Robert C . Mathis Robert Couth Mathis ( born July 3 , 1927 ) is a retired United States Air Force four - star general who served as Vice Chief of Staff , U . S . Air Force ( VCSAF ) from 1980 to 1982 . Biography . Mathis was born in 1927 , in Eagle Pass , Texas , where he graduated from high school in 1944 . He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York , in 1948 with a bachelor of science degree and a commission as second lieutenant . Later in his career he received advanced degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Texas . In November 1949 , after pilot training at Randolph Air Force Base , Texas , and Williams Air Force Base , Arizona , he was assigned to the 51st Fighter Group on Okinawa , a unit equipped with the F - 80 Shooting Star . During the Korean War Mathis served as an F - 80 fighter pilot in the 16th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and as a forward air controller with the 6148th Tactical Control Squadron . In addition to the Purple Heart , he also received the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross for his combat tour in Korea . In August 1956 , following a tour as an instructor at the United States Naval Academy , Annapolis , Maryland , he transferred to the Rome Air Development Center , Griffiss Air Force Base , New York , as the program director of the center ' s Trinidad Test Site . During this period he played a major role in the critical development phases of the Ballistic Missile Warning System , the Echo Satellite Program and the Project Mercury Downrange Tracking Program . After receiving his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas in 1963 , he served as a project officer in the Development Division , Air Force Weapons Laboratory , Kirtland Air Force Base , New Mexico , where he was responsible for the development of special weapons delivery systems . Mathis completed the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort Lesley J . McNair , Washington , D . C . , in August 1967 and was assigned as the senior U . S . adviser to the Vietnamese air force with IV Corps in the Mekong Delta . From October 1967 to November 1968 , he flew more than 200 combat missions , including an air strike in the A - 1 Skyraider for which he received his second Distinguished Flying Cross . Mathis returned to the United States in November 1968 for duty in the Office of the Secretary of Defense . In August 1969 he was named commander of the Rome Air Development Center . Under his direction the center established one of the best flight safety and test aircraft utilization rates in the Air Force Systems Command . In January 1971 Mathis transferred to the Aeronautical Systems Division , Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio , where he became system program director for the General Dynamics F - 111 and later the F - 15 . During this tour of duty he also managed tactical reconnaissance , strike and electronic warfare programs . Mathis served as deputy chief of staff , systems , at Air Force Systems Command headquarters , Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . , from October 1976 to May 1977 , when he become vice commander of Air Force Systems Command . He became the vice commander of Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base , Virginia , in March 1979 . He became the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff on March 1 , 1980 . Decorations . His military decorations and awards include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal , Silver Star , Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster , Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster , Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters , Air Force Commendation Medal , Purple Heart , Distinguished Unit Citation emblem and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ribbon .