Stratemeyer, George E., 1890-1969

George Edward Stratemeyer (b. 1890, Cincinnati, Ohio-d. Aug. 11, 1969), U.S. Air Force officer, graduated from West Point in 1915, completed pilot training, then transferred to the Air Corps in 1920. After serving in Hawaii, he became an instructor in tactics at West Point and later, an instructor at the Command and General Staff School. During World War II, he was commanding general, India-Burma Sector, and air adviser to the commanding general of the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. He later commanded the Army Air Forces in the China Theater. After the War, General Stratemeyer commanded the Air Defense Command, and in 1949 went to Tokyo as commanding general, Far East Air Forces, which he led through the first year of the Korean War. He retired in 1952.

After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1915, George E. Stratemeyer served with the 7th and 34th Infantry divisions until he was detailed to the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps for flight training. In 1917 he became commanding officer of the U. S. Army Air Service Flying and Technical Schools at Kelly Field, Texas. He was promoted to major the following year with an official transfer to the Air Corps from the Infantry and assigned as commanding officer of the 10th Air Park at Luke Field, Hawaii. After a teaching assignment at West Point in 1924, attending the Command and General Staff School and then remaining there for four years as an instructor, Stratemeyer was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1936. He graduated from the Army War College in 1939 and became head of the Training and Operations Division to the office of the Chief of Air Corps with promotion to colonel in 1940. The following year Stratemeyer became executive officer to General H. H. Arnold, chief of the Air Corps, and was quickly promoted to brigadier general. Stratemeyer became general of the India-Burma Sector and air adviser to the commanding general of the China-Burma-India Theater in 1943. He was again promoted in 1945 and from April 1944 until March 1946 was commander of the Army Air Forces in the China Theater. After the war, Stratemeyer commanded the Air Defense Command at Mitchel Field, N.Y. and the Continental Air Command which was organized there in 1948. He went to Tokyo in April 1949 as commanding general of Far East Air forces, which he led through the first year of the Korean War. His units responded rapidly to the North Koreans' invasion of the South and provided South Korea and General MacArthur with vital air support. General Stratemeyer retired January, 1952, and died in August, 1969.

Epithet: Lieutenant-General