James Ferguson ( general ) General James Ferguson ( August 15 , 1913 – July 13 , 2000 ) was a U . S . Air Force general and was commander of the Air Force Systems Command at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . Biography . Ferguson was born in Izmir , Turkey , of British parents in 1913 . He attended elementary school in Scotland and later settled with his family in Whittier , California . He became a naturalized United States citizen March 28 , 1930 ; graduated from a local high school in 1931 , and from Fullerton Junior College in California , in 1934 . He enlisted in the Air Corps in October 1934 , began his flying training a year later and completed it in July 1936 . He flew as a flying cadet for one year before being commissioned a second lieutenant in June 1937 . He was assigned in March 1940 to Hamilton Field , California as commanding officer of the 79th Pursuit Squadron . In April 1942 , he became executive officer of the 20th Pursuit Group at Charlotte , North Carolina , and from July 1942 to October 1943 , served as commanding officer of the 337th Fighter Group . In October 1943 , Ferguson organized and commanded the 405th Fighter - Bomber Group at Waterboro , South Carolina , and took it to Europe four months later . He participated with the 405th Group in preinvasion attacks on Europe until his assignment in April 1944 as assistant chief of staff with the 9th Fighter Command . He participated as an air controller on the night of the Normandy invasion and served in various campaigns until the German surrender . In December 1945 he returned to the United States . He later became an instructor in the Tactical Air Section of the Air Command and Staff College , Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama . Ferguson was assigned in November 1947 to the U . S . Air Force advisory group in Ankara , Turkey , and later became chief of that group . He departed for the Far East in June 1950 , where he served as assistant to the vice commander and later assistant deputy for operations for the U . S . Far East Air Force s . From June 1951 to February 1952 , he was vice commander of the Fifth Air Force in Korea . He returned to the United States and served as deputy commander of the Ninth Air Force of the Tactical Air Command at Pope Air Force Base , North Carolina , and later at Shaw Air Force Base , South Carolina In July 1955 , General Ferguson began a series of assignments which have kept him in the vicinity of Washington , D . C . , for more than 14 years . First , he became deputy and later director of requirements in the office of the deputy chief of staff for development , Headquarters U . S . Air Force . Then he was named vice commander of the Air Research and Development Command ( later Air Force Systems Command ) with headquarters at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . In December 1961 , General Ferguson became deputy chief of staff for research and development at Headquarters U . S . Air Force . In that position he monitored the total research and development effort in the Air Force . In September 1966 he assumed command of the Air Force Systems Command . He retired from the Air Force on September 1 , 1970 , and died on July 13 , 2000 , and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Awards and decorations . His military decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster , Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters , Distinguished Flying Cross , Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster and Air Medal with oak leaf cluster , the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire , Croix de Guerre with Palm ( France ) , Croix de Guerre ( Luxembourg ) , and the Military Merit Ulchi Medal with gold star ( Korea ) .