Brigadier General John Caswell Crosthwaite Born in Winnipeg, Canada on 29 May 1900, General Crosthwaite joined the Royal Air Force as a flying cadet in 1918. Upon completion of this training, he was commissioned and served with the RAF until the end of World War I. Becoming an American citizen in 1919, the general moved to Seattle, Washington and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Cavalry in the National Guard of Washington and ordered to active duty. During World War II, Crosthwaite commanded the 50th, 80th and 56th Fighter Groups for brief periods before assuming command of the 7th Fighter Wing in September 1942 for the Allied invasion of North Africa. He next served as chief of staff of the 47th Bomb Wing in Tunisia for which he was awarded the Silver Star in recognition of his knowledge of air tactics and techniques employed by the fighter and bombardment units of the wing that greatly improved the coordinated tactics of the groups. Crosthwaite returned to the United States where he took command of the San Francisco Fighter Wing in November 1943 followed by command of the Seattle Fighter Wing in February 1944. Later that year he commanded Oscoda Army Airfield, Michigan. In 1944, Crosthwaite was appointed chief of operations of the Continental Air Forces, which later became Strategic Air Command, and held that position until 1947 at which time he was assigned as a student in the Air War College. He was transferred to Germany in 1948 where he commanded the 36th Fighter Wing and later became deputy commander of the 2d Air Division. Crosthwaite returned to the United States in 1951 and was assigned to Air University as chief of the Air Force advisory staff, Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He held this position until 1954 when he assumed duties as vice commandant of the Air Force ROTC program at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He retired from the Air Force on 30 September 1956. A rated Command Pilot, Combat Observer and Aircraft Observer, General Crosthwaite held the Silver Star, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Commendation Ribbon with two Oak Leaf Clusters, British Distinguished Flying Cross, French Legion of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.