March 1932 . He then had post duties , primarily as adjutant or operations officer , first at France Field until October 1932 , then at Langley Field , Virginia , to August 1937 . He served temporary duty as Adjutant , Eastern Zone of the Army Air Corps Mail Operation at Floyd Bennett and Mitchel Fields . In September 1935 Nugent returned to Langley , where he was made a flight commander in the 96th Bombardment Squadron , 2nd Bombardment Group until July 1936 . Nugent led a flight of three Martin B - 10 s on an instrument flight from Langley to Allegan , Michigan , for which he and his crews won the 1936 Mackay Trophy . From 1936 to 1937 Nugent returned to staff positions as adjutant for the 2nd Wing , Langley Field , and the 2nd Bomb Group . He entered the Air Corps Tactical School in September 1937 . After completion of Command and General Staff College in 1939 , he was assigned to the Personnel Division , Office of Chief of Air Corps , beginning in July 1939 , where he remained until March 1942 . He rose from captain to colonel in less than three years while with the Personnel Division . From January to April 1941 he served as a special observer at the American Embassy in London , England , with temporary duty as Assistant Military Attaché for Air . Nuget was assigned a staff officer to the War Department General Staff on March 10 , 1942 ( the day after the Army Air Forces became an autonomous component of the Army of the United States ) , serving in the Office of the Chief of Staff , until April 23 , 1943 . He was then assigned concurrently as Chief of Staff , Eastern Defense Command and First Air Force , and promoted to brigadier general on June 30 , 1943 . Nugent briefly commanded the Philadelphia Fighter Wing , from October 18 to November 1 , 1943 , when he was transferred to the headquarters of the Ninth Air Force in England . There he served as Assistant Deputy and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations until September 12 , 1944 , with concurrent duty between July and September 1944 as head of the United States component of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force . On September 15 , 1944 , the XXIX Tactical Air Command was activated in France with Nugent in command , where he remained until the end of the war . Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt s of the six groups of his command provided air support to the United States Ninth Army From October 3 , 1944 to May 8 , 1945 . After V - E Day , Nugent served briefly at the Air Force Personnel Distribution Command at Louisville , Kentucky , then as military attaché to Brazil from December 1945 to July 1947 . United States Air Force . After the creation of the United States Air Force , Nugent served in several general officer positions in the Air Force Office of Personnel , Headquarters USAF , still in the temporary rank of brigadier general . During this period he was promoted to permanent brigadier general in February 1948 , and immediately appointed to temporary major general , with dates of rank retroactive to June 30 , 1943 , and October 14 , 1947 , respectively . He received a permanent promotion to major general in January 1950 , and to the temporary rank of lieutenant general on April 11 , 1951 . Nugent held a number of positions in AFOP : He retired August 31 , 1951 , with a line - of - duty disability , in the grade of lieutenant general . Racial integration of the Air Force . In April 1948 , while Director of Civilian Personnel , Nugent was tasked by his superior , DCS for Personnel Lt . Gen . Idwal H . Edwards , to chair a study group to re - examine the racial policies of the Air Force . At that time , black Americans were 7 % of Air Force enlisted personnel and only . 06 % of Air Force officers , in completely segregated units , and the new Air Force was under pressure from civil rights organizations to lead the way to integration . Nugent , Evans and Lt . Col . Jack F . Marr were instrumental in creating the racial integration plan for the USAF , announced publicly in June 1948 , antedating President Harry S Truman ' s Executive Order 9981 on July 26 , 1948 to integrate the armed forces . The Air Force ' s plan was submitted to Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington in January 1949 , and implementation began May 11 . Although Edwards , Nugent , and Marr had all recommended full integration , reasoning that it was not only socially just but that segregation was inefficient and could never be made efficient , the Air Force adopted an incremental integration plan modeled on that of the U . S . Navy , which already had an official racial equality policy formulated by Navy Secretary James Forrestal during World War II . The Navy ' s racial problem stemmed from its limited compliance with its own policy , caused by diverting 62 % of its blacks into the Steward ' s Branch , but where black sailors served in the fleet , complete integration within units , including living quarters , had already taken place . The numbers , however , were very small . Even so , Edwards and the civilian leadership of the Air Force announced that Air Force policy unequivocally endorsed Truman ' s order and demanded " ungrudging compliance " with it . Edwards made clear to local commanders that they would be held personally and officially responsible for the smooth implementation of the Air Force plan . As a result , what was perceived as a limited plan went swiftly forward towards full integration . The effectiveness of the change is noted by the reports of the black - owned " Pittsburgh Courier " , which was wholly skeptical of the Air Force ' s sincerity in a May 21 story , yet just five months later prematurely announced the end of segregation in the service in bold headlines . By the end of the first year of implementation , in May 1950 , only 24 of the original 106 black units remained , with the definition of a " Negro unit " being one with more than 50 % black representation . Integration of quarters and other facilities in integrated units was almost immediate and total . At the end of 1950 only nine black units ( all service units ) remained and 95 % of black airmen served in integrated units . By June 1952 , members of the last black unit , a 98 - man service unit with 25 whites , had been distributed throughout the Air Force , while the Navy had made only a " token " transition that would continue for another ten years . Compliance by the Army had hardly begun because of strong internal resistance . Awards and decorations . Command pilot World War II Victory Medal Commander of the Order of the British Empire Legion of Honor ( France ) Croix de Guerre with Palm ( France ) Commander , Order of Leopold ( Belgium ) Croix de Guerre with palm ( Belgium ) Order of Adolphe of Nassau ( Luxembourg ) Croix de Guerre ( Luxembourg ) Order of Alexander Nevsky ( Soviet Union ) Order of Military Merit ( Brazil ) Combat Observer Technical Observer