Samuel C . Phillips General Samuel Cochran Phillips ( February 19 , 1921 – January 31 , 1990 ) was a United States Air Force four - star general who served as Director of NASA ' s Apollo Manned Lunar Landing Program from 1964 to 1969 , the seventh Director of the National Security Agency from 1972 to 1973 , and as Commander , Air Force Systems Command ( COMAFSC ) from 1973 to 1975 . Early years and education . Phillips was born in Springerville , Arizona in 1921 . He graduated from public schools in Cheyenne , Wyoming , earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1942 , and a master ' s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1950 . He was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity . Military service . He was commissioned a second lieutenant , Infantry , after completion of Reserve Officers Training Corps and graduation from the University of Wyoming . He then entered active military service , transferred to the Army Air Corps , attended flying school and earned his pilot wings . During World War II , Phillips served as a combat pilot with the 364th Fighter Group of the Eighth Air Force , based in England . He completed two combat tours of duty in the European Theater of Operations . He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf clusters , Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters , and the French Croix de Guerre . After the war , he was assigned to the European Theater headquarters in Frankfurt , Germany . Then , in July 1947 , Phillips was transferred to Langley Air Force Base , Virginia . Phillips ' s research and development assignments included six years with the Engineering Division at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio ; duty as an electronics officer with the nuclear weapon s experiments at Eniwetok Atoll during Operation Greenhouse ; and in Project Officer assignments with the B - 52 " Stratofortress " heavy bomber , the AIM - 4 " Falcon " air - to - air missile , and the " Bomarc " surface - to - air missile programs . Phillips returned to England in 1956 , where he served with the 7th Air Division of the Strategic Air Command . His participation in negotiating and completing the international agreement with the United Kingdom for the deployment and use of the American Thor nuclear - armed intermediate - range ballistic missile ( IRBM ) . This latter assignment earned Phillips the Legion of Merit medal . Phillips returned to the United States in 1959 , and he was assigned to the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division of the Air Research and Development Command , in Los Angeles , California , as the Director of the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program ( ICBM ) . NASA service . In 1963 , NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight George E . Mueller admired Phillips ' skill in managing the Minuteman and other Air Force projects , and proposed bringing him to NASA on detached military duty as program controller of Manned Space Flight . Phillips ' Air Force superior agreed , on the condition that Phillips be hired instead as Director of the Apollo manned lunar landing program . In December , this was accomplished and Phillips was assigned to NASA . By this time , he had achieved the rank of major ( two - star ) general . Phillips aggressively took on the job with constant daily meetings , phone contact , and visits to contractor sites which kept him on the road 75 per cent of the time . He described the job to " New York Times " reporter John Noble Wilford this way : In November 1965 , Phillips took a team to North American Aviation in Downey , California , prime contractor for the Command / Service Module and also the Saturn V launch vehicle ' s S - II second stage , to investigate problems of delays , quality shortfalls and cost overruns . On December 19 , he wrote a memo to NAA president Lee Atwood with a copy of a report of his findings and some recommended fixes , which he also sent to Mueller . Mueller also sent Atwood a follow - on letter strongly expressing his disappointment with the CSM and S - II problems , requiring a response by the end of January 1966 and a follow - on visit of Phillips ' team in March . When the Apollo 1 fire killed three astronauts in a ground test on January 27 , 1967 , just before what was to have been the first manned Apollo mission , a Congressional investigation uncovered the existence of what came to be known as " the Phillips report " . NASA Administrator James E . Webb was called before Congress and testified he was unaware of the existence of this report , which ignited some Congressmen ' s and Senators ' criticism of NASA and the selection of North American as the contractor . However , with the political support of President Lyndon B . Johnson , this controversy blew over and over the next eighteen months , Apollo got back on track toward manned missions and the goal of a first lunar landing before 1970 . At a small dinner party before the launch of Apollo 10 in May 1969 , Dr . Wernher von Braun , director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville , Ala . , praised General Phillips as the one most responsible for pulling the many pieces of the Apollo program together and making them work , on time . During the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 which achieved the program ' s manned landing goal , Phillips announced his intention to leave NASA and return to Air Force duty . During his NASA service , he had been promoted to Lieutenant ( three - star ) general . Return to Air Force duties . In September 1969 , Phillips was placed in command of the Space and Missile Systems Organization ( SAMSO ) , of the Air Force Systems Command in Los Angeles . In August 1972 , Phillips was appointed as the Director of the National Security Agency ( N . S . A . ) and also as the Chief of the Central Security Service . After two years in those positions , Phillips was assigned as the Commander of the Air Force Systems Command , in August 1973 , at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . He retired from the Air Force in 1975 as a four - star General . Awards and honors . Phillips was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal in September 1969 for his service with NASA , and once again in July 1972 for his service as the Commander of SAMSO . Phillips also was awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medal s by that agency , in 1968 , and in 1969 , for his distinguished contributions to the Apollo Program . Phillips held an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Wyoming . He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ( I . E . E . E . ) , and as a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics . He was selected for a fellowship by that organization in October 1969 for " notable and valuable contributions to sciences and technology . " In addition , Phillips was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society ; an honorary member of the national business fraternity , Alpha Kappa Psi ; a member of the Board of Governors of the " National Space Club " ; a member of the Board of Directors of the United Services Automobile Association , and the president of the Military Benefit Association . On September 26 , 1971 , Gen . Phillips was awarded the Smithsonian Institution ' s Langley Gold Medal in aviation and space exploration for his contributions to the Apollo Project from 1964 to 1969 . He was the 14th recipient of the Langley Medal since the award was first presented to the Wright Brothers in 1909 . In April 1971 , Gen . Phillips was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his leadership and his direction of the Minuteman missile Program and of the Apollo Program . Phillips received the General Thomas D . White U . S . Air Force Space Trophy on September 11 , 1972 , and also the Flying Tiger Pilot Trophy ( awarded by the American Volunteer Group ) on July 7 , 1973 . Death . Phillips died of cancer at his retirement home in Palos Verdes , California . He is survived ( as of July 16 , 2009 ) by his wife Betty Anne Phillips , three daughters ( Dana , Janie , and Kathleen ) , and four grandchildren .