Barton Kyle Yount Barton Kyle Yount ( January 18 , 1884 – July 11 , 1949 ) was a United States Army Lieutenant General . His most important assignments were carried out in military aviation as a member of the U . S . Army Air Force . Biography . Yount was born in Troy , Ohio . He was a student at the Ohio State University from 1902 to 1903 and then commenced studies at the United States Military Academy , from which he graduated in 1907 . Yount was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 27th Infantry Regiment , and carried out assignments in Cuba , at Ft . Wayne , Michigan , Fort Sheridan , Illinois , on a mapping detail along the Canadian border , and with 4th Brigade , 2nd Division in Texas City , Texas . In 1914 he transferred to the 15th Infantry Regiment and served in Tientsin , China . In 1917 he was assigned as Military Attaché in Peking , China . In late 1917 Yount transferred to the Signal Corps ' Temporary Aviation Section , with duty at Kelly Field in San Antonio , Texas . An early leader in military aviation , later that year he was assigned to command the School of Military Aeronautics in Austin , Texas . During World War I Yount carried out aviation assignments as commander of Camp Dick in Dallas , Texas , at the Department of Military Aeronautics , in Washington , D . C . and at Rockwell Field , California . Yount took command of March Field , California in 1919 and served until 1921 . From 1921 to 1924 he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Air Corps . He graduated from the Air Corps Engineering School in 1925 , afterward carrying out a four year tour as Assistant Military Attaché for Aviation in Paris , France . In 1930 he graduated from Air Corps Tactical School at Langley Field , Virginia . Yount commanded Rockwell Air Depot , California until July 1932 , when he assumed command of Bolling Field , Washington , D . C . In 1935 he graduated from the Army Industrial College , and in 1936 he graduated from the Army War College . He then assumed command of Hickham Field , Hawaii , receiving promotion to Brigadier General . In 1938 he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Army Air Corps in Washington , D . C . In 1940 Yount was assigned to command Army Air Forces in Panama , but just a month later was reassigned to command the Southeast Air District , Tampa , Florida , receiving promotion to Major General . He commanded the West Coast Air Corps Training Center at Moffett Field , California from 1941 to 1942 . From 1942 to 1943 he commanded the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command at Fort Worth , Texas . In 1943 he was named as Commanding General , Army Air Forces Training Command , as a Lieutenant General , where he served until his 1946 retirement . Yount ' s training methods and emphasis on safety were credited with the successful training of hundreds of thousands of pilots from all branches of the U . S . military , an important component to Allied success in World War II . After ending his military service Yount founded and served as President of the American Institute for Foreign Trade , a Glendale , Arizona school he created at the site of the former Thunderbird Field military base , which he purchased after it was closed following World War II . The school is now known as the Thunderbird School of Global Management , and is the oldest and largest graduate school in the U . S . that focuses on preparing international business leaders . Yount died at Oak Creek Lodge in Sedona , Arizona and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery , Section 30 , Grave 1047 - RH . His awards and decorations included two Distinguished Service Medal s , the Legion of Merit , and the Air Medal . He was the father of Colonel Barton K . Yount , Jr . ( 1919 – 1969 ) an Air Force pilot who served in World War II , the Korean War and the Vietnam War , receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross .