Dean C . Strother General Dean Coldwell Strother ( February 12 , 1908 – September 24 , 2000 ) was a United States Air Force four - star general who served as U . S . Military Representative , NATO Military Committee ( USMILREP ) , from 1962 to 1965 ; and as Commander in Chief , North American Air Defense Command / Commander in Chief , Continental Air Defense Command ( CINCNORAD / CINCONAD ) , from 1965 to 1966 . Biography . Strother was born in Winfield , Kansas , in 1908 , graduated from Winfield High School in 1925 and attended Southwestern College , Winfield , until 1927 when he received a Congressional appointment to the United States Military Academy . Upon graduation from the academy in 1931 , he attended Primary and Advanced Flying Schools at Randolph Field , Texas , and received his wings at Kelly Field , Texas , in October 1932 . Some of his assignments during the period of 1932 - 1942 were : operations officer at Barksdale Field , Louisiana ; air mail duty at the Municipal Airport , Chicago , Illinois ; instrument flying instructor at Sherman Field , Fort Leavenworth , Kansas ; pilot with the 72nd Bombardment Squadron , Luke Field , Hawaii ; and adjutant of Randolph Field , Texas . In July 1942 , Strother became staff fighter officer of the U . S . Army Forces in the South Pacific area , and when the Thirteenth Air Force was organized in January 1943 he was appointed chief of the Fighter Command and promoted to brigadier general in May 1943 . From July to January 1944 , he headed an expanded outfit , the Solomon Islands Fighter Command , part of AirSol , AirSoPac ; the unit directed U . S . Army , Navy and Marine , and New Zealand fighters who helped turn back the Japanese threatening Australia . His work won him the Distinguished Service Medal . Strother flew to Italy in January 1944 to command the 306th Fighter Wing of the Fifteenth Air Force , and assumed command of the XV Fighter Command in October 1944 . For his services during this time , he was awarded an oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Service Medal . From Italy , he personally led a United States fighter task force to Russia to provide direct assistance for the Russian offensive in the East . During this operation , he won the Silver Star for gallantry in action . Returning to the United States in October 1945 , Strother was assigned as commander of the West Coast Wing of the Air Training Command ' s Pacific Division at Hamilton Field , California , until August 1946 when he was selected to attend the National War College , Washington , D . C . Upon graduation from the War College in June 1947 , he was assigned to Headquarters U . S . Air Force as chief , Military Personnel Division , DCS / PA ; director military personnel , Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel until March 1951 when he assumed command of the Twelfth Air Force ( U . S . Air Forces in Europe ) and the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force at Wiesbaden , Germany . In November 1953 , he returned to the United States as deputy commander of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama , and became commander in June 1956 . In July 1958 , Strother was assigned to Headquarters U . S . Air Force as deputy chief of staff , operations until November 1962 when he was appointed as the U . S . representative to the Military Committee and Standing Group NATO . In April 1965 , he assumed his assignment as commander in chief NORAD and CONAD . He retired on July 31 , 1966 and died on September 24 , 2000 . His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster , Silver Star , Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster , Distinguished Flying Cross , Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal . Strother ' s youngest brother , Donald Root Strother , was the first Army Air Corp pilot from Cowley County , Kansas to lose his life in World War II . Strother Field is named after him .