American
 officers  |  US Army officers  | 
home
US Army Air
Force Officers
1939-1945
Dates: day-month-year, so 10.08.1909 is August 10, 1909. Abbreviations and
explanations can be found at the help page.
Abbreviations for the American States are: 
AL, Alabama 
AK,
Alaska  AR,
Arkansas  AZ,
Arizona  CA,
California  CO, Colorado 
CT,
Connecticut  DE,
Delaware  DC,
District of Columbia  FL,
Florida  GA,
Georgia  HI,
Hawaii  IA,
Iowa  ID,
Idaho  IL,
Illinois  IN,
Indiana  KS,
Kansas  KY,
Kentucky  LA,
Louisiana  MA,
Massachusetts  MD,
Maryland  ME,
Maine  MI,
Michigan  MN,
Minnesota  MO,
Missouri  MS,
Mississippi  MT,
Montana  NC,
North Carolina  ND,
North Dakota  NE,
Nebraska  NH,
New Hampshire  NJ,
New Jersey  NM,
New Mexico  NY,
New York  NV,
Nevada  OH,
Ohio  OK,
Oklahoma  OR,
Oregon  PA,
Pennsylvania  RI,
Rhode Island  SC,
South Carolina  SD,
South Dakota  TN,
Tennesee  TX,
Texas  UT,
Utah  VA,
Virginia  VT,
Vermont  WA,
Washington  WI,
Wisconsin  WV,
West Virginia  WY,
Wyoming
A 
B  C 
D  E 
F  G 
H  I 
J  K 
L  M 
N  O 
P  Q 
R  S 
T  U 
V  W 
X  Y 
Z
| S |  |  |  | 
| Schweizer
  Jr., John Mel
 
   
 biography
 
 | 26.03.1906 Los Angeles, CA
 -
 22.01.1996
 Camarillo, CA
 
 | 
    
      | Col. 
 | ? 
 |  
      | Brig.Gen. 
 | ? (retd ?) |  |  | 
| Sweeney, Charles William
 
    
     
     Son of a plumber.
 Married Dorothy W. Sweeney (divorced); three sons, seven daughters.
 
 Obituary
 
 | 27.12.1919 Lowell, MA
 -
 16.07.2004
 Boston, MA
 
 | 
    
      | Cadet 
 | 28.04.1941 
 |  
      | 2nd Lt. 
 | 12.1941 
 |  
      | 1st Lt. 
 | ? |  
      | Capt. 
 | 1943? 
 |  
      | Maj. 
 | 1944 
 |  
      | Lt.Col. 
 | ? (discharged
        28.06.1946) 
 |  
      | Col. 
 | ? 
 |  
      | Brig.Gen. 
 | 06.04.1956 (retd
        27.12.1979) |  
      | Maj.Gen. NG 
 | ? 
 |  
National Defense Medal, American Theater Service
  Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal with two bronze stars, World War II
  Victory Medal, Occupation of Japan Medal, National Defense Service Medal,
  Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Air Force Longevity Medal and the Massachusetts
  Military Service Medal.
|  | SSM 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
|  | AM 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
 Rated as a Command Pilot.
 
 | Education: North Quincey High School (...-1937);
Boston University, MA; Purdue University, IN 
 
He spent much of his career as a co-owner and
operator of a leather brokerage business in Boston, often working with shoe
manufacturers. He was former president of the Boston Boot and Shoe Club, a trade
organization.
| 28.04.1941 
 | 
 | 
 | joined US Army Air
  Corps (aviation cadet) 
 |  
| 12.1941 
 | 
 | 
 | commissioned, Army
  Air Corps 
 |  
| 1941 
 | - 
 | 1943 
 | test pilot, Jefferson
  Proving Grounds, IN 
 |  
| 1943 
 | - 
 | 
 | operations officer
  & test pilot, Eglin Field, FL 
 |  
| 1944? 
 | - 
 | 1944 
 | B-29 pilot instructor
  at Grand Island, NE 
 |  
| 1944 
 | - 
 | 
 | Wendover Field, UT 
 |  
| 04.05.1945 
 | - 
 | 28.06.1946 
 | Commander, 393rd
  Bombardment Squadron (flying B-29s) (US, Mariana Islands, Roswell Air Force
  Base, NM) [flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of
  World War II]
 
 |  
| 21.02.1956 
 | - 
 | (1958) 
 | Wing Commander, 102nd
  Air Defense Wing, in 1958 renamed: 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing 
 |  
| 
 | 
 | 
 | rose
  to the rank of Major-General in the Massachusetts Air National Guard 
 |  Published: War's end (1997)
 
 | 
| Sweeney
  Jr, Walter Campbell
 
   Son of Maj.Gen.
  Walter Campbell Sweeney and Anne Eloise McConnell (1873-1953).
 Married Midge Murray Sweeney (died 1998).
 
 | 23.07.1909 Wheeling, WV
 -
 22.12.1965
 [Arlington
  National Cemetery, VA]
 
 | 
    
      | 2nd Lt. 
 | 12.06.1930
        [O18080] |  
      | 1st Lt. 
 | 01.08.1935 |  
      | Capt. 
 | 06.1940 |  
      | Maj. 
 | 07.1941 |  
      | Lt.Col. 
 | 01.1942 |  
      | Col. 
 | 07.1942 
 |  
      | Brig.Gen. (temp) 
 | ? |  
      | Maj.Gen. (temp) 
 | ? |  
      | Lt.Gen.
        (temp) 
 | ? |  
      | Gen. 
 | 10.1961 (retd 01.08.1965) |  
Rated as a Air Pilot, later Command Pilot.
| .gif) | DSC 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
| army.gif) | DSM 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
|  | SSM 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
|  | LM 
 | ? 
 | 2 x 
 |  
| .gif) | DFC 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
|  | AM 
 | ? 
 | ? 
 |  
 | Education: West Virginia (MA); US Military Academy, West Point
(23.07.1926-06.1930; BS); Infantry School, Company Officers' Course (1933); Air
Corps Primary School (1935); Air Corps Advanced Flying School, Attack Course
(1935) 
 
| 12.06.1930 
 | - 
 | 1934 
 | commissioned,
  Infantry (29th Infantry, Ft Benning, GA) 
 |  
| 01.10.1934 
 | - 
 | ? 
 | primary
  flying school at Randolph Field, TX (seconded to Air Corps) 
 |  
| ? 
 | - 
 | 10.1935 
 | advanced
  flying school at Kelly Field, TX 
 |  
| 29.01.1936 
 | 
 | 
 | transferred
  to the Air Corps 
 |  
| 1936? 
 | - 
 | 06.1939 
 | 8th
  Attack Squadron, 3rd Attack Group, Barksdale Field, LA 
 |  
| 06.1939 
 | - 
 | ? 
 | 5th
  Bomb Group, Hawaii 
 |  
| ? 
 | - 
 | 1942? 
 | CO
  431st Bomb Squadron, 11th Bomb Group, Hawaii 
 |  
| (06.1942) 
 | 
 | 
 | Commander,
  Army AF Trask Group (Battle of Midway) 
 |  
| 07.1942 
 | - 
 | 07.1944 
 | Air Officer for the Theater Group,
  Operations Division of the War Department General Staff in Washington, DC 
 |  
| 07.1944 
 | - 
 | 07.1945 
 | Chief of Staff, later Deputy Commander,
  73rd Bomb Wing (Colorado Springs, CO & the Pacific area) 
 |  
| 07.1945 
 | - 
 | 
 | Director of
  Plans of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Area, Guam 
 |  
| ? 
 | - 
 | 07.1946 
 | member, Joint War Plans Committee for the
Army Air Force (Washington, DC) 
 |  
| 07.1946 
 | - 
 | 10.1947 
 | instructor, National War
  College 
 |  
| 10.1947 
 | - 
 | 1948 
 | Office of the Assistant
Secretary of the Air Force 
 |  
| 1948 
 | - 
 | 04.1953? 
 | director of plans
for the Strategic Air Command (Omaha, NE) 
 |  
| 20.04.1953 
 | - 
 | 20.08.1955 
 | Commander, Fifteenth Air Force
  (March
Air Force Base, CA) [led a trio of Stratojets in history's first non-stop flight of jet
bombers across the Pacific Ocean, 06.1954]
 
 |  
| 08.1955 
 | - 
 | 09.1961 
 | Commander,
  Eighth Air Force (Westover Air Force Base, MA) 
 |  
| 10.1961 
 | - 
 | ? 
 | Commander,
  US Air Force Tactical Air Command (Langley Air Force Base, VA) 
 |  | 
|  |  |  |  | 
A 
B  C 
D  E 
F  G 
H  I 
J  K 
L  M 
N  O 
P  Q 
R  S 
T  U 
V  W 
X  Y 
Z