Haywood S . Hansell Haywood Shepherd Hansell Jr . , ( 28 September 1903 – 14 November 1988 ) was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) during World War II , and later the United States Air Force . He became an advocate of the doctrine of strategic bombardment , and was one of the chief architects of the concept of daylight precision bombing that governed the use of airpower by the USAAF in the war . Hansell played a key and largely unsung role in the strategic planning of air operations by the United States . This included drafting both the strategic air war plans ( AWPD - 1 and AWPD - 42 ) and the plan for the Combined Bomber Offensive in Europe ; obtaining a base of operations for the B - 29 Superfortress in the Mariana Islands ; and devising the command structure of the Twentieth Air Force , the first global strategic air force and forerunner of the Strategic Air Command . He made precision air attack , as both the most humane and effective means of achieving military success , a lifelong personal crusade that eventually became the key tenet of American airpower employment . Hansell also held combat commands during the war , carrying out the very plans and doctrines he helped draft . He pioneered strategic bombardment of both Germany and Japan , as commander of the first B - 17 Flying Fortress combat wing in Europe , and as the first commander of the B - 29 force in the Marianas . Childhood . Hansell was born in Fort Monroe , Virginia , on 28 September 1903 , the son of First Lieutenant ( later Colonel ) Haywood S . Hansell , an Army surgeon , and Susan Watts Hansell , both considered members of the " southern aristocracy " from Georgia . His great - great - great - grandfather John W . Hansell served in the American Revolution , his great - great - grandfather William Young Hansell was an officer in the War of 1812 , and his great - grandfather Andrew Jackson Hansell was a general in the Confederate States Army and Georgia ' s adjutant general . His grandfather , William Andrew Hansell , graduated from Georgia Military Institute and also served as an officer in the Confederate Army , first in the 35th Alabama , then as a topographical engineer . Shortly after his birth , the family was stationed in Beijing , China , then in the Philippines , and Hansell learned both Chinese and Spanish at an early age . Captain Hansell was next stationed at Fort McPherson , Georgia , in 1913 , and then at Fort Benning . His father , a firm disciplinarian , sent Hansell to live on a small , family - owned ranch in New Mexico because of a perceived lack of discipline in his schooling . There he learned horsemanship , shooting , and studied with a tutor . Education . Hansell entered Sewanee Military Academy , near Chattanooga , Tennessee , in 1916 , where he acquired the lifelong nickname " Possum . " Although his biographers offer a number of explanations behind the nickname , the most likely is that his facial features gave him the appearance of a possum . At Sewanee he developed a fondness for English literature . As a senior Hansell rose to cadet captain and developed a reputation as a martinet . His harshness with the Corps of Cadets , combined with an excessive number of demerits acquired while the school was temporarily quartered in Jacksonville , Florida , following a fire , led to his reduction to cadet private . Partly as a result of this humiliation , Hansell declined an appointment to the United States Military Academy to attend the Georgia School of Technology , where he was a member of Sigma Nu . Despite problems understanding differential equation s , and twice attempting to transfer to another school ( which his father would not permit ) , he overcame his difficulties with complex mathematics and graduated in 1924 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering . While at Georgia Tech he participated in varsity football as a walk - on substitute , and boxing . Hansell was awarded Georgia Tech ' s highest individual recognition , membership in the ANAK Society . From 1924 to 1928 he attempted without success to find employment as a civil engineer in California , where his father was now stationed . Instead he worked as an apprentice and journeyman boilermaker with the Steel Tank and Pipe Company in Berkeley , California . Advances in aviation in the 1920s led Hansell to undertake a career in aeronautical engineering , and to gain flying experience , he decided to join the United States Army Air Corps . Personality and family . Short in stature and slightly built , Hansell worked at being an athlete , becoming proficient in tennis , polo , and squash . Socially , he was a noted dancer , and acquired a reputation as " the unofficial poet laureate of the Air Corps . " He was fond of Gilbert and Sullivan , Shakespeare , and Miguel Cervantes ’ " Don Quixote " . General Ira C . Eaker described him as " nervous and high strung , " and one biographer noted several incidents of imperious temper in social situations . However his correspondence secretary during World War II , T / Sgt . James Cooper , described him as " pleasant and diplomatic , " and an aviation historian described him as " a forward - looking optimist with a sense of humor . " While stationed at Langley Field , Virginia , Hansell met his wife , Dorothy " Dotta " Rogers , a teacher from Waco , Texas , where they were married in 1932 . He fathered three children , son " Tony " ( Haywood S . Hansell III , born in 1933 ) , daughter Lucia ( 1940 ) , and son Dennett ( 1941 ) . While frequent absences , long working hours , and Hansell ’ s autocratic nature severely stressed their marriage during World War II , they remained married for 56 years until his death in 1988 . Hansell ' s eldest son continued the family military tradition , graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1955 , becoming a colonel in the United States Air Force , and marrying Olivia Twining , the daughter of General Nathan F . Twining . Early Air Corps career . Pursuit pilot . On 23 February 1928 , Hansell was appointed a flying cadet . He completed primary and basic flying schools at March Field , California , then advanced flight training in pursuit flying at Kelly Field , Texas . He graduated from pilot training on 28 February 1929 , and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve . He received a regular commission as a second lieutenant , Air Corps , on 2 May 1929 . Hansell ' s first duty assignment was with the 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field , testing repaired aircraft . In June 1930 , he spent three months temporary duty with the 6th Field Artillery at Fort Hoyle , Maryland . In September 1930 , he returned to Langley Field and was detached to the Air Corps Tactical School as armament officer . While stationed at Langley , Hansell was involved in two minor accidents in aircraft he was piloting , and in early 1931 was forced to parachute to safety when his Boeing P - 12 stalled during a test flight , going into an unrecoverable spin . He was found at fault for the accident and initially charged $ 10 , 000 by the Air Corps for the expense of the aircraft , but the cost was eventually written off . In August 1931 , Hansell was transferred to Maxwell Field , Alabama , as assistant operations officer , with flying duties in the 54th School Squadron , to support the ACTS , which had located to Maxwell from Langley in July . During that tour of duty he met Captain Claire L . Chennault , an instructor at the Tactical School , and joined " The Men on the Flying Trapeze , " an Air Corps aerobatic and demonstration team . The team performed at the National Air Races at Cleveland , Ohio , in September 1934 . Hansell also worked with Captain Harold L . George , chief of the Tactical School ’ s bombardment section , where his military interest shifted from pursuits to bomber s . The friendship that developed from the working relationship led to George becoming both Hansell ’ s mentor and patron . Disciple of strategic airpower . Hansell was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 October 1934 and entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field as a student in the comprehensive 845 - hour , 36 - week course , studying not only air tactics and airpower theory , which comprised more than half of the curriculum , but also tactics of other services , combined ( joint ) warfare , armament and gunnery , logistics , navigation and meteorology , staff duties , photography , combat orders , and antiaircraft defenses . Among his instructors was Captain George , now director of the Department of Air Tactics and Strategy . George ' s classes were half lecture , half free discussion and conceptualizing , with George or his assistant Capt . Odas Moon expounding theories and having the students critically examine them for flaws and alternative ideas , debates that continued beyond the classroom as well . Making up the 59 members of his class were five majors , 40 captains , 13 first lieutenants including himself , and one second lieutenant . In addition to 49 Air Corps officers were four Army officers , one from each of that service ' s combat arms , two Turkish Army aviators , one Mexican captain , and three Marine Corps aviators , including two future major generals . Among Hansell ' s Air Corps peers were future generals Muir S . Fairchild , Barney Giles , Laurence S . Kuter , and Hoyt S . Vandenberg ; test pilot Lester J . Maitland ; and aviation pioneer Major Vernon Burge , who as a corporal in June 1912 had been the first certified enlisted military pilot . Hansell graduated in June 1935 and was invited to become an instructor at ACTS , one of nine in his class to become ACTS instructors , and the youngest in its history . He served on the faculty from 1935 - 1938 in the Department of Air Tactic ' s all - important Air Force Section , first under George , then Major Donald Wilson ( another strategic bombing advocate ) , and lastly Fairchild . Hansell became a member of a group known as the " Bomber Mafia , " ACTS instructors who were both outspoken proponents of the doctrine of daylight precision strategic bombardment and advocates for an independent Air Force . Among the students instructed by Hansell were Ira C . Eaker , Elwood R . Quesada , Nathan F . Twining , Earle E . Partridge , Kenneth Wolfe , Orvil Anderson , John K . Cannon , and Newton Longfellow , all of whom became general officers and strategic airpower advocates during World War II . During this time , Hansell also had a permanent falling out with Chennault after Chennault tried to recruit him to go to China to fly fighters for the Kuomintang government . In September 1938 , still a first lieutenant , Hansell entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , from which he was graduated in June 1939 , shortly after promotion to captain . He then was assigned to the Office , Chief of Air Corps ( OCAC ) , under General Henry H . Arnold , working a series of assignments as Arnold assembled an Air Staff to plan and execute a massive expansion of the Air Corps . After duty in the Public Relations Section , OCAC from 1 July to 5 September 1939 , he became assistant Executive Officer , OCAC to Ira Eaker from 6 September to 20 November 1939 . In November 1939 he created , with Major Thomas D . White , the Intelligence Section , Information Division , OCAC . Hansell was its Officer in Charge , Air Corps Intelligence from 21 November 1939 to 30 June 1940 ; and its Chief , Operations Planning Branch , Foreign Intelligence Section from 1 July 1940 to 30 June 1941 . He was promoted to major on 15 March 1941 . In the Air Intelligence Section , Hansell became responsible for setting up strategic air intelligence and analysis operations , creating three sections : analysis of foreign air forces and their doctrines , analysis of airfields worldwide including climate data , and preparation of target selection for major foreign powers . Much of the work was accomplished despite hindrance from the War Department ’ s G - 2 office , which felt that such analysis was not " proper military intelligence . " Development of sources of information for such analyses also was primitive , and he used his assignment to OPB to recruit a number of civilian economic experts who had recently been commissioned in the military . Hansell also created contacts among Royal Air Force officers stationed in Washington , D . C . to enhance his sources . On 7 July 1941 , Hansell went to London , England , as a special observer attached to the military attaché , where he was privy to the inner workings of RAF intelligence and their target folders on the German industrial infrastructure . In his memoir , Hansell stated that in the exchange of information , the AAF received nearly a ton of material , shipped back to the United States in a bomber . AWPD - 1 . On 12 July 1941 , Hansell , just returned from London , was recruited by Harold George to join the Air War Plans Division of the newly created AAF Air Staff in Washington , D . C . , as its Chief of European Branch . There a strategic planning team of former " bomber mafia " members ( himself , George , Kuter , and War Plans Group chief Lt . Col . Kenneth N . Walker ) , put together an estimate for President Franklin D . Roosevelt of the numbers of aircraft and personnel needed to win a war against the Axis Powers , well beyond the scope requested of it by the War Plans Division of the General Staff . Hansell ’ s responsibility in the plan , designated AWPD – 1 , was information on German targets . Arnold had given George nine days to write the plan , which would be " Annex 2 , Air Requirements " to " The Victory Program , " a plan of strategic estimates involving the entire U . S . military . Beginning on 4 August 1941 , they drew up the plan in accordance with strategic policies promulgated earlier that year , outlined in the ABC - 1 agreement with the British Commonwealth , and Rainbow 5 , the U . S . war plan . The group completed AWPD - 1 in the allotted nine days and carefully rehearsed a presentation to the Army General Staff . Its forecast figures , despite planning errors from lack of accurate information about weather and the German economic commitment to the war , were within 2 percent of the units and 5 . 5 percent of the personnel ultimately mobilized , and it accurately predicted the time frame when the invasion of Europe by the Allies would take place . Hansell ’ s contribution to the plan was based on a serious flaw , however . As had most observers , Hansell assumed that the Nazi economy was working at maximum capacity , when in fact it was still at 1938 levels of production , an error that led to an underestimation of the numbers of sorties , bomb tonnage , and time required for bombing to have a decisive effect . However , a more significant error in planning , the omission of long - range fighter escorts for the bombers , seriously impacted the strategic bombing campaign that later took place . Hansell deeply regretted the omission but noted that it reflected the best available information at the time on fighter aircraft capabilities , which was that any means then available to extend range would also seriously degrade a fighter ' s air combat performance . Hansell wrote , " Failure to see this issue through proved one of the Air Corps Tactical School ' s major shortcomings . " A lack of knowledge about the capability of radar to create an effective centralized early warning system also contributed to the over - reliance on the self - defense capabilities of bombers . However Hansell also argued that ignorance of radar was fortuitous in the long run . He surmised that had radar been a factor in making doctrine , many theorists would have reasoned that massed defenses would make all strategic air attacks too costly , inhibiting if not entirely suppressing the concepts that proved decisive in World War II and essential to the creation of the United States Air Force . World War II service . Planning duties . Following the entry of the United States into World War II , Hansell received a rapid series of promotions , to lieutenant colonel on 5 January 1942 , colonel on 1 March 1942 , and brigadier general on 10 August 1942 . In January 1942 , he assisted George and Walker in presenting an organizational plan to the War Department for maintaining the Air Corps as part of the Army during World War II , while dividing the Army into three autonomous branches , a reorganization adopted on 9 March 1942 , with the creation of the Army Air Forces , Army Ground Forces and Services of Supply . On 10 March 1942 , Hansell was transferred from AWPD to the Strategy and Policy Group , Operations Division of the War Department General Staff and served on the eight - member Joint Strategy Committee as the USAAF representative . Hansell , at the request of Major General Dwight D . Eisenhower , was assigned on 12 July 1942 as Officer in Charge , Air Section , ETOUSA headquarters , and simultaneously as deputy theater air officer for Major General Carl A . Spaatz , commander of the Eighth Air Force . His duties were to mold Eisenhower ’ s opinion on the use of airpower , guided by Spaatz , but there is little indication that he succeeded . He also flew combat in a B - 17 to gain first - hand experience with daylight precision bombing , attacking the Longueau marshalling yard at Amiens , France , on 20 August 1942 . During the mission he developed frostbite on his hands and spent several days recovering from the effects . On 26 August 1942 he was recalled to USAAF Headquarters to head the planning team for AWPD – 42 , a revision of the air strategy plan in light of ongoing crises in the war , completing it in 11 days . Even though the Navy rejected the plan outright ( because it did not participate in its writing ) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not accept it , presidential advisor Harry Hopkins recommended to Roosevelt that he follow the precepts unofficially , which was done . Hansell then returned to England , where he was ironically tasked with diverting a large portion of the strategic bomber force to the Twelfth Air Force to support Operation Torch . Combat wing commander in Europe . On 5 December 1942 Hansell received his first combat command , the 3rd Bombardment Wing . Originally one of the three wings of General Headquarters Air Force , the 3rd was now part of the Eighth Air Force in England , planned as a Martin B - 26 Marauder unit with the mission of supporting the Eighth ' s heavy bomber operations by bombing Luftwaffe fighter airfields . However the wing had no aircraft or units yet assigned , and on 2 January 1943 , Hansell was shifted to command the 1st Bomb Wing , the B - 17 component of VIII Bomber Command . Hansell flew his first mission with his new command the next day to bomb the submarine pens at Saint - Nazaire , France . He saw first hand the effectiveness of German interceptors , as both wingmen of Hansell ' s bomber were shot down . Later that month , on a 13 January mission to Lille , France , the pilot of the B - 17 in which he flew was killed in action and the plane nearly shot down on . Hansell commanded the 1st Wing during six critical months when the B - 17 force , with only four inexperienced groups , struggled to prove itself . Among the combat doctrines that Hansell developed himself or approved were use of the defensive combat box formation , detailed mission Standard Operating Procedure s , and all aircraft bombing in unison with the lead bomber , each designed to improve bombing accuracy . Hansell recognized the most serious flaws in the daylight precision bombardment theory , that : These factors later influenced his planning of similar daylight raids against Japan . On 23 March 1943 , he headed up a committee of USAAF and RAF commanders to draw up a plan for the Combined Bomber Offensive ( CBO ) . Despite the fact that it altered the target system priorities outlined in AWPD - 42 , and changed the overall goal of the offensive from knocking Germany out of the war using airpower to one of preparing for the invasion of Europe , Hansell approved the designation of the German aircraft industry as its most important target and the destruction of the German " Luftwaffe " as its top priority . Hansell wrote the final draft of the CBO plan himself . Although Hansell did not personally participate in later strategic bombing operations against Germany , he had been instrumental in setting in motion the plans and policies that led to the near total destruction of German war industry . He continued to fly combat missions at the same rate as his group commanders , with his final mission to Antwerp on 4 May 1943 , the date that the Joint Chiefs approved the CBO plan . On 15 June 1943 , noting signs of fatigue and stress , Eaker replaced Hansell in command of the 1st Wing with Brigadier General Frank A . Armstrong , and retained him as a staff officer , first as an air planner in the COSSAC ( Chief of Staff Supreme Aliied Commander ) headquarters until 1 August 1943 , when Eisenhower named him deputy commander of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force . He conjointly was part of the Tactical Air Force Planning Committee , where he oversaw the planning for Operation Tidal Wave , the low - level bombing of oil refineries at Ploieşti , Romania , on 1 August 1943 , and recommended approval of the Schweinfurt - Regensburg mission . While in Washington on this task , he was " captured " by Arnold and accompanied him to the Quadrant Conference in August , where he personally briefed President Roosevelt on strategic bombing to that point . B - 29 operations planning . In October 1943 , General Hansell was appointed chief of the Combined and Joint Staff Division , in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Plans , located at Headquarters USAAF . As such he became Air Planner on the Joint Planning Staff . He immediately had an impact on planning of strategic air attacks on Japan . The JPS draft outline denigrated strategic bombing and declared that an invasion of the home islands was the only means of defeating Japan , but Hansell successfully argued that an invasion should only be a contingency if bombing and a sea blockade of Japan failed to compel a surrender . Hansell accompanied President Roosevelt and the Joint Chiefs aboard the USS " Iowa " to the Sextant Conference in November , then was appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in December , working directly with Arnold . His main responsibility was developing the operational plans for the B - 29 Superfortress , and he succeeded in gaining three key decisions from the JCS : there would be no diversion of B - 29s to General Douglas MacArthur , the schedule for Operation Forager was moved forward more than a year to secure bases for the B - 29 in the Mariana Islands , and Twentieth Air Force operations would be entirely independent of control by all three Pacific theater commanders ( MacArthur , Chester W . Nimitz , and Joseph Stillwell ) , reporting directly to the JCS . Hansell drew up the tactical doctrine , SOPs , and the table of organization and equipment of the Twentieth Air Force , which was to be commanded by Arnold personally , including use of AAF Air Staff as the staff of the Twentieth . In addition to his own Air Staff duties , Hansell became chief of staff of the Twentieth Air Force on 6 April 1944 . When Arnold was incapacitated by a heart attack in May , Hansell acted as " de facto " commander of the Twentieth Air Force . B - 29 commander . On 28 August 1944 , Arnold made Hansell commander of the XXI Bomber Command , despite misgivings among several senior leaders that while a superb staff officer , he did not have the " temperament " to be a combat commander . Aware of Arnold ’ s legendary impatience , deputy AAF commander General Barney Giles , who was doubtful that Hansell could accomplish the task given him — setting up an effective air campaign in a brief period using an untried aircraft — obtained a commitment from Arnold that he would not relieve Hansell in only a few months . However Hansell ’ s tenure was threatened from the start because his replacement on the Air Staff , Major General Lauris Norstad , did not support the concept of daylight precision bombing , instead advocating massive destruction of Japanese cities by firebombing , a tactic that had been promoted in AAF planning circles as early as November 1943 . Fire raids on Japan were rapidly gaining widespread acceptance among AAF leaders , including Arnold , both to defeat Japan before an invasion was mounted and to satisfy a perception that the American public wanted revenge for three bloody years of war . Hansell , however , opposed the tactic as both morally repugnant and militarily unnecessary . XXI Bomber Command arrived on Saipan on 12 October 1944 , and from the start Hansell was beset by a host of serious command problems , the worst of which were continued teething problems with the B - 29 , tardy delivery of aircraft , aircrews untrained in high altitude formation flying , primitive airfield conditions , lack of an air service command for logistical support , no repair depots , a total absence of target intelligence , stubborn internal resistance to daylight operations by his sole combat wing , subordinates in the XXI Bomber Command who lobbied for his removal , and Hansell ’ s inferiority in rank in dealing with other AAF commanders in the theater . Furthermore , Hansell was soon prohibited from flying combat missions with his command , possibly because of limited knowledge of the atomic bomb or the perception that he knew the existence of Ultra . High altitude daylight B - 29 raids against the Japanese aircraft industry began 24 November 1944 with operation " San Antonio I " , despite misgivings about high losses by both combat crews and Arnold . They were hampered by bad weather and jet stream winds , and as a result , appeared unproductive . Pressured by Arnold ( through Norstad as an intermediary ) for results , Hansell subjected his command to intensive corrective measures that caused more resentment among his aircrews . At the same time commanders in China were strongly recommending removal of XX Bomber Command to another theater as soon as possible , making Major General Curtis E . LeMay , now superior to Hansell in rank , available for command . On 6 January 1945 , Norstad visited Hansell ’ s headquarters and abruptly relieved him of command , replacing him with LeMay . Hansell was offered the option of commanding XX Bomber Command while it transitioned to Guam , then becoming LeMay ’ s deputy . Although he and LeMay were friends , LeMay had been Hansell ’ s subordinate in England , and Hansell declined the offer . While all the command problems factored into his relief , the main reasons were Hansell ’ s persistence in daylight precision attacks , reluctance to night firebombing , Norstad ' s view that Hansell was an impediment to instituting incendiary attacks , and a perception by Arnold and Norstad that the public relations effort by XXI Bomber Command had been unsatisfactory in preparing the American public for such attacks . Hansell left Guam on 21 January 1945 . Unknown at the time , his precision daylight attacks had succeeded , first in Japan ' s immediate and inefficient dispersion of its aircraft engine industry , and later in terms of actual destruction caused by the final raid under his command . A more immediate legacy of his command was his creation , in conjunction with the U . S . Navy , of an effective air - sea rescue system that saved half of all B - 29 crews downed at sea in 1945 . Impact on strategic doctrine . Hansell outlined an alternate strategy for defeating Japan , using precision bombing as its basis , that he believed would have also succeeded by November 1945 while obviating the need for area bombing using incendiaries or the atomic bomb . He did not find fault with the incendiary strategy " per se " , but rather with the premise that fire - bombing was necessary because otherwise Japan could not be defeated except by invasion of her home islands . Historian Michael Sherry concluded that the case he presented was " powerful " . Arnold by implication had erred in changing AAF strategy , especially taking into account the " deep and pervasive revulsion among the American people against strategic bombing of all sorts " that was a consequence . Historian and Hansell biographer Dr . Charles Griffith concluded that Hansell sacrificed his command of the B - 29 force and his later career on principle , adhering to the idea that precision rather than area bombing was not only more moral , but more effective as a strategy . His dismissal , Griffith argues , was a pivotal event in U . S . airpower doctrine , as the Air Force moved toward a strategy of bombing civilian populations , which led to an increasing dependence on the more potentially devastating , inflexible , and " Douhet ian " doctrine of nuclear warfare that lasted for decades . Conrad Crane took a somewhat different stance , arguing that despite the firebombing campaign in Japan , American air commanders throughout World War II and thereafter placed an emphasis on precision bombing and avoiding civilian casualties . The use of precision guided weapons in the Gulf War and beyond , he wrote , demonstrated " continued adherence to precision - bombing doctrine and . . . significant progress toward the ideal . . . first envisioned " by Hansell and the other Air Corps Tactical School theorists . Hansell lectured on the theory of precision air attack throughout his life , particularly at the United States Air Force Academy and the Air War College . He authored three books on air strategy : " The Air War Plan That Defeated Hitler " ( 1972 ) , " The Strategic Air War Against Japan " ( 1980 ) , and " Strategic Air War Against Germany and Japan : A Memoir " ( 1986 ) . Hansell continued to study modern weapons systems , becoming an advocate of the Strategic Defense Initiative and the B - 2 Spirit bomber . However his main focus was in promoting technical advances in precision guided weapons to make precision bombing more practical and therefore more desirable as a military strategy . Retirement . Following his removal from command on Guam , Hansell at his own request received a B - 29 training assignment on 15 February 1945 , command of the 38th Flying Training Wing at Williams Field , Arizona . In June 1945 , he was transferred to Air Transport Command under his old mentor Lieutenant General Harold George , commanding the Caribbean Wing at West Palm Beach , Florida , from 30 September 1945 to 14 January 1946 , and the North Atlantic Wing at Westover Field , Massachusetts , from 1 July 1946 to 18 August 1946 . Hansell took early retirement due to a loss - of - hearing disability , retiring with the rank of brigadier general on 31 December 1946 . He held positions as vice president of Peruvian International Airlines until Peru nationalized the airline in 1949 , and vice president of South Atlantic Gas Company from 1949 until his recall to the military . He was recalled to active duty on 15 July 1951 , by Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt S . Vandenberg and assigned as Chief , Military Assistance Program Headquarters , USAF , acting as a senior program manager and advisor to the U . S . Joint Chiefs of Staff . On 5 September 1952 , he was promoted to major general . In April 1953 , Hansell was appointed the senior Air Force representative to the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group in the Research and Development Office of the Secretary of Defense , Washington , D . C . He retired a second time from the USAF in 1955 . Hansell worked for General Electric , becoming head of its subsidiary in the Netherlands until 1967 , when he retired to Hilton Head , South Carolina . He died on 14 November 1988 , in Hilton Head , of heart failure and pulmonary edema , as he was preparing to leave for a lecture in Canada . He was interred with full military honors at the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery .