Elwood Richard Quesada Elwood Richard " Pete " Quesada , CB , CBE ( April 13 , 1904 – February 9 , 1993 ) was a United States Air Force General , FAA administrator , and , later , a club owner in Major League Baseball . Early years . Elwood Richard Quesada was born in Washington , D . C . in 1904 to an Irish - American mother and a Spanish father . He attended Wyoming Seminary in Kingston , Pa . , University of Maryland , College Park , and Georgetown University . Early military career . In September 1924 , Quesada enlisted in the U . S . Army Air Corps as a flying cadet and was commissioned as a reserve officer a year later . He had a wide variety of assignments as aide to senior officers , military attache and technical adviser to other air forces , and in intelligence . He was also part of the team ( with Ira Eaker and Carl Spaatz ) that developed and demonstrated air - to - air refueling in 1929 on the " Question Mark " . All five crew members were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their participation in the mission . Rank and promotions . Lieutenant General Quesada was promoted and held commands as follows : Pioneer of Tactical Airpower in World War II and Post War Difficulties . During his time as a junior officer he became interested in the concept of close air support of ground forces , which was thoroughly developed by the 9th during his time as commander in North Africa and Europe . Quesada was instrumental in developing many of the principles of tactical air - ground warfare for the Ninth Air Force during the European campaign . Innovations attributed to him included adapting a microwave early warning radar ( MEW ) for real - time direction of fighter bombers that were already in - flight , as well as placing pilots as forward air controllers inside tanks equipped with VHF aircraft radios on the front lines . This latter technique allowed for direct ground communication with overhead fighter - bombers by personnel who understood what pilots needed to identify ground targets . Besides reducing friendly fire incidents , such tactics allowed attacking ground troops to use close air support with greater precision and speed , allowing for air cover to take the place of artillery support in a rapid armored advance . These improved tactics enormously expanded the contributions of tactical airpower to the Allied defeat of Germany on the Western Front . The end of World War II would emphasize the importance of strategic bombers , however . Post - war military budgets reflected the predominance of strategic bombers over tactical aircraft , as the Cold War nuclear standoff between the U . S . and Soviet Union seemed to indicate that tactical airpower would be of little importance in future wars . Strategic airpower advocates such as General Curtis LeMay would gain a lock on the military budgets for the Air Force in the post - World War II years , and the U . S . Air Force ' s ability to engage in tactical air warfare would suffer all the way through the Korean and Vietnam Wars until a resurgence of interest and improved budgetary priorities in the 1970s . In 1947 , Quesada was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed as the first commander of the Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) in the newly independent U . S . Air Force . However , Quesada quickly became disillusioned as he saw how TAC was being ignored while funding and promotions were largely going to the Strategic Air Command . In December 1948 , Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg stripped TAC of its planes and pilots and reduced its status to that of a planning headquarters under the newly formed Continental Air Command . Quesada thus asked for re - assignment and was given a dead - end job by Vandenberg as head of a committee to find ways to combine the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard . Quesada was removed from this job after only two months , as his blunt and impatient nature only served to stir up controversy in this near - impossible task . This episode led to his request for early retirement from the Air Force , which came about at the age of 47 in 1951 . The onset of the Korean War would result in the re - formation of TAC , which would be headed by Quesada ' s friend , General Otto P . Weyland , who had also been a champion of tactical airpower with XIX TAC during World War II . Civilian and Family Life . On October 12 , 1946 , Quesada married Kate Davis Putnam , the granddaughter of Joseph Pulitzer ( founder of the St . Louis Post - Dispatch ) , and a war widow ( her first husband was Capt . Henry Ware Putnam who died in an air raid over Tokyo on May 25 , 1945 ) . His wife had two daughters from the previous marriage and they would have two sons of their own - Thomas Ricardo Quesada and Peter Wickham Quesada . He was an executive for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation from 1953 to 1955 . In 1957 , he became President Dwight D . Eisenhower ' s Special Advisor for Aviation , leading to his appointment as first administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) from 1959 to 1961 . Quesada became involved in professional sports when he became owner of the expansion Washington Senators in 1961 . Quesada sold his stake in the team in 1963 . He later became President and Chief Executive Officer of the L ' Enfant Plaza Corporation , a private corporation that successfully partnered with the federal government to develop L ' Enfant Plaza . He later became a member of the Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue , a precursor of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation , which helped redevelop Pennsylvania Avenue NW between the White House and the United States Capitol . He , his wife , and their two sons were involved in a dispute with Joseph Pulitzer III in 1986 over the control and value of their two sons ' shares in the St . Louis Post - Dispatch , an episode chronicled in " No Ordinary Joe " ( p . 149 - 166 ) . Recognitions , Decorations and Medals . General Quesada ' s decorations and medals include : Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster ; Distinguished Flying Cross ; Purple Heart ; Air Medal with two silver oak leaf clusters ; American Defense Service Medal ; European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and seven bronze battle stars ; World War II Victory Medal ; National Defense Service Medal Foreign Orders and Medals Order of the Bath ( Degree of Companion ) ; Commander of the British Empire ; French Legion of Honor ; French Croix de Guerre with Palm ; Luxembourg Croix de Guerre ; Order of Adolphe of Nassau ; Polish Pilot Badge ; Commandeur de l ' Ordre de la Couronne with Palm ; Croix d ' Officier de l ' Order de la Couronne with Palm . The Arnold Air Society Squadron at Clarkson University is named in his honor . On September 14 , 2011 , he was honored posthumously during Hispanic Heritage Month activities in Cleveland , Ohio . Death . General Quesada died on February 9 , 1993 at a Jupiter , Florida hospital and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery . His wife Kate Davis Putnam Quesada died March 5 , 2003 , and was interred with him at Arlington National Cemetery .