America’s longest serving Air Force Chief.
Hoyt S. Vandenberg was born in Milwaukee on Jan. 24, 1899. In high school he was a good athlete but a mediocre student; nonetheless, he received an appointment to West Point. Upon graduation he opted for the Air Service.
Vandenberg did well in pilot training, and for the next decade flew fighters. He was an outstanding “stick” and by 1934 had amassed over 3,000 flying hours. He then began a series of educational assignments at the Air Corps Tactical School, the Command and General Staff School, and the Army War College.
Upon graduating from the War College in 1939, he was assigned to the Air Staff. He did extremely well and in just two years rose from captain to colonel.
During the World War II Vandenberg served as a staff officer, planner, diplomat, and then commander of the Ninth Air Force during the Army’s drive across France and Germany. With over 4,000 aircraft and 200,000 personnel, it was the largest tactical air unit in history. By the end of the war Van, as he was often called, was a lieutenant general.
Upon returning to the Air Staff, Vandenberg studied atomic weapons, and his resultant memo proposed an “atomic strike force,” an elite unit equipped with the best aircraft, crews, equipment, and training. This memo was the blueprint for the formation of Strategic Air Command.
After a stint as the director of Central Intelligence, Vandenberg was named deputy commander of the Army Air Forces and promoted to general. At age 48, he was the second-youngest four-star general in American history till that time—only Ulysses S. Grant had advanced more rapidly.
When Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz retired, Vandenberg took his place as the second-ever Air Force Chief of Staff. He was immediately confronted by the Berlin crisis. The Soviets blockaded the city, and for the next nine months the the U.S. led a continuous airlift operation that supplied Berliners with everything needed, from food to medical supplies to coal until the Soviets relented in May 1949. The Berlin Airlift was a great triumph for the West, achieved by airpower without a shot being fired.
Vandenberg faced other challenges. The rapid demobilization after the war left the services devastated, and as is often the case during fiscal austerity, interservice rivalry abounded. The conflict between the Air Force and Navy was especially fierce as they jousted over whether the nation should buy more bombers or more aircraft carriers. In the end, the country did both.
In June 1950 North Korean troops exploded across the 38th Parallel.
It was assumed the Soviets were behind the invasion and that this attack was a feint, with the real danger in Europe. This belief was to shape U.S. policy over the next three years.
Neither the South Koreans nor the Americans were ready for the North Korean onslaught. Yet, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo remained confident he could defeat them, and soon launched his brilliant Inchon campaign. The North Koreans were routed, and MacArthur received permission to advance into North Korea. This led to Chinese intervention.
To MacArthur, the Chinese had snatched victory from his grasp. He was angry and made several inopportune public statements before being fired by the President. The resulting Senate hearings were exciting, but little changed in Korea. Vandenberg, like most American leaders, did not want to widen the war with attacks on China or Russia.
For the next two years the war settled into a slugging match as both sides dug in across a rugged no-man’s land. The Air Force flew thousands of interdiction and close air support sorties, while also winning air superiority over the entire peninsula.
Vandenberg’s views on the war evolved after 1950. He was opposed to widening the war during the MacArthur hearings, but as the war dragged on, he agreed with his uniformed colleagues that it was time to consider the use of atomic weapons. Threats of escalation were effective, and an armistice was signed in July 1953.
Hoyt Vandenberg’s career was marked by sustained and quiet competence. He was an outstanding aviator and junior officer, while serving in a number of command and staff positions. As Air Force Chief of Staff—serving there longer than any other Chief—he encountered and overcame enormous hurdles.
He was unusually successful at arguing his position within the joint environment. His ability to pick quality subordinates, such as Curtis LeMay, Lauris Norstad, and Nate Twining, was one of his greatest strengths. He also moved the Air Force into modern technology, pushing for rocket development, computers, thermonuclear experimentation, and an all-jet inventory. A man of vision, Vandenberg proved the ideal choice for building a newly independent Air Force. Vandenberg died of cancer six months after retirement, so he never wrote his memoirs.
“Hoyt S. Vandenberg: The Life of a General” (Indiana, 1989) by Phillip S. Meilinger, is the only biography ever written about the second CSAF.