Jaynes, Jack B., 1897-

John "Jack" Belmont Jaynes was born on March 20, 1897, in Cass County, Texas. He attended the Brantley-Draughon Business College in Fort Worth from 1914 until 1916 and the School of Military Aeronautics at The University of Texas in Austin from October 1917 until May 1918 . Upon leaving active service in November 1918, Jaynes opted for a Reserve Commission in January 1919, in which he remained until mandatory retirement in 1957 at the age of sixty.

During 1929, Jaynes reported to the Department of Commerce, and took up his assignment in Atlanta, Georgia, as General Inspector, responsible for the southeastern states. In 1937, Jack Jaynes was promoted to Chief Airline Inspector, in Washington, D.C. From 1938 until 1939, Jack Jaynes worked as Director of Aviation Safety. In May 1942, Jack Jaynes went to work for the Air Transport Command (ATC) where he was assigned to the office of Assistant Chief of Staff-Operations as an Operations Officer. In 1945, Jaynes requested foreign duty and he moved to the European Division of the ATC in London, England. Later that year, he went to Lisbon, Portugal, as an Operations Officer and was promoted to the rank of a Commanding Officer.

Jaynes, after having returned to the United States in 1946, resumed his reserve status and reported back to the Regional Office of CAA at Fort Worth as a Deputy Regional Administrator. At the same time, the War Department approached Jack Jaynes to organize, re-activate, and command the 446th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth. He commanded this outfit until they were deployed to serve in the Korean War in 1951. Jaynes retired from the FAA as a Deputy Regional Administrator in the mid 1960s. In his retirement, Jaynes wrote his autobiography ("Eagles Must Fly") over the course of ten years, which was published as an author's edition in 1982. John "Jack" Belmont Jaynes died on Monday, November 17, 1986 in Fort Worth at the age of eighty-eight.