John K . Cannon General John Kenneth Cannon ( March 2 , 1892 – January 12 , 1955 ) was a World War II Mediterranean combat commander and former chief of United States Air Forces in Europe for whom Cannon Air Force Base , Clovis , New Mexico , is named . Biography . John Kenneth Cannon was born in Salt Lake City , Utah Territory , in 1892 . He graduated from Utah Agricultural College ( now Utah State University ) in 1914 and was appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Army Infantry Reserve on November 27 , 1917 . He served the infantry at Camp Fremont , California ; Camp Mills , New York , the Presidio of San Francisco ; and Camp Furlong , New Mexico , until taking pilot training at Kelly Field , Texas in 1921 - 22 . He completed pursuit pilot training at Ellington Field , Texas , on April 23 , 1922 , where one of his seven classmates was Lt . Claire Lee Chennault . In the Air Service he became director of flying at Kelly in the fall of 1922 . Cannon went to Hawaii in January 1925 , assigned to the 6th Pursuit Squadron at Luke Field on Ford Island , where he became operations officer of the 5th Composite Group . Two years later , he was commanding officer of the 94th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field , Michigan . He returned to Kelly in 1929 as director of pursuit training , with promotion to captain , and became director of training at Randolph Field , Texas , in August 1931 . He completed the courses at the Air Corps Tactical School and the Command and General Staff School , with promotion to major in March 1935 and assignment to March Field , California . In June 1938 , Cannon went to Buenos Aires , Argentina , for three years as chief of the U . S . Military Mission . While there , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in March 1940 and to colonel in January 1941 . That October , he went to Mitchel Field , New York as chief of staff of the 1st Air Force , taking command of the 1st Interceptor Command . He was promoted to brigadier general in February 1942 . During Operation Torch in November 1942 , Cannon was the commanding general of the XII Air Support Command for the Western Task Force during the invasion of French Morocco . He moved to Algeria as commanding general of the XII Bomber Command . Through March and April 1943 , General Cannon organized and commanded the Northwest African Training Command in the Northwest African Air Forces of the Mediterranean Air Command ( MAC ) , the official Allied air force command organization in the Mediterranean Theater . In May 1943 , Cannon became deputy commanding general of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force under Commander Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham for the Sicilian campaign and the invasion of Italy . He was promoted to major general in June and after MAC was disbanded in December , became commanding general of both the Twelfth Air Force and the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force in the newly organized Mediterranean Allied Air Forces . General Cannon was responsible for all air operations during the invasion of southern France in August 1944 ( Operation Dragoon ) . In March 1945 , he was promoted to lieutenant general and named air commander in chief of all Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations . In May 1945 , Lt . Gen . John K . Cannon became commanding general of U . S . Air Forces in Europe USAFE . He earned four Distinguished Service Medals , Legion of Merit , Bronze Star , Air Medal and decorations from Great Britain , France , Italy , Poland , Yugoslavia and Morocco . General Cannon returned to the U . S . in April 1946 as commanding general of Air Training Command at Barksdale Field , Louisiana . In October 1948 , he returned to Europe as commanding general of U . S . Air Forces in Europe and in March 1950 was designated commander - in - chief of U . S . Air Forces in Europe . In October 1951 , he was promoted to general and appointed commanding general of Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base , Virginia . General Cannon retired from the service on March 31 , 1954 . At the time of his retirement , he was senior air officer in point - of - service , holding serial number 3A . He died of a heart attack on January 12 , 1955 , at his home in Arcadia , California . He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Honors and awards . On 8 June 1957 , the Clovis Air Force Base in Clovis , New Mexico was renamed Cannon Air Force Base in honor of General Cannon . The Arnold Air Society Squadron at Utah State University is named the John K . Cannon Squadron in honor of his achievements and alumni status .