Nathan F. Twining

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Nathan Farragut Twining
Nathan C. Twining
(uncle)

Nathan Farragut Twining (/ˈtwaɪnɪŋ/ TWY-ning; October 11, 1897 – March 29, 1982) was a United States Air Force general.[1] He was the chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 1953[2] until 1957, and the third chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1957 to 1960. He was the first member of the Air Force to serve as Chairman. Twining was a distinguished "mustang" officer, rising from private to four-star general and appointment to the highest post in the United States Armed Forces in the course of his 45-year career.

Early life and military career

Twining was the son of Clarence Walker Twining and Maize (Barber) Twining.[3] His family had a strong military background; his brother Merrill B. Twining was a general in the United States Marine Corps, his brother Robert B. Twining attained the rank of captain in the United States Navy, and his uncle Nathan Crook Twining was a rear admiral in the Navy.[3][4] Twining's stepmother, Frances Staver Twining, was the author of Bird-Watching in the West.[5]

U.S. Army ground and air generals confer with their chief. From left to right: Major General Alexander Patch, Lieutenant General Millard Harmon, and Major General Nathan F. Twining, conferring over a map whilst serving in the South Pacific, February 1943.

In 1913, Twining moved with his family from

first sergeant.[5][6] In 1917, he received an appointment to West Point after placing well in a competitive examination for members of the National Guard.[6] Because the program was shortened to produce more officers for World War I, he spent only two years at the academy and graduated in 1919.[7]

After serving in the Army

Command and General Staff College. When World War II broke out in Europe he was assigned to the operations division on the Air Staff; then in 1942 he was sent to the South Pacific
where he became chief of staff of the Allied air forces in that area.

In January 1943, he was promoted to

atomic strikes ended the war. On October 20, 1945, Twining led three B-29s in developing a new route from Guam to Washington via India and Germany. They completed the 13,167-mile-trip in 59 hours, 30 minutes.[9] He returned to the States where he was named commander of the Air Materiel Command, and in 1947 he took over Alaskan Air Command
.

On September 23, 1947, Lieutenant General Twining issued a memo to Brigadier General George Schulgen of the Army Air Forces. The subject line of the memo read “AMC Opinion Concerning 'Flying Discs.[13]'” The general tone of the memo was that unidentified objects seen in the skies by military personnel were not weather, astronomical or other phenomenon but rather objects that warranted further investigation. Twining wrote “The phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious.”

General Nathan F. Twining

After three years there Twining was set to retire as a lieutenant general, but when Muir Fairchild, the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, died unexpectedly of a heart attack, Twining was elevated to full general and named his successor.

United States Air Force Chief of Staff

General Nathan F. Twining in 1957

When General

F-100 Super Sabre.[14] Twining also directed the development of missiles system within the Air Force. For his role and achievement in developing the Air Force, Twining was credited for leading the U.S. Air Force into a modern-day Air Force with far more sophisticated equipment rather than the old equipment that the Air Force used during the World War II and during the early years of the Air Force following the Air Force receiving its own autonomy in 1947.[14]

Twining with Air Force Chief of Staff General Thomas D. White, Secretary of the Air Force James H. Douglas Jr. and Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald A. Quarles at The Pentagon 1957

General Twining was also an ardent advocate of the Strategic Air Command and strongly believed that Strategic Air Command was the best deterrent to Communist military power.[15] As a result, several of new Strategic Air Command bases including the Strategic Air Command underground command center in Strategic Air Command Headquarters was built during General Twining's tenure as Air Force Chief of Staff.[15]

As Air Force Chief of Staff General Twining also achieved the reputation for appeasing the acrimonious controversies which characterized the interservice rivalry during the immediate postwar years and played major role in easing the interservice rivalry.[15] The interservice rivalry had emerged following the end of World War II and the establishment of National Security Act of 1947. One of interservice rivalry major conflict was the "Revolt of the Admirals" in 1949, on which the Truman administration canceled the building of supercarrier USS United States (CVA-58) due to Truman Administration and the Department of Defense more preferred the strategic bomber aircraft Convair B-36 Peacemaker, causing several high-ranking Navy officials to protest against the Truman administration decision to canceled the supercarrier project.[14]

In 1956, Twining was chosen by Eisenhower to head a delegation of senior officers to visit

Zhukov at an air force base with Badger and Bison bombers flying overhead.[16]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

General Nathan F. Twining is sworn in as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Deputy Secretary of Defense Donald A. Quarles on a Bible held by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, at The White House, August 15, 1957.

In 1957,

USS Marshall to the Formosa strait. Several of the U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft also deployed to Taiwan.[17] Those eventually the show of force along with some political initiatives did worked and the crisis passed after the bombardment ceased. During the Berlin Crisis in November 1958 General Twining convinced President Eisenhower that the Soviet threat is imminent and eventually could caused major crisis and told the President that the armed forces have to standby in cased some major crisis erupted.[18][17] Some other service chief are considering for major mobilization forces along with the Western Allies. However General Twining saw that it was not necessary for that and The Soviet finally withdrew from its deadline in May 1959.[17][18]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Nathan F. Twining with Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates Jr. during Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at Capitol Hill 1960
Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff General Nathan F. Twining with Secretary of the Air Force James H. Douglas Jr. greet Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay at the Washington National Airport
in November 1957.

During his tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Twining also played central role in working out a new procedures to coordinate a nuclear strike plans in order to prevent the

first-strike and strength the United States deterrence against the United States enemy, especially those who own Nuclear Weapons.[19][17] This resulted in the development of land-based missiles and Polaris Submarines missile in order to complement the submarine-launched ballistic missiles as part of the Nuclear Triad. Together with Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates Jr., Twining coordinated the creation of the Joint Strategic Planning Staff and also the Single Integrated Operational Plan. These two functions plan played major role during the Cold War and eventually still play major role even after the end of the Cold War.[19][17]

Twining was re-appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the second term in 1959. However, due to his deteriorating health condition following major surgery, Twining chose to take early retirement from active-duty on September 30, 1960.[17]

Following his retirement from active duty Twining worked as vice chairman for the publishing firm Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. In 1965, Twining was named ninth annual recipient of the General William E. Mitchell Memorial Award.[20]

General Nathan F. Twining died on March 29, 1982, at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Dates of rank

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Nathan F. Twining with the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at The Pentagon on January 15, 1959
Insignia Rank Component Date
None Private
Oregon National Guard
 1915
Corporal Oregon National Guard June 19, 1916
Sergeant Oregon National Guard March 25, 1917
First sergeant
 Oregon National Guard 1917
None Cadet United States Military Academy June 14, 1917
No pin insignia at the time Second lieutenant
National Army
 November 1, 1918
First lieutenant National Army January 1, 1920
Second lieutenant Regular Army December 15, 1922
First lieutenant Regular Army November 20, 1923
First lieutenant Regular Army (United States Army Air Service) November 16, 1926 (transferred)
Captain Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps) April 20, 1935 (temporary)
August 1, 1935 (permanent)
Major Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps) September 1 (accepted September 7) 1938 (temporary)
July 1, 1940 (permanent)
Lieutenant colonel Army of the United States September 15 (accepted September 22) 1941
Colonel Army of the United States February 1, 1942
Brigadier general Army of the United States June 17, 1942
Lieutenant colonel Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces) July 15 (accepted July 22) 1941 (temporary)
December 11, 1942 (permanent)
Major general Army of the United States February 5, 1943
Lieutenant general Army of the United States June 5, 1945
Brigadier general Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces) July 18, 1946
Major general United States Air Force February 19, 1948
General United States Air Force October 10, 1950 (temporary)
June 30, 1953 (permanent)

Source:[2][21][22]

Awards and decorations

General Twining held the ratings of Command Pilot and Aircraft Observer. In addition, General Twining was awarded numerous personal decorations from the U.S. military and foreign countries.

US Army Air Forces Command Pilot Badge
US Army Air Forces Aircraft Observer Badge
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Width-44 white ribbon with width-10 scarlet stripes at edges, separated from the white by width-2 ultramarine blue stripes.
 Army Distinguished Service Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster
Navy blue ribbon with central gold stripe Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Width-44 crimson ribbon with a pair of width-2 white stripes on the edges
 Legion of Merit with bronze oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Flying Cross
Width-44 scarlet ribbon with width-4 ultramarine blue stripe at center, surrounded by width-1 white stripes. Width-1 white stripes are at the edges. Bronze Star Medal
Bronze oak leaf cluster
 Air Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster
Width-44 myrtle green ribbon with width-3 white stripes at the edges and five width-1 stripes down the center; the central white stripes are width-2 apart Army Commendation Medal
Mexican Border Service Medal
Rainbow ribbon with violet at the outer edges and going down the spectrum to red in the center World War I Victory Medal
Army of Occupation of Germany Medal
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Silver star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Width-44 yellow ribbon with central width-4 Old Glory blue-white-scarlet stripe. At distance 6 from the edges are width-6 white-scarlet-white stripes.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with silver and four bronze service stars
Silver star
Bronze star
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
with silver and bronze service stars
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
Width=44 scarlet ribbon with a central width-4 golden yellow stripe, flanked by pairs of width-1 scarlet, white, Old Glory blue, and white stripes National Defense Service Medal
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(United Kingdom)
French Legion of Honour, Commandeur
French National Order of Merit, Commandeur
French Legion of Honour, Chevalier
Greek Order of the Phoenix, Silver Cross with Swords
Yugoslav Order of the Partisan Star with Golden Wreath (I rank)
Polish Gold Cross of Merit with Swords
Military Order of Italy, Knight Grand Cross
Order of the White Elephant, Knight Grand Cordon
South Korean
Order of National Security Merit
, Gugseon Medal
South Korean
Order of Military Merit
, Taeguk Cordon
Egyptian Order of Merit, Grand Cross
French
Croix de Guerre
with silver palm
Aviation Cross (First Class), Republic of Peru

Honors

National Aviation Hall of Fame (1996)[23]
A city park in Monroe, Wisconsin, Twining's birthplace, and an elementary school on the Air Force base in Grand Forks, North Dakota, are named after him.
An extensive amateur astronomy observatory facility located in rural central New Mexico is named after him.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Birth Record Details". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Biography of General Nathan F. Twining" (PDF). Air Force Historical Research Agency. May 11, 1956. pp. 16, 19–20. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-9127-9941-4 – via Google Books
    .
  4. ^ Harper, Harmon H., ed. (August 1957). "Gen. Nathan F. Twining, USAF: Chairman–Designate Joint Chiefs of Staff". The Airman. Washington, DC: Director of Information Services, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. p. 16 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ a b "Cultural Resources Inventory: C.W. Twining House" (PDF). City of Lake Oswego. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  6. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  7. ^ "Gen. Nathan F. Twining". United States Air Force. August 13, 2007. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  8. ^ "Disappearance and Rescue of General Twining and Crew". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 1943. pp. 257–260.
  9. ^ a b "History Milestones: Monday, January 01, 1940 – Saturday, December 31, 1949". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012.
  10. ^ "General Nathan F. Twining". Air Force. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  11. ISBN 0912799560. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on July 14, 2024.
  12. ^ Tillman, Barrett (September 1, 2012). "The Forgotten Fifteenth". airandspaceforces.com.
  13. ^ Wojciechowski, Eric (March–April 2020). "General Nathan F. Twining and the Flying Disc Problem of 1947". Skeptical Inquirer. 44: 54–57.
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0395429235
    .
  15. ^ a b c "Gen. Nathan Farragut Twining June 30, 1953–June 30, 1957" (PDF). media.defense.gov. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  16. JSTOR 1148865
    .
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "3rd Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff General Nathan Farragut Twining". jcs.mil. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-1780398877
    .
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-0160611261
    .
  20. ^ The Laws of Wisconsin, Volume 1. Atwood & Culver. 1965. p. 834.
  21. ^ Official Army and Air Force Register, 1948, p. 1852.
  22. ^ Air Force Register, 1949–1951, p. 223.
  23. ^ "Paul Tibbets, Jr". National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
  24. ^ General Nathan Twining Observatory
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nathan F. Twining.
Military offices
Preceded by Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
1950–1953 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
1953–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1957–1960 		Succeeded by
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