Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 53

Nathan F(arragut) Twining

Aviator, born in Monroe, Wisconsin, USA. He trained at West Point and served eight years in the infantry before transferring to the air service. In World War 2, he took command of the newly-formed 13th Air Force in the Southwest Pacific (1942), and in 1944 went to the Mediterranean as commander of the 15th Air Force, which carried out the famous Ploesti oilfield raids under his direction. He returned to the Pacific in August 1945 to command the 20th Air Force in the final phase of the air offensive against Japan. He ended a long service career as chairman of the joint chiefs-of-staff (1957–60).

Nathan Farragut Twining
October 11, 1897 - March 29, 1982

General Nathan F. Twining, USAF, (Ret.)
Place of birth Monroe, Wisconsin, in 1897
Place of death Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
Allegiance USAF
Years of service 1919-1960
Rank General
Commands Chief of Staff of the USAF
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Nathan Farragut Twining (October 11, 1897 - March 29, 1982) was a United States Air Force general.

After graduating in 1918 and serving in the infantry for three years, he transferred to the Air Service.

In January 1943, he assumed command of the Thirteenth Air Force, and that same November he traveled across the world to take over the Fifteenth Air Force from Jimmy Doolittle. He returned to the States where he was named commander of the Air Materiel Command, and in 1947 he took over Alaskan Air Command.

After three years there he was set to retire as a Lieutenant General, but when Muir Fairchild, the vice chief of staff, died unexpectedly of a heart attack, Twining was elevated to full general and named his successor.

General Twining died on March 29, 1982 at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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