BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN C. MCDONNELL General John C. McDonnell was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1887 and graduated from Loyola College, Md., in 1908 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He was appointed a second lieutenant of Cavalry on March 3, 1913. General McDonnell remained in the Cavalry until December 1915, when he was assigned to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. He completed his flying training at the Aviation School at San Diego, Calif., on August 1916, after which he was assigned to the 1st Aero Squadron and served with the Punitive Expedition into Mexico. In April 1917, he became an instructor in acrobatic flying at Kelly Field, Texas, subsequently serving in a similar capacity at Chanute Field, Ill., and Selfridge Field, Mich. In December 1917, he was placed in charge of advanced flying instruction at Ellington Field, Texas. In July 1918, General McDonnell was placed on duty in the Training Section of the Office of Director of Military Aeronautics, Washington, D.C., and in December 1918, he went to Germany as Corps Area Service Commander of the Third Corps of the American Army of Occupation. On his return to the United States in May 1919, he served for several months at Mitchel Field, N.Y., and later served for two years in command of the Air Service troops at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. He was then assigned to duty as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. In 1923 General McDonnell was sent to the Philippines, serving successively as Commanding Officer of Clark Field and of Nichols Field. On his return to the United States in August 1925, he assumed command of the 88th Observation Squadron in Fairfield, Ohio, and during 1926 he was in command of a composite Air Service Squadron at the Sesquicentennial Exposition at Philadelphia, Pa. Subsequently he became Air Officer of the Third Corps Area, and in June 1928 became Chief of the Personnel Division of the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps in Washington, D.C. In 1932, he entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Ala., as a student officer, graduating in 1933. He then completed the two-year course at the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., graduating in 1935. He was then ordered to duty in the Hawaiian Department until Oct. 27, 1937, when he was assigned to Barksdale Field, La., until October 1940, when he became Commanding Officer of the 3rd Bombardment Group (Light) at Savannah, Ga. He was promoted to Wing Commander in the Air Corps on Oct. 25, 1940, and assigned to command the 7th Pursuit Wing, General Headquarters Air Force, Long Island, N.Y., on Nov. 20, 1940. On April 5, 1941, he was assigned as Commanding General of the Interceptor Command, 1st Air Force, Mitchel Field, N.Y. (Current as of April 10, 1941)