Grandison Gardner General Grandison Gardner , USAF ( 18 September 1892 - 1 February 1973 ) , service number O - 10193 , was an American military officer involved with weapons systems development and evaluation . Early life and education . Gardner was born in Pine Valley , Utah , in 1892 , to John Alexander Gardner ( 1852 - 31 January 1931 ) and Celestia Snow Gardner ( 1859 - 13 September 1959 ) . They had ten children , seven boys and three girls . Grandison Gardner obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Utah State College in 1914 . After attending the University of California as a post - graduate student for two years , he entered the U . S . Army in August 1917 at the Presidio of San Francisco , California , and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Aviation Section of the Signal Officers Reserve Corps , at Rockwell Field , California , on 27 November 1917 . Military career . In July 1918 , he went to Mather Field , California , as maintenance officer and assistant engineer officer . He obtained his flight training at Mather Field that October and November , graduating in November 1918 , and in January 1920 returned to Rockwell Field . That May he was assigned to the Air Service Observation School at Fort Sill , Oklahoma . On 1 July 1920 , he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Regular Army Air Service , and the following month returned to Mather Field for duty with the 91st Squadron as radio officer . Going to McCook Field , Ohio , in November 1921 , Gardner worked with the development of bomb sights . In August 1923 he went to Luke Field , Hawaii , for duty with the 23d Bomb Squadron , assuming command of it the following July . Two years later he was reassigned to McCook Field , to attend the Air Corps Engineering School , graduated in June 1927 , and a year later received his Master of Science degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology . His thesis was titled " Dynamics of fluid motion about an airfoil " and ran 84 pages . He was then named chief of the Aerodynamics Unit , Air Corps Material Division at Wright Field , Ohio , becoming assistant commandant of the Air Corps Engineering School there in May 1930 . Entering the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama , in August 1932 , Gardner graduated the following June and remained there as an instructor . In April 1935 he went to Rockwell Field for special training in navigation and instrument flying and then resumed his former duties at Maxwell that July . Going to March Field , California , in August 1937 , he was operations officer of the 19th Bomb Group , and in June 1939 became executive officer of that group . That October he returned to Wright Field as chief of the Armament Laboratory in the Air Corps Material Division ; served as military air observer in London , England , from April to June 1940 ; and then returned to Wright Field as assistant technical executive in charge of armament in the Materiel Division . World War II . Assigned to the Office of the Chief of Air Corps in February 1941 , Colonel Gardner served as assistant chief and later chief of the engineering section of the Material Division . He was assigned to Air Force headquarters in March 1942 , and the following month assumed command of the Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field , Florida , assuming additional duty as a member of the Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment in April 1944 . When now - promoted - to - General Jimmy Doolittle toured the growing base in July 1942 with C . O . Col . Gardner , the press made no mention of his recent ( March 1942 ) , and still secret , training at Eglin for the Doolittle Raid . Gardner was promoted to Brigadier General in mid - August 1942 . Local dispute . In late January 1943 , a " misunderstanding " by the constabulary of Crestview put the community off limits to military personnel from Eglin . The " Pensacola News Journal " reported on 31 January that the town was off the " black list . " According to the front page report , " The out - of - town bounds restrictions that had been imposed on Crestview by Eglin field [ sic ] authorities were lifted at noon today [ 30 January ] , after a conference of town officials and Eglin authorities , and it was stated that soldiers from the field may visit the town . Billy Powell , town marshall , whose arrest of a soldier for reckless driving and an Eglin officer for interference , precipitated the trouble during the week , has been suspended by the town council . Powell was himself put in the county jail by an MP detachment from Eglin field and stayed there until his attorney , John M . Coe , Pensacola , released him through circuit court action . " The servicemen involved had taken a convoy of newly trained Aviation Engineering Battalion personnel to load on a train at Crestview when the over - zealous marshall tried to arrest a black jeep driver for a U - turn , thus leading to the unpleasantness . After Eglin C . O . General Gardner explained the economics of wartime to the city fathers , they chose a more reasonable replacement for town constable . Operation Aphrodite . By late 1943 , Maj . Gen . Henry H . Arnold directed Brig . Gen . Gardner ' s electronic engineers at Eglin Field , Florida , to outfit war - weary bombers with automatic pilots so that they could be remotely controlled . This was the preliminary work for the Operation Aphrodite flying bomb drone missions in Europe in 1944 . In a post - war interview , " Gardner refers to Arnold ’ s hesitation to use Wright Field engineers for important projects . Tactical research was even taken away from Wright Field and moved to Eglin AFB [ sic ] under command of Gardner for this very reason . " Post - war . In October 1945 Gen . Gardner was assigned to the U . S . Strategic Bombing Survey . Returning to Air Force headquarters , Washington , D . C . , in June 1946 , General Gardner was named air comptroller . That November he was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Materiel , and in March 1947 was appointed deputy assistant chief of air staff for materiel . On 3 October , he was appointed a special assistant to the secretary of the Air Force , and in September 1948 was named director of installations . In March 1949 he was designated president of the Air Force Base Development Board in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Materiel at Air Force headquarters . General Gardner became commandant of the U . S . Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Dayton , Ohio , in June 1950 , and the following January he assumed command of the 10th Air Force at Selfridge Air Force Base , Michigan . Returning to Air Force headquarters in April 1951 , two months later he became a member of the Secretary of the Air Force Council . In July 1951 he was accepted Chairman of the Joint Air Defense Board at Washington , D . C . , and the following month went to Ent Air Force Base , Colorado Springs , Colo . , as director of the Joint Air Defense Board . Retirement . Major General Gardner retired from active duty on 31 August 1954 . In 1959 , as part of the Henry H . Arnold project , Gardner provided oral interviews of his career reminiscences . A transcript , running 54 pages , is part of the Columbia Center for Oral History , Columbia University Libraries , New York City . Family . His spouse was Edith Marguerite McMurrin Gardner . Decorations . His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal , awarded in General Orders No . 17 ( 1946 ) , the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster , and Honorary Commander of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire . He is rated a command pilot , combat observer and aircraft observer .