Aubrey Hornsby Aubrey Thomas Hornsby I ( January 8 , 1895 – May 23 , 1981 ) was a U . S . Army officer and pioneer aviator who reached the rank of Brigadier General . He began his Army career during World War I as an artillery observer , seeing service in France and Germany , then continued to serve as an aviator and administrator through World War II , after which he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives . Biography . He was born in 1895 in Eclectic , Alabama to Judson Anne Nichols ( 1869 – 1953 ) and Jackson Lee Hornsby ( 1868 – 1954 ) . His father was a merchant . Hornsby graduated from Elmore County High School in 1915 , then attended the University of Alabama and Southern University for two years until he volunteered in the Army as a Private in May 1917 . Less than six months after his enlistment , he had earned his commission and was appointed Second Lieutenant in November 1917 , in the Field Artillery Reserve . In May 1918 , he transferred to the American Expeditionary Force as an Aerial Observer serving in France , England , and Germany for one year . He returned to the United States in 1918 , married Nancy ( Nannie ) Mae Thomas of Alabama on August 15 , 1918 and they had three children : Aubrey Thomas Hornsby II ( 1922 – 1983 ) who was born in Virginia ; William Lee Hornsby ( 1926 – 2005 ) ; and Jack Hornsby ( 1927 – 1978 ) . William and Jack were both born in Alabama . Aubrey was then stationed at Mitchel Field , on Long Island until July 1920 . Along with his transfer to Kelly Field in Texas , he was promoted to First Lieutenant . In 1921 Hornsby graduated from both the Air Service Pilots ' School and the Air Service Bombardment School . He participated in the 1922 experimental bombing of surrendered German battleship s as a contemporary of Billy Mitchell , and he won the second place award in the 1926 Liberty Engine Builders ' Trophy race . This was an air - race held among fifteen top military pilots at the Sesquicentennial International Exposition in Philadelphia to celebrate the nation ' s 150th birthday . In 1930 the family was living in Riverside , California . As a captain he commanded Clark Field in the Philippines . Gunter Field in Alabama was built in 1940 under his leadership and he was the first base commander . This was an important training center built prior to , but in expectation of , US involvement in World War II . Originally it was known as Army Air Corps Basic Flying School , later as Gunter Field , and now as part of Maxwell Air Force Base . Hornsby assumed that position on August 27 , 1940 , and was replaced 28 months later by Colonel Raymond L . Winn on December 28 , 1942 , one year after Pearl Harbor . It was at Gunter Field that the assembly line system of maintaining planes , whose time - saving efficiency had attracted wide attention , was pioneered , based on Hornsby ' s experience in aircraft maintenance . As a Brigadier General , Hornsby commanded the 308th Bombardment Wing of the United States Air Force for part of 1946 , while it was stationed in Korea as part of the occupation force and involved in weather research . In 1946 he was awarded Army Distinguished Service Medal " for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States , in a duty of great responsibility . " Aubrey Hornsby died in 1981 in Montgomery , Alabama .