John T. Chain Jr.

General John T. Chain Jr.

John Thomas Chain Jr. (born December 11, 1934 in Wilmington , Delaware ) is a former American general in the US Air Force , who was Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs in the US State Department between 1984 and 1985 and from 1986 to 1991 Supreme Commander of the Strategic Air Command SAC ( Strategic Air Command ) was.

Life

Military training and the Vietnam War

John Thomas Chain Jr. attended the Fork Union Military Academy and earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA History) from Denison University in 1956 . After his officer training as part of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Program , he was accepted into the US Air Force and completed his aviation training in 1957. He then went through a training for crews for combat aircraft and was 1958-1959 pilot of a fighter aircraft of the type North American F-100 Super Saber on the military airport Toul-Rosieres Air Base in France and subsequently from 1959 to 1962 on the air base Ramstein Air Base . He was then a flight examiner at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis and between 1964 and 1966 FAC ( Forward Air Controller ) at the Fort Campbell base , where he also trained as a paratrooper . He also flew light aircraft of the US Army of the type Cessna O-1 Bird Dog and fighter aircraft of the National Guard type Republic F-84 Thunderjet .

During the Vietnam war chain inserts flew combat aircraft type McDonnell F-4 Phantom

During the Vietnam War , Chain became the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam in 1966 and flew various combat missions in the period that followed. After his return he was seconded to the US State Department in 1969 as part of an exchange program and then graduated from the National War College (NWC) at Fort Lesley J. McNair between 1970 and 1971 and also completed postgraduate studies in international relations at George in 1971 Washington University with a Master of Arts (MA International Affairs). He was then transferred to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 1971 , where he was first deputy commander for operations and in 1972 deputy commander for logistics. At the end of the Vietnam War, he was posted from 1972 to 1973 to the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand and flew further missions with fighter aircraft of the type McDonnell F-4 Phantom .

Upon his return, John T. Chain Jr. became deputy operations commander of George Air Force Base in 1973 and vice-commander of Nellis Air Force Base in 1974 , where he flew attack aircraft in pilot training. In 1975, he was on the Base Langley Air Force Base for Tactical Air Command TAC ( Tactical Air Command ) was added and was there first director of combat and reconnaissance operations and subsequently from 1976 to 1977 assistant to the commander of the Tactical Air Command. In 1978 he became military assistant to the Air Force Minister ( US Secretary of the Air Force ) , John Charles Stetson . He was then deputy director of planning from 1979 to 1980 and then director of operations at US Air Force Headquarters between 1980 and 1981.

Promotion to general and commander in chief of the SAC

In 1981, Chain became assistant deputy chief of staff for the US Air Force for planning and operations, and then in 1982 he was appointed assistant chief of staff for the US Air Force for planning and operations. On July 1, 1984, he was succeeded Admiral Jonathan Howe as head of the Department for Political-Military Affairs ( Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs ) in the US State Department and held this post until June 14, 1985, after which H. Allen Holmes succeeded him.

On July 1, 1985, John T. Chain was promoted to general and took over the post of Chief of Staff at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces of NATO SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ) . He then broke on June 22, 1986 General Larry D. Welch as commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command SAC ( Strategic Air Command ) , and remained in that post until January 24, 1991, after which General George Lee Butler began his successor. During his four and a half years of activity he was responsible for the intercontinental ballistic missile program LGM-118 Peacekeeper, which began in December 1986 . On January 31, 1991, he retired from active military service. He had more than 5000 flight hours, which he completed on 45 different types of aircraft. In his career he flew 400 hours of combat missions and made 66 parachute jumps.

General John T. Chain is married to Judie Chain.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards:

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal (2 ×)
• Legion of Merit
• Distinguished Flying Cross (2 ×)
• Bronze star
• National Defense Service Medal

Change to the private sector

After retiring from active military service, Chain, who was also involved in the Council on Foreign Relations , switched to the private sector. He became a board member of the defense industry company Northrop Grumman in 1991 and was executive vice president of the railway company Burlington Northern Railroad between 1991 and 1996 . He became a board member in 1995 and chairman of the board of directors of the management consulting firm Thomas Group, Inc. in 1998 , and also served as president of Quarterdeck Equity Partners, Inc. between 1996 and 2002 . He was also a board member of the food manufacturer ConAgra Foods, Inc. , the insurer Kemper Insurance Companies , the food company Nabisco , the holding Reynolds American and the tobacco company R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company .

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Office of the Historian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Entry in the Hall of Valor
• John T. Chain Jr. in the nndb (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Assistant Secretaries of State for Politico-Military Affairs on the homepage of the Office of the Historian of the State Department

predecessor	Office	successor
Jonathan Howe	Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs 1984–1985	H. Allen Holmes
Larry D. Welch	Supreme Commander of the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command 1986–1991	George Lee Butler