MAJOR GENERAL EMMETT B. CASSADY Emmett Buckner Cassadv was born in Gainesville, Texas, in 1909. Since 1927 when he graduated from Gainesville High School, General Cassady has been a part of the air age. That year, his mother, under pressure, purchased a World War I Canuck-type training plane and engaged Wiley Post to instruct Emmett in the art of flying. The aircraft crashed at Hillsboro, Texas two weeks later, with Emmett and a substitute instructor aboard. They were uninjured, but the aircraft was a total wreck. During 1928 he assisted in rebuilding two aircraft and obtained more flying instruction from itinerant barnstorming aviators. In 1929, after very much pressure on his family, another aircraft was purchased - this time a Travelair OX-5 biplane. His older brother George learned first and then taught Emmett. The brothers had less than fifty hours of total flying experience between them when Emmett soloed in April 1929. During 1929 and 1930, General Cassady was co-owner and operator of the Red River Flying Service. During that time he enlisted in the Air Corps Reserve at Hensley Field, Dallas, Texas. General Cassady received his commission as second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in June 1933. He was active in commercial aviation in north and south Texas until he was ordered to active duty with the Air Corps in 1937. General Cassady served at Randolph and Kelly fields, Texas and at Barksdale Field, La. In 1939, General Cassady resigned from active duty and for two years was with Braniff Airlines as a co-pilot. He returned to duty with the Air Corps in February 1941 and since that date has held the following assignments: 1941 - Chief of navigation instruction, Randolph Field, Texas1942 - Aide to commanding general, Gulf Coast Training CenterAide to commanding general, Newfoundland Base CommandDirector of operations, Newfoundland Base Command1943 - Administrative assistant to commanding general, Central Flying Training Command1944-46 - Military air attach to U.S. Embassy, Montevideo, Uruguay1946-48 - Operations officer, executive officer and maintenance officer, Randolph Field, Texas1949 - Deputy commander, Connolly Air Force Base, Texas1950-53 - Chief, air attach branch, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 1953-56 - U.S. air attach to U.S. Embassy, Rome, Italy1956-59 - Director of transportation, Headquarters, Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio1959-July 1961 - Director of personnel and support operations, Headquarters, Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OhioJuly 1961 - Present - Commander, Mobile Air Materiel Area, Brookley Air Force Base, Ala. General Cassady's brother, Brigadier General George S. Cassady, retired from the Air Force in August 1961. General Cassady represented the Department of Defense at the coronation of Pope John XXIII. (Current as of March 21, 1962)