Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Nathan Twining


  • Graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1918.
  • Served as a flying instructor at Primary Flying School in Brooks Field, Texas and March Field, California.
  • Became Assistant Executive for the Chief of the Air Corps in 1942 and was appointed Director of War Organization and Movement for the Chief of the Army Air Forces.
  • Named commanding general of the 13th Air Force in January 1943.
  • Appointed Commander in the Solomon Islands and placed in control of all Army, Navy, Marine, and Allied Air Forces in the South Pacific in one of the first joint air commands in U.S. history.
  • Assumed command of the 15th Air Force in Italy in November, 1943 and became commander of the Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Forces two months later.
  • Became commander of the 20th Air Force in the Pacific Theater in 1945 where his command directed the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
  • Promoted to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1957 and was the first airman to hold the position.

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