Earl T . Ricks Earl T . Ricks ( July 9 , 1908 — January 4 , 1954 ) was a United States Air Force Major General who served as Chief of the Air Force Division at the National Guard Bureau and acting Chief of the National Guard Bureau . His four months as acting NGB Chief made him the first Air National Guard officer to hold the position . Early life . Earl Thornton Ricks was born in West Point , Mississippi on July 9 , 1908 , and was raised in Stamps , Arkansas . Attracted to flying from an early age , he graduated from Parks College of Engineering , Aviation and Technology in St . Louis , purchased a biplane and became a pilot . In 1935 he moved to Hot Springs and became partners with Raymond Clinton ( brother of Bill Clinton ' s adoptive father Roger Clinton , Sr . ) in the Ricks - Clinton Buick car dealership . World War II . In March 1940 , Ricks joined the Arkansas National Guard as a member of the 154th Observation Squadron , and soon received his commission as a Second Lieutenant . In September he entered federal service as a member of the 17th Bombardment Group . In 1941 he was named Commander of the 36th Strategic Air Base in Miami , Florida , the departure point for soldiers deploying to North Africa . Ricks subsequently received appointment as Commander of Payne Airfield in Cairo , Egypt . Promoted to Colonel in April , 1944 , Ricks was assigned as Deputy Commander of the Southwest Pacific Wing , Air Transport Command , operating in Australia , New Guinea , and the Philippines . At the end of the Pacific campaign , Ricks piloted the Japanese delegation from Ie Shima to Manila to receive surrender terms from General of the Army Douglas MacArthur . Ricks served in the post - war occupation of Japan , and oversaw the landing of two occupation divisions at Atsugi airdrome in Yokohama . Post World War II . After the war Ricks returned to his Hot Springs car dealership and started a charter flying service . He became involved in politics as a member of a group of veterans , led by Raymond Clinton and Sidney McMath , which attempted to overthrow the political organization led by Mayor Leo McLaughlin . This veterans group , the " GIs , " prevailed in the 1946 municipal elections , and Ricks won the contest for Mayor . He served one term , 1947 to 1949 , and made efforts to change Hot Springs ' reputation as a " sin city " of gambling and vice , while also carrying out a program of improvements to roads , water and sanitation systems . Adjutant General of Arkansas . In 1948 McMath won election as Governor . In 1949 he appointed Ricks as Adjutant General of the Arkansas National Guard , and Ricks was promoted to Brigadier General . National Guard Bureau . In 1950 Ricks was appointed Chief of the Air Force Division at the National Guard Bureau and Deputy Chief of the National Guard Bureau , receiving promotion to Major General . In early to mid - 1953 Ricks served four months as the acting Chief of the National Guard Bureau , following the retirement of Raymond H . Fleming . Death and burial . Ricks was diagnosed with cancer in 1953 and had a tumor removed from his leg . He did not recover , and died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on January 4 , 1954 . He is buried at Lakeside Cemetery in Stamps . Awards and decorations . Ricks was a recipient of the Legion of Merit and the Air Medal . Family . In 1930 Ricks married Hazel Brown , daughter of a partner in Bodcaw Lumber , the largest lumber company in the world at the time . They had four children , and his wife and children survived him . Legacy . The 188th Fighter Wing was nicknamed " Ricks ' Rippers " . Ricks was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983 . The Air National Guard ' s annual award for best unit airmanship is called the Earl T . Ricks Award . The National Guard armory in Little Rock , Arkansas is named for him . In the 1950s and 1960s the Air National Guard conducted an annual Ricks Memorial Trophy contest , a cross country timed air race designed to showcase the capabilities of the newly formed Air National Guard . Ricks bought the home of spa and railroad entrepreneur Samuel W . Fordyce in 1932 . Still privately owned , in 2003 the fourteen - room log structure and the nearly 500 acres that adjoin it were designated the Fordyce - Ricks Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places .