William H. Blanchard

William H. Blanchard

William Hugh Blanchard (born February 6, 1916 in Boston , Massachusetts , † May 31, 1966 in Washington, DC ) was an American general in the US Air Force , who was instrumental in strategic bombing missions during World War II and last from 1965 to 1966 was Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force .

Life

Training as an air force officer

Blanchard completed his schooling at the High School in Chelsea and at the Phillips Exeter Academy and began his military training in 1934 at the US Military Academy in West Point , where he graduated 1938th Upon completion of the pilot training to the military airfield Randolph Air Force Base and Kelly Field Air Force Base in 1939 he found uses as a flight instructor and head of the advanced pilot training in flight Training Command ( Flying Training Command ), before he in 1943 to serve in the developed from the new Boeing B- 29 "Superfortress" - bombers bomber squadron formed was seconded at the base Salina Army Airfield.

Blanchard planning the bombing campaign against the Shōwa Seitetsusho steelworks in Anshan on September 26, 1944

In 1944 Blanchard became deputy commander of the 58th Bomb Wing and flew the first B-29 "Superfortress" bombers to China from there to take part in strategic bomber operations against the Japanese occupation forces in China and against the Japanese mainland . Later he was in the rank of colonel commander of the 40th Bomb Group, also consisting of B-29 bombers, and was honored for his services there with the Silver Star , the Legion of Merit and twice with the Distinguished Flying Cross .

Most recently, Blanchard was used as an operations officer in the 21st Bomber Command in the Mariana Islands during World War II . There he was responsible for planning and conducting low-level flight operations against important Japanese targets such as the Shōwa Seitetsusho steelworks in Anshan on September 26, 1944. At the height of World War II, he was responsible for preparing and monitoring the extensive operational commands for the first atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima .

After the end of the Second World War, Blanchard became commander of the 509th Bombardment Wing due to his experience in atomic bombing and was involved in Operation Crossroads , the second nuclear test operation of the US armed forces on Bikini Atoll in the American trust territory Pacific Islands in the summer of 1946. In 1948 he became the head of the operations department of the Eighth Air Force, part of the Strategic Air Command (SAC ), and in this role he dealt with the nuclear weapons training of the flight crews of the Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" - long-range strategic bombers . He was then commander of various B-36 "Peacemaker" and Boeing B-50 "Superfortress" associations of the SAC.

Promotion to general

General William H. Blanchard as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force

In 1953, Blanchard became Brigadier General and Deputy Head of Operations at Strategic Air Command and, in June 1956, was part of a group of Air Force officers who accompanied the then Chief of Air Force Staff, General Nathan F. Twining , on an official visit to the Soviet Union , which included sightseeing included militarily interesting areas in Moscow and Stalingrad . In this use, he received the Legion of Merit for the second time in the form of a bronze oak leaf branch for the first Legion of Merit. In 1957 he became the commander of the 7th Air Division, which was also part of the SAC and was stationed in Great Britain , and received the Legion of Merit for the third time in the form of a second branch of bronze oak leaves for the first Legion of Merit. After his return to the United States, he was major general in charge of the operations department of the Strategic Air Command between 1960 and 1961 .

After fifteen years of uninterrupted service in the SAC, Blanchard was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1961 and served as Inspector General of the US Air Force until 1963. For his services there, he was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal . In August 1963 he was first deputy chief of Air Staff for programs and requirements ( Deputy Chief of the Air Staff for Programs & Requirements ) and then deputy in February 1964 Chief of Air Staff for Planning and Operations ( Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations ). In addition, at the end of 1964, he became the leading air force representative in the United Nations Military Staff Committee .

On February 19, 1965 Blanchard was promoted to general and took over as the successor of General John P. McConnell as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force . In this role he dealt significantly with the growing personnel and material requirements for the US air force. Almost 15 months after taking office, Blanchard died on May 31, 1966 of complications from a myocardial infarction and was then buried on June 3, 1966 in the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery in Colorado Springs .

In the course of his military career, Blanchard has received several awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal , the Silver Star , the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf branches, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf branch, the Bronze Star Medal , the Air Medal with oak leaf branch, the Presidential Unit Citation and the Asiatic Pacific Medal with six bronze stars.

Web links

Commons : William H. Blanchard  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Biography on the US Air Force homepage
• Entry on Hall of Valor