BRIGADIER GENERAL BOYD HUBBARD JR. Boyd Hubbard Jr. was born in Adair, Iowa in 1912. His father practiced dentistry in Adair for more than 40 years, retiring to Hollywood, Calif., in 1936. The doctor passed away in 1958 at age 68 and the general's mother a year later. Hubbard graduated from Adair High School in 1929 and entered Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. He graduated in 1933, with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. Active in the ROTC program while attending college, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Engineer Corps Reserve in September 1933 at the age of 21. He is a member of Beta Theta Pi social fraternity and Phi Mu Alpha and Scabbard & Blade. His college sweetheart, Miss Ada Miller, a member of Pi Beta Phi, became his wife in 1936 after he completed his two years as a flying cadet. Lieutenant Hubbard entered active military service as a flying cadet in 1934 and was assigned to Randolph Field, Texas for flight training, and later to Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas, graduating as a pilot in February 1935. At present, he is a command pilot, with a total of nearly 6,000 hours of flying in many types of aircraft over the past 25 years. Lieutenant Hubbard's first assignment after pilot graduation was to March Air Force Base, Calif., as a flying cadet. He remained there for five years with the l7th and 19th Bomb Groups and later as aide to Brigadier General Jacob E. Fickel. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in February 1936 and received a regular appointment in the Army Air Corps in October of that year through competitive examinations. In 1941, Captain Hubbard was ordered to Hawaii where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for participation in the two flights of B-17s to the Philippines prior to World War II. From Dec. 16, 1941, Major Hubbard served as G-2 of the Hawaiian Air Force under General Clarence Tinker until after the Battle of Midway. Returning to the United States, he was assigned to the Operations Division as a member of the War Department General Staff in 1942. For the next two years while with the General Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Hubbard's duties took him to many overseas theaters. During this period, he participated in the Sicilian invasion as a member of General Truescott's staff with the 3d Division. In mid-1944, Colonel Hubbard was assigned as commander of the 50lst Heavy Bomber Group (B-29) and upon completion of training, the 501st of General Frank Armstrong's 315th Wing, joined the 20th Air Force at Guam in the aerial assault on Japan. He was awarded the Legion of Merit, oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal. In addition, his group earned the Distinguished Unit Citation for its outstanding bombing results. Following World War II, Colonel Hubbard returned to the United States to become deputy chief of staff for personnel and administration and later as chief of staff, Fourth Air Force, Hamilton Field, Calif. Here, he suffered the loss of his wife after a long illness. In 1948 Colonel Hubbard attended the Air War College. After completing the course, he stayed on as instructor, a job he held until the Korean conflict. During this assignment he met and married his present wife. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, he was again on his way overseas to become deputy for intelligence to General Earle E. Partridge, Fifth Air Force, Korea. He was transferred to northern Japan in 1951 as commander of the 39th Air Division, Air Defense. He returned to the United States in 1952 to attend the National War College in Washington, D.C., where he became a member of the faculty after graduation. After a four-year tour with the National War College, Colonel Hubbard was assigned to Chanute Air Force Base, Ill., as deputy base commander. He later was transferred to Laredo Air Force Base, Texas, as base commander. Following an impressive tour at Laredo, Colonel Hubbard was again ordered overseas to Saudi Arabia as deputy commander of the 2d Air Division, where he received his promotion to brigadier general in February 1961. He assumed command of Tactical Air Command's 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Aug. 1, 1961. General Hubbard's primary responsibility as wing commander is the training of combat ready fighter pilots. With mission aircraft of F-100 Super Sabres and F-105 Thunderchiefs, the 4520th puts the "platinum finish" on jet-fighter pilots. This end product of fighter schooling, designed to insure a high degree of aircraft in all phases of fighter weapon employment, finds the pilot proficient upon graduation in air-to-air gunnery, rocketry, conventional and nuclear bombing, aeria1 refueling, and combat navigation. Virtually every fighter pilot and ace to fly MIG Alley during the Korean Conflict and establishing a "kill" ratio of 14 to 1, received final combat pilot training at Nellis Air Force Base. EDUCATION Adair High School, Adair, Iowa, 1929 Iowa State College, Aimas, Iowa., bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, 1933 Basic pilot training, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, 1935 Advanced pilot training, Kelly Field, Texas, 1935 Air War College, 1949 National War College, 1953 EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION Rank Temporary Permanent Second lieutenant Engineer Corps Sep. 12, 1933 Second lieutenant Air Corps Feb. 29, 1936 Oct. 1, 1936 First lieutenant Oct. 1, 1939; Oct. 1, 1939 Captain Sept. 9, 1940; Oct. 1, 1946 Major Dec. 5, 1941 Lieutenant colonel March 1, 1942; July 1, 1948 Colonel Aug. 16, 1943; July 27, 1950 Brigadier general Feb. 20, 1961 SERVICE DATES Sep 1933 - Feb 1934 Reserve U.S. Army Engineer Corps Feb 1934 - Feb 1935 flying cadet, pilot training, Randolph and Kelly fields, Texas Feb 1935 - Aug 1942 March Field, Calif., and Hawaii Aug 1942 - Jul 1944 DPD, War Department General Staff, Washington, D.C. Jul 1944 - Oct 1945 commander, 501st (B-29) Group, Guam Aug 1950 - Nov 1951 deputy for intelligence, Korea Nov 1951 - Jun 1952 commander, 39th Air Division (Defense), Japan Jun 1952 - Jun 1956 student and faculty, National War College Jun 1956 - Sep 1957 deputy wing Commander, 3345th Technical Training Wing, Chanute Air Force Base, Ill. Sept 1957 Jul 1959 wing commander, 3640th Pilot Training Wing, Laredo Air Force Base, Texas Aug 1959 - Jul 1961 deputy commander, Headquarters 2d Air Division Dhahran Airfield, Saudi Arabia Aug 1961 - present wing commander, 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing (Tactical Fighter), Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. DECORATIONS AND MEDALS Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster Bronze Star Medal Air Medal Commendation Medal, Army Foreign Services clasp European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal with arrowhead American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal American Defense Service Medal with star Korean Service Medal with five stars Distinguished Unit Badge Republic of Korea, Presidential Unit Citation National Defense Service Medal Air Force Longevity Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES In 1941, General Hubbard, (then captain) was flying a B-18 on instruments in weather at night at 10,000 feet in the vicinity of Hilo along the north shore of the island of Hawaii, when a main bearing failure caused the loss of one engine. Although all possible fuel and cargo was jettisoned, the aircraft was too heavily loaded to maintain altitude on one engine. In attempting to reach a field on the northwest tip of the island by holding altitude insofar as possible with maximum power and optimum airspeed, contact was made with trees while still on instruments and the aircraft crash landed on the side of Mount Mauna Kea, at 3,500 feet. Only minor injuries were sustained by the general and two of the other five in the crew. There were no navigational aids in the area and although only 13 miles from the auxiliary field, it took a day and a half for the rescue party to reach them and another day and a half to get out. There were 2,500 foot vertical ravines only one quarter and one half miles on either side of the crash. In 1945 (then Colonel) Hubbard flew the lead aircraft on the first five missions of the precision radar equipped 315th B-29 Wing and obtained radar bombing results against targets in Japan, at night and in weather, exceeding those of daylight precision attacks. His B-29 Group placed 6 million pounds of TNT on primary targets without the loss of an aircraft. (Current as of July 1962)