Kenneth B . Hobson Kenneth Burton Hobson ( June 1 , 1908 – July 20 , 1979 ) was a General in the United States Air Force . He is also the former commander of the Air Force Logistics Command , Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio . Biography . Hobson was born in Mount Carmel , Illinois , in 1908 . After graduating from Ashland High School in Ashland , Oregon , in 1925 , he attended the University of Oregon and the Southern Oregon Normal School . In July 1928 he entered the United States Military Academy in West Point , New York and on July 10 , 1932 , he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry . In November 1933 , Hobson received his pilot wings after graduating from primary and advanced flying schools at Randolph and Kelly fields , Texas . He was transferred to the United States Army Air Corps on February 16 , 1934 . Kenneth ' s first assignment was with the 73rd Pursuit Squadron at March Field , California . In February 1937 he joined the 80th Service Squadron at Albrook Field , Panama Canal Zone . After a year of being hospitalized , Hobson was assigned to the 22nd Bombardment Squadron in April 1940 , and served at Hamilton Field , California , and Fort Douglas , Utah . In May 1941 , he assumed command of the 22nd Bombardment Squadron and the following December moved with it to the Southwest Pacific Theater . The 22nd Bombardment Squadron was in the process of moving to the Philippines when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . Three B - 17s led by Hobson ( then a major ) completed the first flight from Hawaii to Australia over an emergency - devised South Pacific air route , arriving January 12 , 1942 . Then he flew his B - 17 Flying Fortress to Java in the Dutch East Indies , where his squadron had been diverted in an attempt to stem the Japanese advance . Hobson commanded the 22nd Squadron in Java , the Netherlands East Indies , and Australia until September 1942 , when he became engineering officer for the Far East Service Command . The following month he was appointed operations officer , A - 3 of the Fifth Bomb Command in the Southwest Pacific , and in January 1943 , was named chief of staff of that command . He served in this position until June 1943 . Hobson was then assigned to the War Department General Staff , Washington , D . C . , where he served until the end of World War II . In January 1946 , he was assigned to Headquarters Army Air Forces as chief of the Table of Organization and Equipment Branch , Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Operations . The following June he became chief of the Organization Division . He entered the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama , in July 1947 . Upon graduation in June 1948 , he was assigned to Strategic Air Command Headquarters then at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland , and later at Offutt Air Force Base , Nebraska . He assumed command of the 92nd Bomb Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base , Washington , in June 1951 . In February 1952 , Kenneth was named deputy director of manpower and organization at U . S . Air Force headquarters , Washington , D . C . He became director of manpower and organization there in July 1953 . His next assignment took him to the Far East as vice commander of the Fifth Air Force in Japan on July 15 , 1956 . He became commander , Ogden Air Materiel Area , with headquarters at Hill Air Force Base , Utah August 3 , 1959 , and assumed the post of vice commander , Air Force Logistics Command ( formerly AMC ) , August 1 , 1961 . General Hobson , a command pilot , became commander of the Air Force Logistics Command August 1 , 1965 . . He served on 25 aerial combat missions totaling 100 combat hours in the Southwest Pacific , and received bronze stars for the Papua , New Guinea and East Indies campaigns . Awards . Among his awards and decorations are the Legion of Merit , Distinguished Flying Cross , Air Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal .