Hugh J . Knerr Hugh Johnston Knerr was a major general in the United States Air Force . Biography . Knerr was born on May 30 , 1887 , in Fairfield , Iowa . He died on October 26 , 1971 , and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery . Career . Knerr graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1908 and served as an ensign in the United States Navy until 1911 . He commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps of the United States Army on September 28 , 1911 . After seven years service in which he reached the rank of captain , he was detailed to the Aviation Section , U . S . Signal Corps in January 1918 during World War I . For six months , Knerr served as an engineering officer at flying training fields in Tennessee and Florida . He was sent to Hawaii in July 1918 , where he was Aviation Officer to the Hawaiian Department and commanding officer of Luke Field until July 1919 , when he returned to the Coast Artillery during the demobilization following the war . In February 1922 he was detailed again to the Air Service in the grade of major . In February 1924 he formally transferred to the Air Service to qualify for command of the 88th Observation Squadron at Wilbur Wright Field , Ohio . In 1926 , the Air Service became the Air Corps . In September 1927 , Knerr was appointed to command its sole bombardment unit , the 2nd Bombardment Group , at Langley Field , Virginia , where he had a profound influence on the development of equipment , and tactics that led to the development of strategic bombardment doctrine . Knerr followed Lt . Col . Henry H . Arnold as Chief , Field Service Section , Air Corps Materiel Division , at Wright Field , Ohio , in 1932 . Arnold called upon his expertise in both engineering and bomber operations , to be his executive officer in July 1934 of a squadron - sized flight from Bolling Field to Alaska and back , using the new Martin B - 10 bomber . Knerr supervised the preparation of the bombers at nearby Patterson Field and acted as Arnold ' s second - in - command during the flight . The flight won the MacKay Trophy for that year , in large part as a result of Knerr ' s judgment in technical decisions . Arnold , as leader of the flight , won acclaim almost to the exclusion of the other participants , and received an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross . However , despite Arnold ' s recommendations , that all participants in the flight be recognized with the decoration , only Arnold received it , causing a permanent rift between the two and Knerr ' s permanent embitterment . Knerr led a faction opposing Arnold ' s appointment to Chief of Air Corps in September 1938 . On March 2 , 1935 , Knerr received an assignment promotion ( temporary ) , to colonel when he was made chief of staff of the newly activated General Headquarters Air Force under Maj . Gen . Frank M . Andrews . After three tumultuous years of political in - fighting with the War Department General Staff , over doctrine and the development of the Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress , Andrews ' staff was purged of its members by Army Chief of Staff Gen . Malin Craig in February 1938 . Knerr was sent to Fort Sam Houston , San Antonio , Texas , as Air Officer , Eighth Corps Area , where Billy Mitchell ( whose theories on air warfare were the basis for the doctrine of strategic bombardment and an Air Force separate from the Army advocated by Knerr ) had been exiled 13 years earlier . A stress - induced recurrence of sciatica linked to a crash in 1923 resulted in forced hospitalization for the remainder of 1938 . In January 1939 , Knerr was compelled to appear before the Army ' s retirement board , where its psychiatrist characterized the condition as " psychosomatic . " He was retired medically in March 1939 . At the same time Andrews , whose advocacy of strategic bombardment and an independent Air Force were as strong as Knerr ' s , was not reappointed to a second tour as commanding general of GHQ Air Force . Reduced to his permanent rank of colonel , Andrews followed Knerr as Air Officer in San Antonio . In private life , Knerr went to work for the Sperry Corporation Research Laboratories , wrote numerous magazine articles advocating his positions , and conducted a letter - writing campaign against Arnold between 1939 and 1941 . In the meantime , he was cleared by physicians at Walter Reed Army Hospital of the previous medical conclusions of the retirement board . Andrews , again a general and commander of the Panama Canal Air Force , asked for Knerr ' s recall to active duty and assignment to him as his maintenance commander . Arnold , now Chief of the Army Air Forces , was initially reluctant , because of the many public and private criticisms Knerr had made of him , but agreed to the return to active duty in August 1941 . However the Army ' s Surgeon General , referring to the supposed psychological reasons for his retirement , rejected the reinstatement on medical grounds . After the United States entered World War II , Knerr was called back to active duty as a colonel in July 1942 . He served as deputy commander of the Air Service Command at Patterson AAB until July 1943 , when he was promoted to brigadier general and sent to England on Arnold ' s recommendation . At that time , the Combined Bomber Offensive was being hindered by a low rate of aircraft availability because of maintenance and supply problems , and Knerr was sent to re - organize the system . He acted as both Deputy Commanding General and Commanding General of the VIII Service Command , Eighth Air Force ; then from January 1945 as Commander , Air Technical Service Command Europe , which was responsible for all support to both the Eighth and Ninth Air Force s . Additionally , he was promoted to major general in March 1944 , and after the invasion of Europe in June 1944 , held the position of Deputy Commander for Administration , U . S . Strategic Air Forces , Europe in addition to his other duties . In June 1945 , he returned to Wright Field to command the Army Air Forces ' Air Technical Service Command until February 1946 . Following the war he transferred to the newly formed Air Force . Later assignments included serving as a special assistant to U . S . Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington and Inspector General of the Air Force . His retirement was effective as of November 1 , 1949 . Awards he received include the Distinguished Service Medal , the Legion of Merit , and the Bronze Star Medal .