Muir S . Fairchild General Muir Stephen Fairchild ( September 2 , 1894 – March 17 , 1950 ) was the second vice chief of staff of the United States Air Force . Early service . Born in Bellingham , Washington , Fairchild graduated from Olympia High School in 1913 , then entered the U . S . Army ' s Signal Corps in 1913 in a reserve unit in Seattle , while he was a student at the University of Washington . In 1916 , he entered the Washington National Guard with the rank of sergeant , and his unit was deployed in the search for Pancho Villa along the Mexican border , where he spent much time in a horse saddle in the desert heat . Watching observation planes flying overhead in the United States ' first armed conflict using airplanes , Fairchild was an easy recruit when flyboys were being sought to fight with the French and Italians in the developing war in Europe , before the U . S . entered World War I . Fairchild fought the Germans from the air over the Rhine , including night bombing missions , in an era when bombs were still being released from the grasp of the bombardier . A year later Fairchild became a flying cadet at Berkeley , California , getting his wings and commission in the U . S . Army ' s Aviation Section in January 1918 . Between the wars . In December 1918 Fairchild returned home and served at McCook Field , Ohio ; Mitchel Field , New York , and Langley Field , Virginia . In 1926 and 1927 , he flew to South America as part of the Pan American Good Will Flight a pioneering flight that sought to promote U . S . commercial aviation and take messages of friendship to the governments and people of Central and South America , while forging aerial navigation routes through the Americas . The flight originated with five aircraft and crews taking off from Kelly Field , Texas on December 21 , 1926 , seeking to land in 23 Central and South American countries . The aircraft used for the journey were new observation planes , the Loening OA - 1A that could be used as both landplanes and seaplanes , with Liberty engines and a wood interior structure with an aluminum - covered fuselage and fabric - covered wings . Each plane was named for a U . S . city and crewed by two pilots , one of whom was an engineering officer , since there were very few airfields or repair facilities along the route , with the crew choosing the motto " No Work , No Ride . " Crew of the New York : Maj . Herbert Dargue , Lt . Ennis Whitehead ; Crew of the San Antonio : Capt . Arthur McDaniel , Lt . Charles Robinson ; Crew of the San Francisco : Capt . Ira Eaker , Lt . Muir Fairchild ; Crew of the Detroit : Capt . Clinton Woolsey , Lt . John Benton ; Crew of the St . Louis : Lt . Bernard Thompson , Lt . Leonard Weddington The flight was marred by tragedy when the Detroit and New York accidentally collided mid - air and got locked together . The crew of the New York were able to parachute to safety but Capt . Woolsley and Lt . Benton were killed when the Detroit hit the ground . The Pan American Flyers were greeted by a cheering crowd including President Calvin Coolidge , Cabinet members , and diplomats from Central and Latin America when they returned to Bolling Field , Washington , D . C . , on May 2 , 1927 . Fairchild and the rest of the surviving Pan American Flight crew , and Charles Lindbergh , were among the first nine aviators to receive the newly created award Distinguished Flying Cross . Fairchild went on to complete the course in the Air Corps Engineer School at Wright Field in June 1929 and went to Santa Monica , California , as Air Corps representative to Douglas Aircraft Corporation . In the June 1935 he was graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School , along with strategic bombing advocates Haywood S . Hansell , Barney Giles , Laurence S . Kuter , and Hoyt S . Vandenberg , then became an Air Corps Tactical School instructor . He later attended the Army Industrial College , and the Army War College . He rose to director of air tactics and strategy in 1939 . Second World War . In 1940 , Fairchild went to the Plans Division in Washington and in 1941 was named secretary of the newly formed Air Staff . Two months later he was advanced two grades to brigadier general and named assistant chief of Air Corps . In 1942 he became director of military requirements and was promoted to major general in August . In November he became a member of the Joint Strategic Survey Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Post war . In January 1946 , he was named commandant of Air University at Maxwell Field in Alabama , with promotion to lieutenant general . On May 27 , 1948 he became the second vice chief of staff of the U . S . Air Force , with the rank of general . General Fairchild died of a heart attack at his quarters at Fort Myer on March 17 , 1950 , while still on active duty as vice chief of staff at the Pentagon . He was survived by his wife , Florence Alice Fairchild , and his daughter , Betsy Anne Calvert . Legacy . Fairchild Hall , the main academic building at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado , and the library at the Air University in Alabama , Fairchild Memorial Hall , were named for him . In his home state of Washington , Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane was named for him shortly after his death . He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 34 , Plot 48 - A .