In 1949 Curtis LeMay was placed in command of the Strategic Air Command and instituted a program to update the bomber fleet to one that was all-jet.

On June 9, 1934, he married Helen E. Maitland ( died 1992 ), with whom he had one child, Patricia Jane LeMay Lodge, known as Janie.

LeMay became a pursuit pilot and, while stationed in Hawaii, became one of the first members of the Air Corps to receive specialized training in aerial navigation.

The order was ostensibly given because of borderline weather conditions in Washington, but according to First Lieutenant Ivan J. Potts who was on board, the order came because LeMay had one fewer general's stars and should not be seen to outperform his superior.

After ordering a mock bombing exercise on Dayton, Ohio, LeMay was shocked to learn that most of the strategic bombers assigned to the mission missed their targets by one mile or more.

" We didn't have one crew, not one crew, in the entire command who could do a professional job " noted LeMay.

In November 2006, it was announced that General LeMay would be one of the inductees into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2007.

Gen. Haywood S. Hansell, one of the architects of AWPD / 1 and AWPD / 42, encountered even more command problems than had Wolfe or LeMay.

LeMay assigned one group of about 160 aircraft of the 313th Bombardment Wing to the task, with orders to plant 2, 000 mines in April 1945.

John D. LeMay is one of only two actors from the TV series to appear in the film franchise, the other being John Shepherd who played Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

Submitted in a command-wide contest, it was chosen as the winner by a three judge panel: General Curtis E. LeMay, Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command ; General Thomas S. Power, Vice Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command ; and Brigadier General AW Kissner, Chief of Staff, Strategic Air Command.

After serving in the military in World War II ( under Gen. Curtis LeMay ), he made his living as an illustrator for books and magazines, authoring three children's stories.

For this first attack, LeMay ordered the defensive guns removed from 325 B-29s, loaded each plane with Model E-46 incendiary clusters, magnesium bombs, white phosphorus bombs, and napalm, and ordered the bombers to fly in streams at 5, 000 to 9, 000 feet over Tokyo.

The New York Times reported at the time, " Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, commander of the B-29s of the entire Marianas area, declared that if the war is shortened by a single day, the attack will have served its purpose.

He shut down operations from China, consolidated all the B-29s in the Marianas, and replaced Hansell with LeMay in January 1945 as commander of XXI Bomber Command.

When Douglas MacArthur invaded the Philippines in October 1944, LeMay diverted his B-29s from bombing Japanese steel facilities to striking enemy aircraft factories and bases in Formosa, Kyūshū, and Manchuria.

LeMay became known for his massive incendiary attacks against Japanese cities during the war using hundreds of planes flying at low altitudes.

LeMay initially started flying supplies into Berlin, but then decided that it was a job for a logistics expert and he found that person in Lt. General William H. Tunner, who took over the operational end of the Berlin Airlift.

The 13th School Group and its 47th and 53rd School Squadrons provided primary and basic flying training for future Air Force leaders such as Hoyt Vandenberg, Nathan Twining, Thomas Power and Curtis LeMay.

( Lieutenant LeMay was fined $ 50 for flying a biplane through Selfridge Hangar # 6.

In early December 1947, Gen. Curtis LeMay asked for an update on the flying saucer investigation.

Air Force General Curtis LeMay presented a pre-invasion bombing plan to Kennedy in September, while spy flights and minor military harassment from US forces at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base were the subject of continual Cuban diplomatic complaints to the US government.

But SAC did more than just provide a nuclear option during the Korean War, It also deployed four B-29 bomber wings that were used in tactical operations against enemy forces and logistics All of this led LeMay to express concern that “ too many splinters were being whittled off the stick ”, preventing him from being able to carry out his primary mission of strategic deterrence.

LeMay loaned out facilities of Strategic Air Command bases for the SCCA's use ; the SCCA relied heavily on these venues during the early and mid 1950s during the transition from street racing to permanent circuits.

LeMay attended Columbus public schools, graduating from Columbus South High School, and studied civil engineering at Ohio State University.

In January 1945 LeMay was transferred from China to relieve Brig.

A " LeMay Bombing Leaflet " from the war, which warned Japanese civilians that " Unfortunately, bombs have no eyes.

When LeMay took over command of SAC, it consisted of little more than a few understaffed B-29 bombardment groups left over from World War II.

LeMay became aware that the new single sideband ( SSB ) technology offered a big advantage over amplitude modulation ( AM ) for SAC aircraft operating long distances from their bases.

The memorandum from LeMay, Chief of Staff, USAF, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, January 4, 1964, illustrates LeMay's reasons for keeping bomber forces alongside ballistic missiles: " It is important to recognize, however, that ballistic missile forces represent both the U. S. and Soviet potential for strategic nuclear warfare at the highest, most indiscriminate level, and at a level least susceptible to control.

The April 25, 1988 issue of The New Yorker carried an interview with retired Air Force Reserve Major General and former US Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater, who said he repeatedly asked his friend General LeMay if he ( Goldwater ) might have access to the secret " Blue Room " at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, alleged by numerous Goldwater constituents to contain UFO evidence.

LeMay advanced from captain to brigadier general in less than four years and by 1944 was a major general in the Army Air Forces.

Thus, no serious effort was ever made to promote LeMay to the rank of General of the Air Force, and the matter was eventually dropped after his retirement from active service in 1965.

LeMay received recognition for his work from thirteen countries, receiving twenty-two medals and decorations.

After six weeks of further attempts at precision bombing, LeMay acceded to command pressures for area bombing and switched in March to mass firebombing attacks by night from low level.

The LeMay Group is interpreted to be an accretionary prism that was built out from the west ( fore-arc ) side of a long-lived magmatic arc, the roots of which are now exposed on the Antarctic Peninsula, between Early Jurassic and Paleocene times, when subduction ceased.

By then, Arnold, impatient with Wolfe ’ s progress, had replaced him temporarily with Brigadier General LaVern G. Saunders, until Major General Curtis E. LeMay could arrive from Europe to assume permanent command.

LeMay soon concluded that the techniques and tactics developed for use in Europe against the Luftwaffe were unsuitable against Japan.

LeMay commanded subsequent B-29 Superfortress combat operations against Japan, including massive incendiary attacks on 64 Japanese cities.

Precise figures are not available, but the fire-bombing campaign against Japan, directed by LeMay between March 1945 and the Japanese surrender in August 1945, may have killed more than 500, 000 Japanese civilians and left five million homeless.

Since fighter opposition was minimal over Japan in late 1944, many of the Army Air Force leadership — most notably Curtis LeMay, commander of the XXI Bomber Command — felt that a ( lighter ) faster bomber would better evade Japanese flak.

Concerned about the relative failure of the B-29 offensive to deal any crippling blows to Japan, General LeMay issued a new directive on 19 February.