Preston, Joseph J. (Joseph James), 1912-1984

Joseph James Preston (b. 1912, Elgin, Minn.-d. Nov. 27, 1984), U.S. Air Force office, entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1938 after graduating from university and was commissioned and earned his pilot wings in 1939. Since winning his pilot's wings he accumulated more than 6,000 hours of flying time, many in jet aircraft. Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, he joined the Far East Air Forces on Java Island as a combat crew pilot and flight leader. In 1942 he went with the 305th Bombardment Group to England, and in 1943 was assigned as operations officer of the 4th Bombardment Wing (Europe). The next year he transferred to the China-Burma-India Theater as director of operations for the 20th Bombardment Command, and in 1945 transferred again to the 21st Bombardment Command on Guam. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he held a number of key positions at Air Force bases in the U.S. From 1955 to 1959 he commanded the 4225th Air Base Squadron in Little Rock, Arkansas, the longest assignment of his military career. In the early 1960s, General Preston was commander, 22nd Air Division, the hub of the Minuteman ICBM program, and commander of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) 1st Strategic Aerospace Division. He retired in 1964.