MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM W. WISMAN

Major General William Woodrow Wisman is chief, Special Project Office, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium.

General Wisman was born in Augusta, Kan., in 1918. He moved with his parents, at an early age, to Ohio and graduated from Sunsbury High School at Beallsville, Ohio, in 1936. In November 1940 he entered military service from Ohio State University as an aviation cadet. He received flight training at Randolph Field, Texas, and Barksdale Field, La., and graduated in July 1941 with a commission as second lieutenant.

His first assignment was flying new aircraft from factories on the United States West Coast to various locations throughout the world. In January 1944 he was ordered to the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations where he flew the "Hump" route.

He returned to the United States in November 1946 and was assigned to the North Atlantic Division of the Air Transport Command as chief pilot. He attended the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Field, Ala., in 1948. He then was assigned to Strategic Air Command's 93d Bombardment Wing at Castle Air Force Base, Calif., from January 1949 through December 1953, where he served as a tactical squadron commander, director of materiel, base commander, and deputy wing commander.

In January 1954 General Wisman was ordered to the 9th Bombardment Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, where he served for three years as base commander then later deputy wing commander. In July 1956 he entered the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

In July 1957 General Wisman was assigned to Headquarters Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., where he served for five years in the SAC underground command post as chief operational controller for the commander in chief. In August 1962 he was transferred to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, for duty as commander of the 819th Strategic Aerospace Division.

In April 1964 General Wisman was transferred to the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Washington, D.C., as deputy director for operations with the National Military Command System. In this position, he was in charge of the national command and control centers that serve the White House and the Department of Defense. In August 1968 he was assigned as the deputy chief of staff for plans and programs for the North American Air Defense Command with headquarters at Ent Air Force Base, Colo. He was responsible for the development of concepts and basic objectives for air defense, for the preparation of plans and studies reflecting deployment and operational use of NORAD forces, and for the modernization of the Cheyenne Mountain underground command post.

General Wisman joined Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium in June 1972 and assumed duties as chief, Special Project Office in May 1973.

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Missileman Badge, and the Republic of China Air Force Wings. He has more than 6,500 flying hours.

He was promoted to the grade of major general effective Sept. 1, 1965, with date of rank Feb. 9, 1961.

(Current as of Jan. 15, 1974)