BRIGADIER GENERAL SIDNEY L. DAVIS

Brigadier General Sidney L. Davis became deputy director of operations, J-3, at Headquarters U.S. Readiness Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Aug. 1, 1976.

General Davis was born in Prestonsburg, Ky., in 1926. In September 1943 he entered the U.S. Navy and participated in amphibious operations at Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Philippines. He was discharged from active duty in April 1946 and entered Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tenn. He is a graduate from the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College.

In February 1948 he returned to active duty as an aviation cadet in the U.S. Air Force and, in February 1949, received his pilot wings and commission as a second lieutenant at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz. He then was assigned as an F-51 pilot with the 1st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, N.C. In July 1949 he was transferred to Langley Air Force Base, Va., where he served as a B-26 tactical reconnaissance pilot.

General Davis was transferred in July 1950 to Japan as a B-26 pilot in the 8th Bombardment Squadron. During the Korean War, he flew 65 combat missions. In April 1951, he returned to Langley Air Force Base, Va., as a combat crew instructor and later was operations officer with the 345th Bombardment Group. From March 1955 to September 1957, he served in Greece with American Embassy duty in Athens.

General Davis next was assigned to the 3561st Pilot Training Squadron, Webb Air Force Base, Texas, where he served first as section commander and later as assistant operations officer. He entered the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in September 1960. After graduation in June 1961, he was assigned as an operations officer with the 30th Air Division, Truax Field, Wis.

From August 1962 to July 1965, General Davis served with the 559th Tactical Fighter Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., as a flight commander and operations officer flying the F-84F and F-4C.

General Davis next served as air liaison officer with the 82d Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C. During this assignment, he went on temporary duty to Thailand and flew 42 combat missions with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. He returned to the United States in August 1967 and entered the Air War College. After graduation in July 1968, he returned to Southeast Asia as executive officer with the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron and later became commander of the 558th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam, and flew an additional 120 combat missions in the F-4.

In April 1969 General Davis was reassigned to Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va., where he became chief of the Tactical Air Control Division and director of the Sensor Exploitation Task Croup.

General Davis next was assigned to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., in February 1971, where he served as vice commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing. In April 1972 he was transferred to MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., where he assumed command of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing. In March 1974 he was named assistant deputy chief of staff, operations for control and support, Tactical. Air Command, at Langley Air Force Base.

General Davis became deputy commander of the 5th Allied Tactical Air Force, with headquarters at Vicenza, Italy, in August 1975.

He is a command pilot with more than 6,000 flying hours and wears the Senior Parachutist Badge. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 14 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal.

He was promoted to the grade of brigadier general on Sept. 1, 1974, with date of rank Aug. 8, 1974.

(Current as of October 1976)