BRIGADIER GENERAL EDWARD O. MARTIN

Brigadier General Edward O. Martin is commander, 42d Air Division, McCoy Air Force Base, Fla. He is responsible for the performance and readiness of the 306th Bombardment Wing, McCoy Air Force Base; the 19th Bombardment Wing, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.; the 68th Bombardment Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; the 301st Air Refueling Wing, Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio; and the 305th Air Refueling Wing, Grissom Air Force Base, Ind.

General Martin was born in 1918, in Kansas City, Mo., where he attended elementary school and graduated from Rockhurst High School in 1938. He is a graduate of the University of Omaha and has a master's degree from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

General Martin began his military career in April 1943 as an aviation cadet at San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, Texas, and received his pilot wings and commission as second lieutenant in August 1944. From August 1944 to July 1946 he served as a B-26 pilot at Del Rio, Texas; Florence, S.C.; and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

In July 1946 General Martin joined the 441st Troop Carrier Wing at Eschborn Air Base, Germany, where he served as a pilot and personnel officer. He returned to the United States in July 1949 and was assigned to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Forbes Air Force Base, Topeka, Kan. In October 1949 he was assigned as personnel officer with the Second Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, La. From December 1952 to February 1956 he served at Lake Charles Air Force Base, La., as personnel officer, aircraft commander, and squadron commander.

General Martin next was assigned to Headquarters Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., where he assumed duties as chief of the Airmen Retention Branch and then deputy chief, Plans and Programs Division, in the Directorate of Personnel. While in this assignment, he authored the phrase "Peace is our Profession" which was subsequently adopted as Strategic Air Command motto and managed a retention program which produced the highest reenlistment rates known to the Air Force.

His second overseas tour of duty came in July 1959 when he became the deputy commander of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and. the 3960th Combat Support Group. He returned to the United States in August 1961 to serve as chief of Professional Development Division, Directorate of Personnel, Headquarters Fifteenth Air Force at March Air Force Base, Calif.

In July 1964 after nine months of study at the U.S. Naval War College, where he completed the Counterinsurgency Course, General Martin assumed command of the 96th Combat Support Group at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. In May 1966 he was assigned as special assistant to the Second Air Force commander at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and two months later became vice commander.

In May 1967 General Martin assumed command of the 454th Bombardment Wing at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., and one month later he led the wing on its second deployment to the Western Pacific area in support of Southeast Asia operations and returned to Columbus in December 1967. In May 1968 the 454th Wing made its third deployment to the Western Pacific area, its second under the command of General Martin.

He returned to the United States to assume command, in November 1968, of Strategic Air Command's largest bombardment wing, the Second Bombardment Wing, at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. In May 1970 he became deputy director for operations, National Military Command Center, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C. He assisted the Joint Chiefs of Staff by continuously monitoring and evaluating the worldwide situation concerning military/political matters requiring action by the Joint Chiefs of Staff or higher authority.

General Martin was named commander, 42d Air Division, Strategic Air Command, at McCoy Air Force Base, Fla., in August 1971.

He is a command pilot, maintains his proficiency in multijet aircraft, and has more than 6,500 hours of flying time. He is credited with 92 combat missions in Southeast Asia and more than 500 combat hours in the B-52 aircraft. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon.

General Martin's hometown is Kansas City, Mo.

He was promoted to the temporary grade of brigadier general effective May 1, 1970, with date of rank April 22, 1970.

(Current as of Oct. 1, 1971)