MAJOR GENERAL JAMES CLYDE SELSER JR.

James Clyde Selser, Jr., was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, September 10, 1912. He was graduated from high school at New Orleans, in 1928, attended the University of Detroit for a year and was graduated from Georgia School of Technology, Atlanta, in 1933, with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering.

General Selser was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve June 5, 1933, and later that month was appointed a flying cadet. He was graduated from primary and advanced flying schools at Randolph and Kelly Fields in Texas in 1934, and on October 2, 1936, received his regular commission as a second lieutenant of Air Corps.

General Selser’s first assignment was with the 8th Pursuit Group at Langley Field, Virginia. In October, 1936, he became a flying instructor at Randolph Field, Texas.

In July, 1940, General Selser went to Rio de Janeiro as a member of the United States air mission to Brazil. He was appointed Military Air Attaché to Brazil in January, 1943, and also was senior Air Force member of the Joint Brazil-United States Defense Commission and Chief of the air mission to Brazil.

General Selser, in April, 1944, entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Upon graduation. He entered the Army-Navy Staff College, from which he was graduated in January, 1945.

General Selser was then assigned as G-2 for Air to Hawaiian headquarters of General Buckner, commanding general of the Tenth Army. He remained as Tenth Army G-2 for Air until the invasion of Okinawa, for which he helped.

In May, 1945, General Selser assumed command of the 444th Bomb Group in Tinian directing the B-29 group’s combat operations until the Japanese surrender. He returned to the United States with this group, which was redesignated the 43d Bomb Wing, with station at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona.

In November, 1946, General Selser led the first flight of B-29s to fly to Europe in the first use of bombers in military diplomacy. Through the years 1947, 1948 and 1949, he also led significant flights of B-29s to Alaska, Germany, Japan, and the Caribbean to aid in organizing and testing the Strategic Air Command mobility plan.

In 1948, record-breaking, long-distance flights were made by the B-29 “Pacusan Dreamboat,” with crews from the 43d Bomb Wing, and in 1949, the first round-the-world, non-stop flight using air-to-air refueling was accomplished by a B-50 bomber in General Selser’s wing. As commander of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from 1946 to 1950, he activated, manned and trained to operational readiness the 43d and 2d Medium Bomb Wings.

General Selser was appointed Deputy Director of Operations of the Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska, in January, 1950. In February, 1953, he became commander, 7th Air Division, in England. He reported for duty at headquarters, Eighth Air Force, Fort Worth, Texas, as Deputy Commander on September 1, 1954. He took command of Eighth Air Force on June 13, 1955, which had transferred its headquarters to Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, effective the same date. General Selser relinquished command of the Eighth Air Force to Major General Walter C. Sweeney, Jr., on August 6, 1955, and returned to his former position of Deputy Commander.

On July 1, 1956, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Net Evaluation Subcommittee of the National Security Council, Washington, D.C.

General Selser has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, Army Commendation Ribbon with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Distinguished Unit Citation with two Oak Leaf Clusters. His foreign decorations include the Brazilian War Medal and Order of the Southern Cross in the grade of Commander and the Portuguese Order of Avis in the grade of Grand Officer.

General Selser died in the crash of an L-26 aircraft in the Potomac River south of Washington, D.C., on November 18, 1956.

He is rated a Command Pilot and Technical Observer.

PROMOTIONS
He was promoted to first lieutenant (permanent) October 1, 1939; to captain (temporary) October 1, 1940; to major (temporary) December 5, 1941; to lieutenant colonel (temporary) March 1, 1942; to colonel (temporary) April 26, 1943. He reverted to the rank of lieutenant colonel (temporary) December 21, 1943, and was promoted to colonel (temporary) August 1, 1944; to captain (permanent) October 1, 1946; to lieutenant colonel (permanent) July 1, 1948; to colonel (permanent) July 27, 1950; to brigadier general (temporary) December 22, 1950; to major general (temporary) October 27, 1954, with date of rank from January 1, 1951.