David C. Jones

David C. Jones - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of David C. Jones

David Charles Jones (July 9, 1921 – August 10, 2013) was a United States Air Force general and the ninth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, Jones served as the highest-ranking uniformed officer of the United States Armed Forces. He previously served as the ninth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force and fifteenth commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe.

This profile of David C. Jones covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, United States Air Force Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Goldwater-Nichols Act.

Jones is best known for his efforts to cement the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the principal military advisor to the President, as opposed to being a "first among equals" of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Following his retirement from active duty in 1982, he continued to emphasize the importance of such reform, which contributed to the passage of Goldwater-Nichols Act.

Early Life and Family Background of David C. Jones

Born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and raised in Minot, North Dakota, Jones graduated from Minot High School and attended both the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and Minot State Teacher's College. While attending college, he received his private pilot license from the Civilian Pilot Training Program. In April 1942, he left college to join the United States Army Air Forces.

Career and Rise to Fame of David C. Jones

In February 1943, Jones graduated from Roswell Army Airfield flight school in New Mexico, received his pilot wings, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as a flying instructor in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, Jones was assigned to the 3rd Emergency Rescue Squadron of the Fifth Air Force in Japan in 1945. He began as a unit pilot, flying Catalina flying boats, and rose to command the squadron.

From 1948 to 1949 Jones was a unit instructor and then assistant operations and training officer with the 2236th Air Force Reserve Training Center, Godman Field, Kentucky. Also during this period, he attended specialized professional military training courses.

Jones was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Squadron at March AFB, California, in January 1950. During his years with the 19th, he rose to aircraft commander, then operations officer and finally commander of the squadron. He flew more than 300 hours on combat missions over North Korea, when the squadron was one of the first bombardment units committed to the Korean War. In May 1953 he transitioned from bombers to tankers, taking command of the 22nd Air Refueling Squadron at March. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in June 1953, he remained at March but returned to bombers the following year as commander of the 33rd Bombardment Squadron.

Jones next served at Headquarters Strategic Air Command (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska, during SAC's build-up period. He was assigned initially in September 1954 as an operations planner in the bomber mission branch and remained there until January 1955, when General Curtis LeMay selected him as his aide. Promoted to colonel in April 1957, Jones became director of materiel and later deputy commander for maintenance of SAC's 93rd Bombardment Wing at Castle AFB, California.

Jones was a 1960 graduate of the National War College. Following that, Jones was assigned to the Air Staff's operations directorate for four years. As chief of the manned systems branch, he worked on the B-70 bomber project. He then served as deputy chief and chief of the Strategic Division. After F-100 and F-4 training, Jones assumed command of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB, Florida, at its activation in 1965 and bought it to operational status.

Jones then served in key staff assignments with United States Air Forces in Europe. He received his second star in November 1967. In February 1969 Jones was assigned to Headquarters Seventh Air Force, Tan Son Nhut Airfield, Vietnam, as deputy chief of staff for operations and became vice commander in June. Promoted to lieutenant general, he returned to SAC in August 1969 as commander of the Second Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.

In April 1971, Jones returned to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) as vice commander in chief. He assumed command of USAFE and the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force in August and was promoted to general in September. In his North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) capacity as commander of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, Jones directed an international planning team that integrated central region air forces into a more cohesive organization. Key to that effort was his creation of a small operational and planning headquarters, Allied Air Force, Central Europe.

United States Air Force Chief of Staff

Capping a career that had included operational and command positions in bomber, tanker, training and tactical fighter units as well as headquarters staff positions, General Jones was nominated by President Richard Nixon as the ninth Chief of Staff of The United States Air Force in July 1974, following the appointment of General George S. Brown as the eighth Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff. As Chief of Staff of The United States Air Force, General Jones responsible for administering, training and equipping all of the airmen employing in the world's largest Air Force. During his tenure as Air Force Chief of Staff General Jones also advocated for the development of high-technology of future weapons systems and also reorganized the Air Force command structure. He supported modernization with such systems as the F-15, F-16, the A–10, and the E–3A.

General Jones emphasized the needs of modernizing the Air Force following the end of the Vietnam War and to stop a potential Soviet armored thrust. As a result, the Fairchild A-10 Warthog aircraft was built to become the primary survivable tank killer. That program was followed by the General Dynamics EF-111 to counter Soviet air mobile defenses, along with the Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS, which served to provide picture and detail of the airborne battlefield. Much of the modernization program was focused on the European area, where the United States developed initiatives in response to Department of Defense and congressional interest for an increase in the capability of NATO.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_C._Jones), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.