Maurice A. Preston

"Maurice Preston" redirects here. For the economist, see Maurice Peston, Baron Peston.

Maurice Arthur Preston (November 25, 1912 – January 25, 1983) was a United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, United States Air Forces in Europe, from 1966 to 1968.

Maurice A. Preston
Preston in 1966
Nicknames	Mo, Moe
Born	November 25, 1912 Weed, California, U.S.
Died	January 25, 1983(1983-01-25) (aged 70) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Service years	1937–1968
Rank	General
Commands	379th Bombardment Group 41st Bombardment Wing 308th Bombardment Wing 4th Air Division Nineteenth Air Force U.S. Forces Japan Fifth Air Force United States Air Forces in Europe
Conflicts	World War II Schweinfurt raids
Awards	Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit (2) Distinguished Flying Cross (3) Bronze Star Medal Air Medal (8) Army Commendation Medal Purple Heart Order of the Sacred Treasure (1st Class, Japan)
Alma mater	Saint Mary's College of California United States Military Academy (BS, 1937)

A 1937 graduate of the United States Military Academy, Preston commanded the 379th Bombardment Group of the Eighth Air Force in England from January 1943 and led an attack on Schweinfurt on April 13, 1944. He flew 45 combat missions in the B-17 Flying Fortress before assuming command of the 41st Bombardment Wing in October 1944.

After the war Preston held wing and division commands in the Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command, including the Nineteenth Air Force from 1960 to 1963 and the combined U.S. Forces Japan/Fifth Air Force post from 1963 to 1966. He retired in 1968.

Early life and education

Preston as a United States Military Academy cadet, c. 1937

Preston was born November 25, 1912, in Weed, California, and graduated from high school in Tulare, California, in 1931. After attending Saint Mary's College of California, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated on June 12, 1937, receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Corps.

Military career

Pre-war assignments

Preston completed flying training at Kelly Field, Texas, in October 1938. He served in various squadron positions before being assigned as commander of the 62nd Bombardment Squadron at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, in 1941. He later became deputy group commander of the 34th Bombardment Group at the same station.

World War II

In June 1942 Preston transferred to Gowen Field, Idaho, where he served as deputy group commander of the 34th Bombardment Group and then as deputy commander of the 29th Bombardment Group. In January 1943 he assumed command of the 379th Bombardment Group at Wendover Field, Utah, and took the group to the European Theater shortly afterward, operating from RAF Kimbolton in England under the Eighth Air Force.

Preston flew 45 combat missions in the B-17 Flying Fortress. According to his Air Force biography, he led the second attack on Schweinfurt on April 13, 1944. In October 1944 he was promoted to commander of the 41st Bombardment Wing, a position he held until May 1945. After returning to the United States he became base commander of the 231st Army Air Force Base Unit at Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Preston later described the Eighth Air Force approach to daylight bombing in mass formations:

It was like lining up the cavalry, shooting your way in and then shooting your way out again. This was definitely the concept of the early Air Corps leaders, also the concept of the design of the aircraft. The Flying Fortress was simply an aircraft with a lot of guns hanging on it. There was the idea of massing aircraft together to mass the firepower. If it didn't work, the answer was to get still more aircraft up and even more firepower. The fellows who had to do it weren't too keen on it, but we had to get on with it.

Post-war career

Preston attended the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, from August 1946, graduating in June 1947. He then served as chief of the Inter-American Security Branch and Military Coordinating Committee, Permanent Joint Board of Defense Canada and United States, in Washington, D.C., before joining the Plans Division of Air Force Headquarters.

In 1949 Preston was appointed deputy commander for plans and operations of the U.S. Northeastern Command, based at St. John's, Newfoundland. Assigned to the Strategic Air Command in March 1952, he became commander of the 308th Bombardment Wing at Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia. In January 1954 he assumed command of SAC's 4th Air Division at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.

Reassigned to Air Force Headquarters in May 1956, Preston was named deputy director of operations in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, becoming director of operations in August 1957. On July 25, 1960, he became commander of the Tactical Air Command's Nineteenth Air Force, the headquarters element for TAC's Composite Air Strike Force.

He logged some 7,000 flying hours in most types of aircraft within the U.S. Air Force, and held ratings as command pilot, navigator, and bombardier. In October 1960 he completed the U.S. Army's airborne school, becoming the first Air Force officer of his rank to earn paratrooper wings.

Preston became commander of U.S. Forces Japan and Fifth Air Force in August 1963. In July 1966 Emperor Hirohito of Japan conferred the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st Class, on Preston; the decoration was presented by Defense Minister Raizo Matsuno and General Yoshifusa Amano, chairman of the Joint Staff Council, Defense Agency.

In August 1966 Preston assumed command of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), with headquarters at Lindsey Air Station, Germany, succeeding General Bruce K. Holloway in a change of command at Ramstein Air Base on July 30, 1966. Concurrently he assumed command of NATO's Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force. During his tenure he oversaw the relocation of U.S. Air Force units from France to Germany following de Gaulle's 1966 withdrawal of French forces from NATO's integrated military command. Preston served as Commander in Chief until his retirement on August 1, 1968.

Awards and decorations

Preston's military decorations included the following:

	Silver Star with oak leaf cluster
	Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
	Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters
	Bronze Star Medal
	Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters
	Army Commendation Medal
	Purple Heart
	Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st Class (Japan)

Death

Preston retired from the Air Force on August 1, 1968. He died of cancer in Bethesda, Maryland, on January 25, 1983, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Legacy

The Blatchford-Preston Complex at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is named in part for Preston. The $106.9 million complex, which includes the base's first permanent dormitories, a community mall, dining facility, and fitness center, was opened on February 5, 2008, by Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, who jointly named it for Preston and Master Sergeant Samuel Nathan Blatchford, both of whom served in the 379th Bombardment Group during World War II. Lieutenant General Gary L. North, commander of Ninth Air Force and United States Central Command Air Forces, said at the dedication that "it's fitting to name this facility after two Airmen whose courage and integrity set an example for all."

A surviving B-17G Flying Fortress was delivered as a memorial to Preston's hometown of Tulare, California in 1958. Preston piloted the aircraft from Davis-Monthan AFB to Visalia, California, on August 3, 1958, after which the city of Tulare formally accepted the airplane in a civic ceremony.

Further reading

• Maurer, Maurer (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF). Office of Air Force History. ISBN 978-0-912799-02-5.

External links

• Profiles in Leadership 1942–1992 – Air Force Historical Research Agency biographical entry, pp. 146–151

Media related to Maurice A. Preston at Wikimedia Commons