Strother, Dean C. (Dean Caldwell), 1908-2000

Dean Caldwell Strother (1908-2000) was born in Winfield, Kansas, and attended local schools before receiving a Congressional appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He would graduate in 1931, and immediately attend primary and advanced flight schools at Randolph and Kelly Fields, Texas. He received his pilot wings at Kelly in October, 1932. He served in varied assignments throughout the 1930s at Army Air Fields around the U.S., including Barksdale Field, Louisiana; Municipal Airport, Chicago, Illinois (where he served on air mail duty); Sherman Field, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Luke Field, Hawaii; Randolph Field, Texas. During World War II, Strother was first assigned as Staff Fighter Officer of the U.S. Army Forces in the South Pacific Area. He was appointed Chief of the Fighter Command and promoted to Brigadier General of the 13th Air Force in May, 1943. From July through January, 1944, he headed a combat outfit known as the Solomon''s Fighter Command, which directed Army, Marine, Navy, and New Zealand fighters turn back Japanese advances towards Australia. In January, 1944, he was transferred to Italy and commanded the 306th Fighter Wing of the 15th Air Force, and later assumed command of the 15th Fighter Command in October, 1944. He led a U.S. fighter task force to Russia to provide military assistance to the Russians fighting the German Army on the Eastern Front. After the war, Strother returned to the U.S. and was assigned command of the West Coast Wing of the Air Training Command''s Pacific Division at Hamilton Field, California. In August, 1946, he was selected to attend the National War College, Washington, D.C. He returned to Europe in March, 1951, when he was appointed command of the 12th Air Force (U.S. Air Forces, Europe), and the 4th Allied Tactical Air Force at Wiesbaden, Germany. In November, 1953, he assumed the role of Deputy Commander of the Air University at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, and later became its Commander in June, 1956. After assignments at Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, and with NATO, General Strother was appointed Commander in Chief of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), and the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) in April, 1965. Strother retired from active duty on July 31, 1966, and died on September 24, 2000. His career distinctions included the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal.