MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT W. MANSS

Major General Robert William Manss is the judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He acts as legal adviser to the chief of staff and exercises general supervision over the administration of military justice and civil law matters pertaining to the Air Force.

General Manss was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1909. He graduated from Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, in 1926 and entered the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1930 with a bachelor of arts degree. Upon graduation in 1933 from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor of laws degree, he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1933 and practiced law in Cincinnati until he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942.

Upon completion of the Army Air Corps Officers Candidate School at Miami Beach, Fla. in 1942, General Manss was assigned to the 56th Bombardment Squadron, Key Field, Miss. After attending the Army Air Corps Intelligence School, he was assigned in 1944 as assistant intelligence officer, 404th Fighter Group, and served in the European Theater of Operations until 1946, becoming the group intelligence officer and earning the Bronze Star Medal.

Upon being released from active military duty in early 1946, he returned to his private law practice. In July 1947, he was appointed to a Regular Air Force commission and assigned to Headquarters Air Materiel Command, now Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he was chief, Military Affairs and Military Justice Division, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, until September 1952.

From 1952 to 1955, General Manss was assigned to Northeast Air Command Headquarters as staff judge advocate at Pepperrell Air Base, Newfoundland. He was transferred to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Air Force, in 1955 and, in 1956, became chief, Tax and Litigation Division, in that office. He was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal on completion of this assignment.

In 1959 he became the Staff Judge Advocate, Air Research and Development Command, now Air Force Systems Command, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. He served in this capacity until April 1963, when he was again assigned to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Air Force, this time as the assistant judge advocate general.

Effective Oct. 1, 1964, General Manss was appointed by the president as the judge advocate general, U.S. Air Force, with the grade of major general.

His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal.

General Manss is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Inter-American Bar Association, the Judge Advocates Association, Turkish-American Lawyers Association, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity and the Theta Delta Chi Fraternity.

(Current as of March 15, 1968)