MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT B. LANDRY

Robert Broussard Landry was born in New Orleans, La., in 1909. He graduated from Jesuit High School in 1927 and attended Tulane University the year following. In 1928 he entered the U.S. Military Academy and was appointed a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army on graduation in June 1932.

Initially assigned to the Infantry, he entered flying training after two years of duty as a company commander and received his pilot rating at Kelly Field, Texas in February 1935. Transferred to the Air Corps, his first flying assignment was with the 16th Pursuit Group at Albrook Field, Canal Zone.

After two years in the Canal Zone, General Landry returned to the United States and was assigned to the 20th Pursuit Group at Barksdale Field, La., until 1940 when he went to Hawaii to become an operations officer and flying aide under Major General Frederick L. Martin, commanding general of the Hawaiian Air Force, holding these two posts until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941 when he was made executive officer of the Hawaiian Interceptor Command at Honolulu.

General Landry was transferred to England in early 1942 during the build-up days of the Eighth Air Force. Here he served successively as chief of combat operations of the 8th Fighter Command; commanding officer of the 56th Fighter Group; director of fighters, Eighth Air Force; executive officer, 93rd Combat Wing (Heavy); and commanding officer, 493rd Bomb Group, Heavy. Following the Normandy invasion, he became director of operations, Air Staff, SHAEF at Frankfurt, Germany.

At the close of the war, General Landry was reassigned to the United States for duties as a member of the joint operations review board of the Army and Navy Staff College, and as an instructor at the National War College. Two years later, on Aug. 1, 1947, he was named executive officer to the chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

From February 1948 to February 1953, General Landry served as Air Force aide to the president of the United States and in this capacity represented the Air Force in the White House and served as an informal consultant to the president on Air Force matters.

Following duty with the president, General Landry was deputy commander of the Second Air Force, Strategic Air Command, at Barksdale Air Force Base until Feb. 1, 1955 when he assumed command of the Fourth Air Force at Hamilton Air Force Base, Calif.

He has served in his current position as assistant deputy chief of staff for personnel, Headquarters U.S. Air Force since July 1, 1957.

Rated a command pilot, General Landry has acquired more than 6,000 flying hours in jet and conventional aircraft. During his World War II service in the European theater he flew a total of 32 combat missions in P-47 fighters and B-17 bombers.

The son of Luke Valcour and Josephine Scharpe Landry of New Orleans, La., the general is a direct descendent of Pierre Joseph Landry, a captain in the Louisiana Militia during the War of 1812.

INTERESTS
Likes golf - hunting - outdoor activities.
Enjoys woodworking which has been a long-time interest in the Landry family. A collection of wood carvings made by Pierre Joseph Landry, 1770-1843, is on display at the Louisiana State Museum. See August 1957 issue of Antiques magazine for article by Lester Burbank Bridaham on Pierre Josephy Landry.
Presbyterian.

OPINIONS, TASTES AND EVALUATIONS
Stresses forthrightness and integrity in evaluating people.
"If a job has to be done, do it as best as yon can," reflects his personal philosophy.