BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN A. PECHULS Brigadier General John A. Pechuls was born in Rumford, Maine, in 1912. He graduated from Huntington Park Union High School, Huntington Park, Calif., in 1930, entered Washington State University in 1931 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1935. Commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and assigned to the inactive Infantry Reserve shortly after graduating from the university, he applied and qualified for flying training with the Army Air Corps. General Pechuls completed flying training at Randolph and Kelly fields, Texas, and received his pilot's wings at Kelly in June 1936. His first active duty assignment was with the 22nd Observation Squadron at Brooks Field, Texas. After a year at Brooks, he went to Moffett Field, Calif., where he was named base engineering officer. He remained in the California area for the next six years, serving as base engineering officer at Hamilton Field from September 1940 to September 1942, and as chief of maintenance, Air Service Command Headquarters, Sacramento, Calif., from September 1942 until January 1943. In January 1943 General Pechuls was appointed commander of the Sub Depot at Salina, Kan., and a year later transferred to Tinker Field, Okla., where he served as assistant director, Maintenance-Engineering, Air Service Command. He was named director of maintenance-engineering, Galena Air Service Command Depot, Spokane, Wash., in May 1944. General Pechuls was assigned a special mission overseas in May 1945 when he was named assistant chief of maintenance and chief air service command, Mediterranean Theater of Operations. After six months in the Mediterranean Theater he returned to the United States in November 1945 as base commander of the Air Service Command's Tinker Field, Okla. He was enrolled in the first class of the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Va., in January 1947. Completing studies at the staff college in June of the same year he was appointed assistant chief of staff, Maintenance, Fifteenth Air Force, at Colorado Springs, Colo. In September 1948 General Pechuls joined the JUSMAAG staff at Nanking, China, where he served as deputy for materiel of the Air Force Section. He was reassigned to Headquarters Far East Air Force as chief of the Maintenance Division and assistant to the assistant chief of staff, Materiel in January 1949. In Oct. 1 of that year he was appointed commander of the 13th Maintenance Group, Far East Air Materiel Command Headquarters at Tachikawa, Japan. General Pechuls returned to the United States in August 1950 as a student in the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. He completed studies at the industrial college in June 1951 and became chief of the Aircraft Division, Directorate of Maintenance, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He was named director of maintenance engineering for Headquarters U.S. Air Force in December 1953. From September 1954 to July 1957 General Pechuls was director of maintenance at Sacramento Air Materiel Area, Sacramento, Calif. In 1957 he became deputy commander, Mobile Air Materiel Area, Brookley Air Force Base, Ala. He remained with the Mobile Air Materiel Area Headquarters until June 1959 when he joined Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany, and served there as deputy chief of staff, Materiel, until arriving at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, for his current assignment as deputy chief of staff, Materiel, Headquarters Air Training Command, in July 1963. (Up to date as of November 1963)