Paul Kendall Carlton

US Air Force General. He served as the Commander-in-Chief of Military Airlift Command (now Air Mobility Command), headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Born Paul Kendall Carlton, he graduated from Academy High School in Erie, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. In September 1941 he entered the US Army Air Corps aviation cadet program and received his wings and commission as a second lieutenant at Albany Army Airfield in April 1942. During World War II, he was a B-17 Flying Fortress instructor pilot with Air Training Command until 1944. He then flew B-29 Superfortress aircraft with the first group operating against the Japanese mainland from India and China, accumulating a total of 350 combat hours. From January 1946 to September 1949, he was assigned to Strategic Air Command's (SAC) first atomic bomb organization, the 509th Bombardment Wing at Roswell Air Force Base (now Roswell International Air Center), New Mexico, followed by a four-year assignment as the aide-de-camp to SAC Commander-in-Chief General Curtis E. LeMay. In October 1953 he was assigned to March Air Force Base (now March Air Reserve Base), California as Director of Operations, 320th Bombardment Wing, and later as Director of Plans, 15th Air Force. In January 1956 he was sent to the Pacific island of Guam and became director of operations for SAC's 3d Air Division at Andersen Air Force Base. In November 1957 he returned to the US and served for the next one and a half as deputy commander of the 93d Bombardment Wing and the Combat Crew Training School for B-52 Stratofortress and KC-135 Stratotanker aircrews at Castle Air Force Base, California (now closed). In May 1959 he assumed command of the 4126th Strategic Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California. He was then selected to attend the National War College in Washington, DC, from August 1961 to June 1962, during which time he also attended The George Washington University. In June 1962 he assumed command of the 379th Bombardment Wing at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan (now closed), and in November 1963, was assigned as commander of the 305th Bombardment Wing, Bunker Hill Air Force Base (now Grissom Air Reserve Base), Indiana. In July 1965 he was assigned to Headquarters SAC at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, with dual responsibilities as chief, Single Integrated Operational Plans Division, Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff, and chief, Operations Plans Division, Directorate of operations. He then assumed duties as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in June 1967. In August 1968 he assumed command of the 1st Strategic Aerospace Division, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and in March 1969 he returned to Headquarters SAC to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. In August 1969 he returned to March Air Force Base to serve as commander of the 15th Air Force until September 1972 when he became the Commander-in-Chief of Military Airlift Command (MAC) at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and was promoted to the rank of general in October 1972. While serving in this position, he oversaw airlift of the US military prisoners of war (named Operation Homecoming) from North Vietnam from February 12 to April 4, 1973, the airlift of Vietnamese and Cambodian orphans (named Operation Babylift) to their new homes in the US and other countries in April 1975 along with the massive airlift evacuation of Vietnamese refugees (named Operation New Life) from April until September 1975, at the end of the Vietnam War. He retired as Commander-in-Chief of MAC on March 31, 1977, with 35 years of continuous active military service in the US Army Air Corps and US Air Force. He was a command pilot with over 12,000 flying hours in various bomber, tanker, and airlift aircraft, including the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress, B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress, B-58 Hustler, KC-135 Stratotanker, C-141 Starlifter, C-5 Galaxy, and the Mach 3-plus SR-71 Blackbird. Among his military decorations and awards include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal. He was a member of the Air Force Association (Citation of Honor, 1973), Order of Daedalians, American Defense Preparedness Association, and the National Defense Transportation Association. In 1975 he received the Reserve Officers Association Minuteman Hall of Fame Award. He died in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 88. He is the father of Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Paul K. Carlton Jr.