Hoyt Vandenberg Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg ( January 24 , 1899 – April 2 , 1954 ) was a U . S . Air Force general , its second Chief of Staff , and second Director of Central Intelligence . During World War II , Vandenberg was the commanding general of the Ninth Air Force , a tactical air force in England and in France , supporting the Army , from August 1944 until V - E Day . Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast of California is named for General Vandenberg . In 1946 , he was briefly the U . S . Chief of Military Intelligence . He was also the nephew of Arthur H . Vandenberg , a former U . S . Senator from Michigan . Military career . Vandenberg was born in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . He grew up in Lowell , Massachusetts , spending his teenage years there . He graduated from the United States Military Academy on June 12 , 1923 , and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Service . Vandenberg graduated from the Air Service Flying School at Brooks Field , Texas , in February 1924 , and from the Air Service Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field , Texas , in September 1924 . His first assignment was with the 90th Attack Squadron , part of the 3d Attack Group at Kelly Field . Vandenberg was appointed commander of the 90th AS on January 1 , 1926 . In 1927 , he became an instructor at the Air Corps Primary Flying School at March Field , Calif . In 1928 he was promoted to first lieutenant . In May 1929 he went to Wheeler Field , Hawaii , to join the 6th Pursuit Squadron , and assumed command of it the following November . Returning in September 1931 , he was appointed a flying instructor at Randolph Field , Texas , and became a flight commander and deputy stage commander there in March 1933 . He entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama , in August 1934 , and graduated the following June . Two months later he enrolled in the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas ; he completed the course in June 1936 and was promoted to the rank of captain . He then became an instructor in the Pursuit Section of the Air Corps Tactical School , where he taught until September 1936 , when he entered the Army War College , where he specialized in air defense planning for the Philippines . After graduating from the War College in June 1939 , Vandenberg was assigned to the Plans Division in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps , selected personally by its head , Brig . Gen . Carl A . Spaatz , whom he had met at the Command and General Staff College . In September 1939 and the autumn of 1940 , Vandenberg developed two air plans for the Philippine Department , the second based on Royal Air Force interceptor operations in the Battle of Britain , but neither was adopted by the War Department when the Roosevelt Administration reaffirmed its long - standing opposition to any plan that called for extensive reinforcement of the defenses in the Philippines . In 1940 Vandenberg was promoted to major and in 1941 to lieutenant colonel . A few months after the United States entered World War II , he was promoted to colonel and became operations and training officer of the Air Staff . For his services in these two positions he received the Distinguished Service Medal . In June 1942 , Vandenberg was assigned to the United Kingdom and assisted in the organization of the Air Forces in North Africa . While in Great Britain he was appointed the chief of staff of the Twelfth Air Force , which he helped organize . In December 1942 Vandenberg earned the promotion to Brigadier General . On February 18 , 1943 , Vandenberg became the chief of staff of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force ( NASAF ) which was under the command of Major General James Doolittle . NASAF was the strategic arm of the new Northwest African Air Forces ( NAAF ) under Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz . With NASAF , Vandenberg flew on numerous missions over Tunisia , Pantelleria , Sardinia , Sicily , and Italy . He was awarded both the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his services during this time . For his organizational ability with the 12th Air Force and his work as chief of staff of the NASAF he was awarded the Legion of Merit . In August 1943 , Vandenberg was assigned to Air Force headquarters as Deputy Chief of Air Staff . In September 1943 , he became head of an air mission to Russia , under Ambassador Harriman , and returned to the United States in January 1944 . In March 1944 , he earned the promotion to Major General and then he was transferred to the European theater ; in April 1944 , he was designated the Deputy Air Commander in Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces and the Commander of its American Air Component . In August 1944 , Vandenberg assumed command of the Ninth Air Force . On November 28 , 1944 , he received an oak leaf cluster to his Distinguished Service Medal for his part in planning the Normandy invasion . He was promoted to Lieutenant General in March 1945 . He was appointed the Assistant Chief of Air Staff at the Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) headquarters in July 1945 . In January 1946 , he became director of Intelligence on the War Department general staff where he served until his appointment in June 1946 , as Director of Central Intelligence , a position he held until May 1947 . Lieutenant General Vandenberg returned to duty with the Air Force in April 1947 , and on June 15 , 1947 , became the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Air Staff . Following the division of the United States Department of War into the Departments of the Army and the Air Force , Lieutenant General Vandenberg was designated the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force on October 1 , 1947 , and promoted to the rank of General . Even when he was at the pinnacle of his military career , General Vandenberg ’ s boyish good looks and outgoing personality often made him the target of attacks on his credibility and experience . But the attention that his appearance brought on was not all bad , having appeared on the covers of " Time " and " LIFE " magazines . The Washington Post once described him as “ the most impossibly handsome man on the entire Washington scene , ” and Marilyn Monroe once named Vandenberg , along with Joe DiMaggio and Albert Einstein , as one of the three people with whom she would want to be stranded on a deserted island . On April 30 , 1948 , General Vandenberg became the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force , succeeding General Carl Spaatz . He was renominated by President Harry S . Truman for a second term as Air Force Chief of Staff on March 6 , 1952 . The nomination was confirmed on April 28 , 1952 , with Vandenberg serving until June 30 , 1953 . A controversy arose while he was the Air Force Chief of Staff , when he opposed the Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson on a proposed $ 5 billion budget reduction for the Air Force . General Vandenberg maintained that the cut backed by Wilson would reduce U . S . military aviation to a " one - shot Air Force " , inferior to that of the Soviet Union . He said it was another instance of " start - stop " planning of a kind that had impeded Air Force development in previous years . The cut in appropriations went into effect in July 1953 , immediately after his retirement from the Air Force . Post - military life . A scratch golfer , General Vandenberg spent every free moment on the golf courses , but he was also a lover of movies , Westerns , and scotch . Unfortunately , his last months in uniform were painful , unhealthy ones . General Vandenberg retired from active duty as a result of major illness on June 30 , 1953 , and died nine months later at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center from prostate cancer at the age of 55 . His remains are buried in Section 30 of the Arlington National Cemetery . His wife , Gladys Rose Vandenberg , started the concept of the Arlington Ladies while Vandenberg was Air Force Chief of Staff . The program provides that a military lady of the appropriate service represents the service chief at all military funerals at Arlington Cemetery . She was buried alongside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery upon her death on January 9 , 1978 . They are survived by their children , Gloria Miller , and retired Major General Hoyt S . Vandenberg , Jr . , USAF . On October 4 , 1958 , the missile and aerospace base at Camp Cooke in Lompoc , California , was renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base . In July 1963 , the instrument ship USAF " General Hoyt S . Vandenberg " ( T - AGM - 10 ) was renamed at Cape Canaveral , Florida , for duty on the Eastern Space and Missile Range in the Atlantic . One of the two cadets ' dormitories at the United States Air Force Academy , Vandenberg Hall , is also named in his honor . In addition , a popular enlisted " hangout " for technical school Airmen at Keesler AFB , Mississippi , is named in his honor . The Vandenberg Esplanade , located along the Merrimack River in Lowell , Massachusetts and part of the Lowell Heritage State Park , is named in his honor . Decorations . General Vandenberg was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster , the Silver Star , the Legion of Merit , the Distinguished Flying Cross , the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters , the Bronze Star , the World War II Victory Medal , the American Campaign Medal , the American Defense Service Medal , and the European - African - Middle East Campaign Medal . His foreign decorations include the Mexican Military Order of Merit ; Netherlands Order of Orange Nassau ( Grand Officer with Swords ) ; Brazilian Cruzeiro do Sul ( Grand Officer ) , and Medal of War ; Luxembourg Order of Adolphe of Nassau ( Grand Cross ) , and Croix de Guerre ; Order of Leopold ( Belgium ) ( Grand Officer with Palms ) ; and French Croix de Guerre with Palms ; British Order of the Bath ( Knight Commanders Cross ) ; Polish Order of Polonia Restituta ( Commander ' s Cross with Star ) ; Portuguese Order of Aviz , Gra Cruiz ; Egyptian Order of the Nile , Grand Cordon ; Chinese Order of Pao Ting ( Tripod with Grand Cordon ) ; Chilean Medallia Militar de Primerera Clase ; Argentine General Staff Emblem and the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Italy . The Manuscript Collection of Hoyt S . Vandenberg at the Library of Congress as of November 2005 is Classified information .