Brig. Gen. Ned Schramm was born in Burlington, Iowa, August 23, 1896. He enlisted in the Quartermaster Reserve Corps as a sergeant on Sept. 28, 1917, and was assigned to Camp Lewis, Wash. He later transferred to the Aviation Section of the Signal Reserve Corps, and was sent to Berkeley, Calif., in March 1918 for flight instruction.
On Oct. 25, 1918, he was appointed a second lieutenant (temporary), in the Air Service. He served at Mather and Rockwell fields, Calif., successively, until November 1919, when he went to March Field, Calif., as a flying instructor.
On July 1, 1920, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Service of the Regular Army. He returned to Mather Field in August 1921 and served there as supply officer of the 9th Squadron and personnel adjutant. In July 1922 he was transferred to Camp Lewis, Wash., as instructor and supply officer with the Air Service detachment there. He was again sent to Mather Field in September 1922 and served there as engineering and police officer.
In February 1923 he went to Luke Field, Hawaii, and joined the 23rd Bombardment Squadron as operations officer. In July 1924 he was designated operations and engineering officer of the 6th Pursuit Squadron at Luke Field. He returned to the United States in January 1926 and was assigned to the Rockwell Air Intermediate Depot at Coronado, Calif., as depot supply officer.
Kelly Field, Texas, was his next assignment, and he reported for duty there as assistant engineering officer of the 41st School Squadron in November 1926. He became an instructor at Kelly Field in February 1927, serving until September of that year when he was sent to March Field, Calif., as squadron engineering officer of the 53rd School Squadron.
He became a flying instructor at March Field in October 1927, and returned to Kelly Field as a flying instructor in November 1929. He was designated operations officer of the 40th School Squadron there in July 1930. He was transferred to Randolph Field, Texas, in August 1931 as a flying instructor and became flight commander in July 1933.
He was assigned to the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell, Field, Ala., in August 1934 and graduated in June 1935. The following month he reported to Langley Field, Va., as commanding officer of the 37th Attack Squadron. In June 1936 he was detailed to the Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood Arsenal, Md., and graduated the following month.
He returned to Langley Field, Va., as commanding officer of the 36th Pursuit Squadron, which was redesignated the 36th Pursuit Group in February 1940. In January 1941, he was transferred with the 36th Pursuit Group to Losey Field, Ponce Air Base, Puerto Rico. From June 1941 to January 1943, he commanded simultaneously the Puerto Rico Region and the VI Fighter Command at Losey Field, Borinquen Field, and Henry Barracks, successively. He then served as commanding general of the VI Fighter Command, only, at Henry Barracks, Puerto Rico.
He returned to the United States in May 1943 and became wing commander of the San Francisco Defense Wing, later redesignated San Francisco Fighter Wing, at San Francisco, Calif. In November 1943 he was assigned to the 71st Fighter Wing at March Field, Calif., and later accompanied that wing to the European theater of operations.
In July 1944 he became commanding general of the IX Air Defense Command, with station in England. The following November he was announced as commanding the 71st Fighter Wing and deputy commander for operations of the First Tactical Air Force at that same station.
In September 1945 he was appointed commanding general of the 64th Fighter Wing, and returned to the United States in May 1946, when he was assigned to Army Air Forces headquarters. On July 31, 1946, he was named deputy commander and chief of staff of the Fourth Air Force at Hamilton Field, Calif., and in January 1949 became vice commander of the Fourth Air Force.
General Schramm has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, and Commendation Ribbon. He also holds the Order of Polonia Restituta from Poland and both the Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre with Palm of France. He is rated a Command Pilot, Combat Observer and Aircraft Observer.
PROMOTIONS
Sergeant, Quartermaster Enlisted Reserve Corps, and Private First Class, Aviation Section, Signal Corps, September 28, 1917, to October 24, 1918; Second Lieutenant, Air Service U.S.A., October 25, 1918, to September 17, 1920; Second Lieutenant, Air Service, July 1, 1920; Captain, October 1, 1934; Major (temporary), March 14, 1936, to June 16, 1936; Major (temporary), October 12, 1937; Major, July 1, 1940; Lieutenant Colonel (temporary), July 15, 1941; Lieutenant Colonel, A.U.S., September 15, 1941; Colonel, A.U.S., February 1, 1942; Colonel, A.U.S. (Air Corps), March 1, 1942; Lieutenant Colonel, December 11, 1942; Brigadier General, A.U.S., June 25, 1943; Colonel, April 2, 1948; retired with rank of Brigadier General, June 30, 1949.
(Current as of October 2024)