Alvan Cullem Gillem II Alvan Cullem Gillem II ( April 20 , 1917 – September 3 , 2009 ) was a US Air Force officer who reached the rank of lieutenant - general . He was the first son of General Alvan C . Gillem Jr . ( 1888 – 1973 ) and Virginia ( Harrison ) Gillem ( December 18 , 1895 – October 25 , 1964 ) . He had two siblings , Richard D . Gillem ( who became a lieutenant - colonel in the US Army ) and Mary . Early career . Gillem enlisted in the Army at Fort Monroe , Va . , in 1935 . He received a congressional appointment to the U . S . Military Academy for the fall of 1936 , from which he graduated with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the spring of 1940 . World War 2 . Gillem immediately entered pilot training in the fall of 1940 and graduated in March , 1941 as a first lieutenant . He then served in Texas as a pilot - instructor from March 1941 to March 1943 ; he was promoted to major in 1943 . In April 1943 he went overseas as a staff officer at headquarters of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces in North Africa . Later he was transferred to the 31st Fighter Group in Italy . there he learned to fly Spitfire s and P - 51 Mustang and was credited with shooting down three enemy planes in air - to - air combat . He was promoted to lieutenant - colonel in May , 1944 . In June , 1944 he returned to the United States to serve in the Plans Division of the Headquarters , Army Air Forces in Washington , D . C . Postwar . In March 1946 Liutenant - Colonel Gillem was a member of the original cadre that set up the Strategic Air Command ' s headquarters at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . Gillem graduated from Air Command and Staff School in 1948 . He was then seconded to the CIA from 1948 to 1950 . Korean War Era service . In July , 1950 he was promoted to colonel . He was then assigned to Turner Air Force Base , Georgia , as deputy commander of the 31st Fighter Wing . In March 1951 he was assigned as Commander , 108th Fighter - Bomber Wing at Turner AFB . In December 1951 General Gillem went to England as Commander , Royal Air Force Station Upper Heyford , a part of SAC ' s 7th Air Division . Post - Korean War Era service . In 1953 Gillem attended the Air War College . In 1954 he was then was assigned as deputy commandant , Command and Staff School , Air Command and Staff College . In 1956 he became commandant of the Command and Staff School from 1956 to 1957 . In 1957 he became commander of the 380th Bombardment Wing at Plattsburgh Air Force Base , New York . In 1961 he was promoted to Brigadier - General and was given command of SAC ' s 820th Air Division at Plattsburgh AFB . In September 1961 was assigned to Westover Air Force Base , Massachusetts , as commander of the 57th Air Division . In July 1963 he was transferred to Homestead Air Force Base , Florida , where he became commander of the 823d Air Division . In August , 1963 he was promoted to major general . Vietnam War Era service . In May 1964 General Gillem was transferred to SAC headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base , Nebraska , as Deputy Director of Operations . In July 1965 he was named Director of Operations ( later redesignated as Deputy Chief of Staff , Operations ) in July 1965 . In June 1968 , upon promotion to lieutenant general , he took over the 3d Air Division at Andersen Air Force Base , Guam , where for the following 26 months he commanded SAC ' s B - 52 and KC - 135 forces operating in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia . In April 1970 the 3d Air Division was redesignated the Eighth Air Force . Gillem became the 12th commander of USAF Air University on August 1 , 1970 , retiring on November 1 , 1973 after serving there for three years . Death . General Gillem died in 2009 . He is buried in Arlington Cemetery .