Maurice A . Preston General Maurice Arthur " Mo " Preston ( November 25 , 1912 – January 25 , 1983 ) was a United States Air Force four - star general who served as Commander in Chief , United States Air Forces in Europe ( CINCUSAFE ) from 1966 to 1968 . Early life . Preston was born in Weed , California , in 1912 , and graduated from high school in Tulare , California , in 1931 . After attending Saint Mary ' s College of California , he entered the United States Military Academy , graduating June 12 , 1937 . Military career . Preston completed flying school at Kelly Field , Texas , in October 1938 , and then served in various squadron positions before he was assigned as commander of the 62nd Bombardment Squadron at Davis - Monthan Field , Arizona , in 1941 . He later became deputy group commander of the 34th Bombardment Group there . In June 1942 , Preston was transferred to Gowen Field , Idaho , and served as deputy group commander of the 34th Bombardment Group and then as deputy commander of the 29th Bombardment Group . In January 1943 , he became commander of the 379th Bombardment Group at Wendover Field , Utah . He took the 379th to Europe in early 1943 and flew 45 combat missions in the B - 17 Flying Fortress . He participated in the now - historic Schweinfurt raids , leading the second one on April 13 , 1944 . He commanded the 41st Bombardment Wing from October 1944 until May 1945 , when he returned to the United States . Preston was then assigned as base commander of the 231st Army Air Force Base Unit at Alamogordo , New Mexico . Preston enrolled as a student at the Air Command and Staff School , Maxwell Field , Alabama , in August 1946 , and upon graduating in June 1947 , became the chief , Inter - American Security Branch and Military Coordinating Committee , of the Permanent Joint Board of Defense Canada and United States , Washington , D . C . He later joined the Plans Division of Air Force Headquarters in Washington , D . C . Going overseas in 1949 , Preston was appointed deputy commander for Plans and Operations of the U . S . Northeastern Command , with duty station at St . Johns , Newfoundland . Assigned to the Strategic Air Command in March 1952 , he became commander of the 308th Bombardment Wing ( Medium ) at Hunter Air Force Base , Georgia . In January 1954 he assumed command of the Strategic Air Command ' s 4th Air Division at Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana . Reassigned to Air Force Headquarters , Washington , D . C . , in May 1956 , Preston was named deputy director of operations in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff / Operations . He assumed the position of director of operations in August 1957 . In 1958 , [ 2 ] Preston assisted his former hometown in obtaining on loan a B - 17G then stationed at Eglin AFB for permanent display as a tribute to its ' past . Preston flew the aircraft from Davis Monthan AFB in Tuscon , Az , to Castle AFB in Atwater , CA . He then flew reporters on an aerial tour of his former hometown then landed in nearby Visalia . Because was still in the USAF he was not allowed to land on the short Tulare runway , and had to turn the controls over to another pilot for the August 4 , 1958 landing . On July 25 , 1960 , he became commander of the Tactical Air Command ' s Nineteenth Air Force , often termed " the suitcase Air Force " because of its ability to move instantly anywhere in the world as the command nucleus and planning elements of the Tactical Air Command ' s Composite Air Strike Force . He became commander , U . S . Forces Japan and commander , Fifth Air Force , in August 1963 , and in August 1966 he assumed command of United States Air Forces in Europe . Preston logged some 7 , 000 flying hours in most types of aircraft within the U . S . Air Force . He was rated as a navigator and bombardier , and in addition to being a command pilot , he became the first Air Force officer of his rank to go through the Army ' s airborne school , earning his paratrooper ' s wings in October 1960 . In July 1966 Emperor Hirohito of Japan conferred Japan ' s First Order of the Sacred Treasure on Preston , then commander of the U . S . Forces Japan and Fifth Air Force . The decoration , one of the highest awards the Government of Japan bestows upon a foreign military officer , was presented to Preston by Defense Minister Raizo Matsuno and General Yoshifusa Amano , chairman of the Joint Staff Council , Japan Defense Agency . His other decorations include the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster , Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster , Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters , Bronze Star Medal , Air Medal with seven oak loaf clusters , Army Commendation Medal and the Purple Heart . Later life . Preston retired from the Air Force on August 1 , 1968 . He died of cancer January 25 , 1983 . Notes . 2 . Pages 188 - 189Final Cut : The Post War B - 17 Flying Fortress , The Survivors By Scott Thompson ISBN 978 - 1 - 57510 - 143 - 9