Ernest T. Cragg

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Ernest T. Cragg
Air Force Distinguished Service Medals (2)
Legions of Merit (3)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medals
(14)

Ernest Thorpe Cragg (January 19, 1922 – March 9, 2006) was a major general in the United States Air Force.

Biography

Pre World War II

Ernest T. Cragg was born in

Cos Cob area of Connecticut,[2] graduating from Greenwich High School in 1939.[3] He subsequently attended the Stanton Preparatory Academy in Cornwall New York to complete work needed for enrollment in the United States Military Academy.[1]

World War II

On July 1, 1940, then

Matagorda Island.[1]

After training, he was assigned to the

D-Day.[2]

Having completed his combat tour, rather than return to the US,[2] he requested and received an assignment to the 9th Infantry Division and the 9th Armored Division as air liaison officer and forward air controller; then to the IX Tactical Air Command as combat operations duty officer.[1] By V-E Day he had attained the rank of major and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters.[1]

In the days following the end of the war he met and subsequently married, while still in Germany, his wife,

70th Fighter Wing at Neubiberg, Germany, as the assistant chief of staff, operations.[1]

Military career after World War II

After the war, he served in the

Twelfth Air Force in Ramstein, Germany. There he served as chief, Special Weapons Division; chief, Tactical Operations Division; and later deputy director of operations and training. In January 1958 he was appointed director of the Combat Operations Center, Twelfth Air Force, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe Advanced Echelon (aka Kindsbach Cave
).

In 1958 then Colonel Cragg returned to the United States and was assigned to Headquarters, USAF in the Pentagon.

In 1963, Colonel Cragg became first the vice commander, and then the commander of the

Reese AFB
outside Lubbock, Texas, which he considered his favorite and most challenging assignment.

Upon his promotion to brigadier general he became deputy chief of staff, operations, the Air Training Command, Randolph AFB Texas. In 1969 he returned to the Pentagon, first as assistant director and then as deputy director of aerospace programs (after receiving his second star).

With the death of his wife Helen in 1972,[8] General Cragg was reassigned to be vice commander of Second Air Force at Barksdale AFB.[1] A year later he became the commander of the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center at Norton AFB, California.[1] His final assignment was as chief of staff of the Allied Air Forces Southern Europe, based in Naples, Italy.[1]

A command pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours, he retired in 1975.[1]

Decorations

General Cragg's decorations include the

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and the Belgian Fourragère.[1]

  • Command Pilot Badge (more than 3,000 flying hours / 15 years as rated pilot)
  • Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
    with one oak leaf cluster
  •   Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
  •   Distinguished Flying Cross
  •   Air Medal with thirteen oak leaf clusters
  • Air Force Commendation Medal
  • Army Commendation Medal
  • Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

Activities after retirement

Upon retiring from the military, he became general director of RTB-Olympic Travel Limited in New York City. This company was chartered to provide the logistical planning and management for all US travel to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[8] The US boycott of those games effectively ended operations for that company.[9]

After the Olympics, RTB-Olympic Travel was reorganized in Washington DC as a combination of Travelmasters International, Plane Travel, and The Society of Military Travelers. General Cragg served as chief executive officer.

D-Day[2]

General Cragg was an outdoorsman and hunter.

Arlington, Virginia.[8] He hunted ducks and geese on Maryland's Eastern Shore; white tail deer, dove, quail and wild turkey in Texas; and pheasants in North Dakota.[8][9]

He died on March 9, 2006[8] and was buried with full military honors alongside his first wife, Helen, in Section 5, Plot 104 Arlington National Cemetery.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o United States Air Force. "Biography: Major General Ernest T. Cragg (as of 1975)". Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ernest T Cragg Oral History interview". March 1994. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ The Compass - 1939, Greenwich High School Year Book. Available at Greenwich Town Library, Greenwich CT
  4. ^ The Howitzer - June 1943, USMA Year Book. Available at the West Point Association of Graduates office, West Point NY.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-7643-1779-2
    .
  6. Edward Cragg). Archived from the original
    on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  7. ^ "Marriages – WED IN GERMANY". The Seattle Times. August 1945. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Obituaries – Maj. Gen. Ernest T. Cragg Air Force Officer". The Washington Post. March 17, 2006. pp. B06. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  9. ^ a b c d Cragg, Ernest T (March 2002). "Personal Biography". Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  10. ^ "Notable Retirees". dcmilitary.com. Comprint Military Publications. January 2, 2002. Retrieved 2009-06-10.[permanent dead link]
  11. ISBN 0-912731-12-1
    .
  12. ^ Cragg, E Scott; Cragg, Edward E (April 2006). "Pictures from the Funeral". Retrieved 2009-06-10.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernest_T._Cragg&oldid=1213681118"