Air Force Promotes First Ever Black General Officer, Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

Oct. 27, 1954

Benjamin O. Davis Jr., son of the first black general officer in the U.S. Army, becomes the first black general officer in the U.S. Air Force. He retires Jan. 31, 1970, as a lieutenant general, and is advanced to general on Dec. 9, 1998, by President Bill Clinton.

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