Maj. Gen. Warner E. Newby commands the Space and Missile Test Center, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SAMTEC manages the Research and development launches of military space and ballistic missile systems and operates the Department of Defense Western Test Range.
General Newby was born in 1919, in Reedley, Calif., and graduated from Reedley High School. He graduated from Reedley Junior College in 1940, the University of California at Santa Barbara with a bachelor of arts degree in 1948, and the Air War College in 1958. He attended the Harvard Advanced Management Program in 1965.
He entered aviation cadet pilot training in 1941. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserve upon graduation from flying school at Luke Field, Ariz., in March 1942.
During World War II he was assigned to the 81st Bombardment Squadron, 12th Bombardment Group, as a B-25 pilot and was transferred to the Middle East with the group in July 1942, participating in campaigns in the Middle East and North Africa.
In February 1943 he was assigned as Depot Engineering Officer in the 26th Air Depot Group at Deversoir, Egypt. He returned to the United States in October 1943, flying a German Junkers-88 from Cairo, Egypt, to Wright Field, Ohio. He was assigned to the Flight Test Division as chief of the Bomber Flight Test Branch and later was chief of the Accelerated Service Test Branch, performing experimental and service test flights. By 1946, he had flown 96 different types of U.S. and foreign aircraft.
In August 1946 General Newby returned to civilian life and entered the University of California at Santa Barbara, from which he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1948. For the next three years, he served on the staff at Lodi Union High School, Lodi, Calif., as an instructor and chairman of the Industrial Education Department.
During the Korean War, he returned to active duty in June 1951 and served at McClellan Air Force Base, Calif., as chief of Management Engineering, 22d Air Materiel Area. In December 1951, he was assigned to the Far East Air Forces in the Office of the Inspector General as chief of the Materiel Inspection Division. General Newby was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force between June 1954 and August 1957, with duties involving management of industrial facilities, industrial planning, materiel programming, and procurement and production, in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Systems and Logistics.
He was assigned as Air Force plant representative at the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kan., in July 1958, following graduation from the Air War College. During the next four years, he was involved in the development, test, and production of nearly half the B-52 force. From September 1962 to August 1968, he served in key staff positions at Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Defense Supply Agency, and again on the Air Staff, involved predominantly in procurement, system acquisition, and logistics management. In August 1968 he was assigned to the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as deputy director for logistics (J-4).
In September 1969 General Newby assumed command of the Air Force Systems Command Contract Management Division, with headquarters in Los Angeles, Calif. He became systems program director, deputy for the C-5 at Aeronautical Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in August 1970. From July 1973 to April 1975, General Newby served as deputy chief of staff for logistics at Military Airlift Command headquarters, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
General Newby assumed command of the Space and Missile Test Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in June 1975.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Joint Services Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation Emblem, and Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon.
He was promoted to the grade of major general effective April 24, 1974, with date of rank July 1, 1971.
(Current as of Sept. 1, 1975)