Coiner, Richard T. (Richard Tide), 1910-1980

Richard Tide Coiner Jr., was born on September 2, 1910 in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Lincoln High School, Portland, Oregon, in 1926, after which he attended the Columbian Preparatory School in Washington and then received a Congressional appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. Upon graduation from the academy in 1932 he was awarded a regular commission as a second lieutenant of Cavalry. His first station assignment was at Fort Bliss, Texas, with the Seventh Cavalry. In 1935 he entered Primary Flying School at Randolph Field, Texas, and later was transferred to Kelly Field, Texas, for advanced pilot training. After completion of flying school, he transferred to the Air Corps and served briefly as an instructor before joining the Fifth Bomb Squadron at Mitchel Field, New York. In February 1939, he was transferred to Hickam Field, Hawaii, with assignment as control officer, outlying fields. In January 1941, he organized the 19th Transportation Squadron which he commanded until October of the same year when he was named assistant executive to the assistant secretary of war for air. In March 1944 he became the executive. From March 1943 until February 1944, he was in Tampa, Florida, first as flying safety officer, Third Air Force, and later at McDill Field as commander of the 21st Bomb Group and then the 397th Bomb Group which he led in its move to England. He flew 24 combat missions in medium bombers - the Martin B-26 Marauder - and was decorated by the U.S. Air Forces for distinguished action in combat. He also was decorated by the French and Belgian governments with the Croix de Guerre with palm. From February to October 1946, General Coiner attended the Royal Air Force Staff College in England and then was assigned to the Plans and Policy Section of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. In USAFE he served as chief of the Plans Section from January to July 1947, and then was appointed chief of the Requirements Section where he served until appointment as deputy chief of staff for operations in November of the same year. From September until November 1948, he was project officer of a classified combined operation. Returning to Washington, D.C., in January 1949, General Coiner became deputy director of the Division of Military Application, Atomic Energy Commission, where he served until December 1951, when he became deputy commander and director of operations of the Field Command, Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, with station at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. In October 1954, he returned to Washington, D.C., as assistant deputy chief of staff, operations, for Atomic Energy at Headquarters U.S. Air Force. In July 1958 he was assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe to be assistant chief of staff, Air and Special Operations Division. In July 1961, General Coiner was transferred from SHAPE to Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., where he assumed command of Ninth Air Force. In November 1963, General Coiner was transferred from Ninth Air Force to Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., where he became director of transportation, Deputy Chief of Staff, Systems and Logistics.