History
The insignia for General of the Army and General of the Air Force were originally the same. The insignia for General of the Air Force was slightly modified in the 1950s for wear on the new blue Air Force dress uniform. The insignia of General of the Air Force, however, has never been worn by an officer of the present day (1947–present) Air Force on active duty. Public Law 333 of the 79th Congress changed the five-star rank to a permanent grade, and established that officers placed on the retirement list while in that grade would receive full pay and allowances (under Public Law 282 first establishing this grade, retirement had been at 75 per centum).
The only person to hold the rank of General of the Air Force has been Henry H. Arnold. Arnold was a General of the Army (promoted 21 December 1944 under Public Law 282 of the 78th Congress) and was placed on the retired list on 30 June 1946 while the United States Army Air Forces were a component of the U.S. Army. On 7 May 1949, under Public Law 58 of the 81st Congress, his rank was re-designated General of the Air Force, and Arnold was photographed in an Air Force uniform wearing the insignia of that rank.
During the Cold War, with the rise of the Strategic Air Command, it was proposed but not authorized by law that General of the Air Force be granted to General Curtis LeMay, with the rank continued for use and granted to such senior generals such as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the commander of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) and the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). As a result, General of the Air Force can be seen on modern insignia charts and it is still considered an official rank of the United States Air Force.
Read more about this topic: General Of The Air Force (United States)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In the history of the human mind, these glowing and ruddy fables precede the noonday thoughts of men, as Aurora the sun’s rays. The matutine intellect of the poet, keeping in advance of the glare of philosophy, always dwells in this auroral atmosphere.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“The history is always the same the product is always different and the history interests more than the product. More, that is, more. Yes. But if the product was not different the history which is the same would not be more interesting.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)