Frederic H . Smith , Jr . Frederic Harrison Smith , Jr . ( June 30 , 1908 – May 28 , 1980 ) was a United States Air Force four - star general who served as Commander in Chief , U . S . Air Forces in Europe ( CINCUSAFE ) from 1959 to 1961 ; and Vice Chief of Staff , U . S . Air Force ( VCSAF ) from 1961 to 1962 . Smith was born at Fort Monroe , Virginia , in 1908 . He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated a second lieutenant of Field Artillery , June 13 , 1929 . Smith ' s first assignment was that of student officer at the Air Corps Primary and Advanced Flying Schools at Brooks and Kelly Field s , Texas . After receiving his wings , he was transferred to the Army Air Corps in December 1930 . His first Air Corps assignment was at France Field , Panama Canal Zone , where he served with the 63rd Service Squadron and the 24th Pursuit Squadron until December 1932 . Smith then returned to the U . S . for assignment to the 41st School Squadron at Kelly Field , Texas , in January 1933 . From 1936 to 1939 , following three years as flying instructor at Kelly Field , Captain Smith served as senior aeronautical inspector for the Panama Canal , Balboa Heights , Canal Zone . He also acted as advisor on aviation matters to the Governor of the Panama Canal . In late 1939 , Captain Smith returned to the States as operations officer of the 36th Pursuit Squadron . A few months later he became its commander at Langley Field , Virginia . Within a year after Captain Smith assumed his first command , he was appointed commanding officer of the Eighth Pursuit Group , Seventh Pursuit Wing , at Mitchel Field , New York . In January 1942 , Lieutenant Colonel Smith took his Eighth Pursuit Group to the Southwest Pacific . Later in the year he left the pursuit group to become chief of staff of the advanced echelon of the newly activated Fifth Air Force . Following two years of combat service in the Pacific , Brigadier General Smith was transferred to the European Theater of Operations , where he served as deputy senior Air Staff officer and chief of operations of the Allied Expeditionary Air Forces , based in England . During the fall of 1944 , Brigadier General Smith returned to the U . S to become deputy chief of Air Staff at Headquarters , Army Air Force , Washington , D . C . He returned to the Southwest Pacific in February 1945 to direct the Fifth Fighter Command . At the end of the war Smith was ordered to Washington for duty in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff , Plans , at Army Air Force Headquarters . He served there in the Special Organizational Planning Group until March 1946 . In April 1946 , he was appointed chief of staff of the Strategic Air Command at Andrews Field , Maryland , and in February 1947 became national commander of the Civil Air Patrol . On October 10 , 1947 , following establishment of United States Air Force Headquarters , General Smith was appointed chief of the Requirements Division under the director of Training and Requirements Division in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations . Major General Smith was appointed assistant for programming in that office in February 1948 , a position he held until August 14 , 1950 . He was then named commanding general of the Eastern Air Defense Force , Stewart Air Force Base , New York . Smith became vice commander of the Air Defense Command , Ent Air Force Base , Colorado Springs , Colorado on March 1 , 1952 . He served there until June 20 , 1956 , when he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and again joined the Fifth Air Force , this time as its commander . On July 1 , 1957 , concurrently with a reorganization of the United States Forces in the Pacific Area , General Smith , as commander of the Fifth Air Force , was also appointed commander of the United States Forces , Japan . In September 1958 , General Smith returned to the U . S . to assume command of the Air Training Command , with Headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base , Texas . He arrived in Germany in August 1959 to take command of the 4th Allied Tactical Air Force and the United States Air Forces in Europe . On July 1 , 1961 Smith assumed duties as vice chief of staff , United States Air Force , Washington , D . C . He retired from the Air Force on September 1 , 1962 and died on May 28 , 1980 . His awards and decorations included the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster , Navy Distinguished Service Medal , Legion of Merit , Air Medal with oak leaf cluster , Army Commendation Ribbon , Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire , American Defense Service Medal , Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal , European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , World War II Victory Medal , Philippine Liberation Ribbon , National Defense Service Medal , Air Force Longevity Service Award with six oak leaf clusters , American Campaign Medal . General Smith ' s father - in - law was Fleet Admiral Ernest J . King .