Bryce Poe II Bryce Poe II ( October 10 , 1924 – November 20 , 2000 ) was a United States Air Force four - star general who served as Commander , Air Force Logistics Command ( COMAFLC ) from 1978 to 1981 . Military career . Poe was born in 1924 , in Wichita , Kansas . He attended the Colorado School of Mines , the University of Kansas , and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1946 . He completed Army Air Forces pilot training prior to graduation from the academy . He received a master of arts degree in history from the University of Omaha in 1964 and a master of science degree in international affairs from The George Washington University , in 1965 . He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk , Virginia and the National War College at Fort Lesley J . McNair . From November 1946 to September 1948 , Poe was a member of one of the first jet - equipped units in the U . S . Air Force and flew in more than 80 air shows demonstrating the new aircraft . He then transferred to Japan and was assigned to the 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron , which was equipped with RF - 80 s . At the beginning of the Korean War , he transferred to South Korea and flew 90 combat missions including the first U . S . Air Force jet reconnaissance sortie . He returned to the United States and , from January to April 1951 , was assigned to a Strategic Air Command fighter escort squadron at Bergstrom Air Force Base , Texas . He then transferred to Shaw Air Force Base , South Carolina , as commander of a reconnaissance replacement training unit . Poe was assigned to Allied Forces Northern Europe , Oslo , Norway , in August 1952 as a fighter operations officer flying de Havilland Vampire s , Gloster Meteor s , F - 84 Thunderjet s and F - 86 Sabre s with the Royal Norwegian and Royal Danish air forces . He returned to the United States in July 1956 and served as aide and then executive officer to General Bernard Adolph Schriever , commander , Air Force Western Development Division in Inglewood , California . In August 1959 he entered the Armed Forces Staff College . After graduation in January 1960 , he went to Offutt Air Force Base , Nebraska , as operations officer of an Atlas D squadron . In October 1961 he transferred to SAC headquarters as a missile plans officer and later as chief , Missile Plans Section , Operations and Training Division . In August 1964 Poe entered the National War College . Following his graduation in July 1965 , he served as chief , Plans Group , Office of Legislative Liaison , Office of the Secretary of the Air Force , Washington , D . C . He transferred to Bergstrom Air Force Base in July 1967 as vice commander of the 75th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing . He went to Southeast Asia in July 1968 as vice commander , 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , Tan Son Nhut Air Base , Republic of Vietnam . During this tour of duty , he flew 213 combat missions , 200 in RF - 4 s . From July 1969 to July 1970 , Poe was commander of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , Ramstein Air Base , Germany . In July 1970 he assumed duties as deputy chief of staff , logistics , U . S . Air Forces in Europe , Wiesbaden , Germany . Poe became commander of the Ogden Air Materiel Area ( now Ogden Air Logistics Center ) at Hill Air Force Base , Utah , in February 1973 . In June 1974 he returned to Germany as vice commander in chief of the U . S . Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base . He was assigned to Wright - Patterson Air Force Base in July 1976 as commander of the Air Force Acquisition Logistics Division and assumed commander of AFLC in February 1978 . He retired from the Air Force on July 31 , 1981 and died of a stroke on November 20 , 2000 . Decorations and military qualification badges . Poe was a command pilot and wore the Master Missile Badge . His military decorations and awards include the