West Point Graduates and the United States Air Force

Charles F.G. Kuyk, Jr. is a veteran of 36 years of military service, from Private to Major General. He served with the Marines in World War II, as a B-29 combat pilot in Korea, a nuclear bomber pilot during the Cold War, an experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, a commander and pilot of an EB-66 electronic counter measures (ECM) squadron during the Vietnam War, commander of the C-5 Wing during the airlift support of the Arab-Israeli war, Commander of the numbered Air Force for the western half of the world and as a general officer at the Pentagon defining future Air Force requirements. Charles F.G. Kuyk, III is a former ICBM and project control officer with the U.S. Air Force, and a retired forensic accountant. He served at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming as an ICBM Deputy Commander and later as a project control officer at the Space and Missile Systems Organization in El Segundo, California.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments—ix
Foreword by Richard P. Hallion—1
Preface by Charles F.G. Kuyk, Jr.—5
Abbreviations—11
 1. The Early Years of U.S. Army Aviation (1903–47)—15
 2. Path to Independence—34
 3. The Class of 1950—47
 4. Cultural Transitions—66
 5. Focus on Advancing Technology—77
 6. Flight Tests and Test Pilots—109
 7. Aerial Reconnaissance—130
 8. Military Airlift—145
 9. ICBMs—161
10. Space—176
11. U.S. Air Force Academy—197
12. Leadership—217
Epilogue—226
Chronology of Key Events—229
Chapter Notes—255
Bibliography—265
Index—271