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Nathan Farragut Twining (/ˈtwaɪnɪŋ/TWY-ning; October 11, 1897 – March 29, 1982) was aUnited States Air Forcegeneral.[1] He was thechief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 1953[2] until 1957, and the thirdchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1957 to 1960. He was the first member of the Air Force to serve as Chairman. Twining was a distinguished"mustang" officer, rising from private to four-star general and appointment to the highest post in the United States Armed Forces in the course of his 45-year career.
Twining was the son of Clarence Walker Twining and Maize (Barber) Twining.[3] His family had a strong military background; his brotherMerrill B. Twining was a general in theUnited States Marine Corps, his brother Robert B. Twining attained the rank ofcaptain in theUnited States Navy, and his uncleNathan Crook Twining was arear admiral in the Navy.[3][4] Twining's stepmother, Frances Staver Twining, was the author ofBird-Watching in the West.[5]
In 1913, Twining moved with his family fromMonroe, Wisconsin, toOswego, Oregon. He was educated in Wisconsin and Oregon, and was a 1917 graduate ofPortland, Oregon'sLincoln High School.[3][6] He served in theOregon National Guard from 1915 to 1917 and attained the rank offirst sergeant.[5][6] In 1917, he received an appointment toWest Point after placing well in a competitive examination for members of the National Guard.[6] Because the program was shortened to produce more officers forWorld War I, he spent only two years at the academy and graduated in 1919.[7]
After serving in the Armyinfantry for three years, including post-war occupation duty in Germany, in 1922 Twining was reassigned to theAir Service. Over the next 15 years he flew fighter aircraft inTexas,Louisiana, andHawaii, while also attending the Air Corps Tactical School and theCommand and General Staff College. WhenWorld War II broke out in Europe he was assigned to the operations division on the Air Staff; then in 1942 he was sent to theSouth Pacific where he became chief of staff of the Allied air forces in that area.
In January 1943, he was promoted tomajor general and assumed command of theThirteenth Air Force, and that same November he traveled across the world to take over theFifteenth Air Force fromJimmy Doolittle. On February 1, 1943, the U.S. Navy rescued Maj. Gen. Twining, the 13th Air Force Commander, and 14 others near theNew Hebrides. They had ditched their plane on the way fromGuadalcanal toEspiritu Santo and spent six days in life rafts.[8][9] After arriving in Europe, he commanded the Fifteenth Air Force as well as theMediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force of theMediterranean Allied Air Forces during theCombined Bomber Offensive andOil campaign againstthe Axis.[10][11][12] WhenGermany surrendered, Arnold sent Twining back to the Pacific to command theB-29s of theTwentieth Air Force in the last push against Japan, however he was in this command only a short time when theatomic strikes ended the war. On October 20, 1945, Twining led three B-29s in developing a new route from Guam to Washington via India and Germany. They completed the 13,167-mile-trip in 59 hours, 30 minutes.[9] He returned to the States where he was named commander of theAir Materiel Command, and in 1947 he took overAlaskan Air Command.
On September 23, 1947, Lieutenant General Twining issued a memo to Brigadier General George Schulgen of the Army Air Forces. The subject line of the memo read “AMC Opinion Concerning 'Flying Discs.[13]'” The general tone of the memo was that unidentified objects seen in the skies by military personnel were not weather, astronomical or other phenomenon but rather objects that warranted further investigation. Twining wrote “The phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious.”
After three years there Twining was set to retire as alieutenant general, but whenMuir Fairchild, theVice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, died unexpectedly of a heart attack, Twining was elevated to full general and named his successor.
When GeneralHoyt Vandenberg retired in mid-1953, Twining was selected asChief of Staff of the United States Air Force; during his tenure, massive retaliation based on airpower became the national strategy. During his tenure as Air Force Chief of Staff Twining oversaw massive buildup within the United States Air Force, including the entrance of several jet-fleet aircraft within the Air Force such as theBoeing B-52 Stratofortress,Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker andF-100 Super Sabre.[14] Twining also directed the development ofmissiles system within the Air Force. For his role and achievement in developing the Air Force, Twining was credited for leading the U.S. Air Force into a modern-day Air Force with far more sophisticated equipment rather than the old equipment that the Air Force used during the World War II and during the early years of the Air Force following the Air Force receiving its own autonomy in 1947.[14]
General Twining was also an ardent advocate of the Strategic Air Command and strongly believed thatStrategic Air Command was the best deterrent to Communist military power.[15] As a result, several of new Strategic Air Command bases including the Strategic Air Command underground command center inStrategic Air Command Headquarters was built during General Twining's tenure as Air Force Chief of Staff.[15]
As Air Force Chief of Staff General Twining also achieved the reputation for appeasing the acrimonious controversies which characterized theinterservice rivalry during the immediate postwar years and played major role in easing the interservice rivalry.[15] The interservice rivalry had emerged following the end of World War II and the establishment ofNational Security Act of 1947. One of interservice rivalry major conflict was the "Revolt of the Admirals" in 1949, on which theTruman administration canceled the building ofsupercarrierUSSUnited States (CVA-58) due to Truman Administration and theDepartment of Defense more preferred thestrategic bomber aircraftConvair B-36 Peacemaker, causing several high-ranking Navy officials to protest against the Truman administration decision to canceled the supercarrier project.[14]
In 1956, Twining was chosen by Eisenhower to head a delegation of senior officers to visitSoviet Union, the first such exchange since World War II. He was shown byZhukov at an air force base with Badger and Bison bombers flying overhead.[16]
In 1957,President Eisenhower appointed TwiningChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During his term as chairman, Twining oversaw the early stage of the Space Race and boost the space program due to the Soviet that launch an intercontinental ballistic missile on August 25, 1957, and less than two months later successfully launch "Sputnik" in orbit.[17] Twining also supported President EisenhowerNew Look policy that turns the military capability from conventional military capability into a modern military capability by pushing the research and development for science and technology especially on the weapons program.[14] The policy was to deter the threat from the Soviet and their Eastern Bloc allies and eventually preventing them to win theArms race. One of Twining's major achievement as Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff was the launch of The United States first liquid-fueledIntercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), theTitan andAtlas Missile in 1959. Twining was also credited for established the growth of TheStrategic Air Command or SAC as The United States primary Nuclear deterrence against the massive retaliation, as a result Strategic Air Command's strength increased multiple times rather than when Strategic Air Command was first established in 1946.[18][19][14] In 1958 when theIraqi's insurgent managed to topple the Iraqi's monarchy government causing the neighboring Lebanon to be concerned that the uprising might spread within the Lebanon area. Those eventually leading General Twining to convince President Eisenhower todeploy troops to Lebanon in order to secure the government of PresidentCamille Chamoun of Lebanon from the incoming uprising.[17] General Twining also played major role during theSecond Taiwan Strait Crisis when The People's Republic of China forces (PRC) attacked the Taiwan Territory island ofQuemoy andMatsu. Worried that the island of Taiwan might lose into the PRC's communist, General Twining and the rest of the Joint Chiefs member recommended to President Eisenhower to use whatever force necessary in order to protect the Island of Taiwan from the PRC's forces. This resulted in the deployment ofUnited States Seventh Fleet and another two carriers from the Mediterranean includingUSS Lexington andUSS Marshall to theFormosa strait. Several of the U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft also deployed to Taiwan.[17] Those eventually the show of force along with some political initiatives did worked and the crisis passed after the bombardment ceased. During theBerlin Crisis in November 1958 General Twining convinced President Eisenhower that the Soviet threat is imminent and eventually could caused major crisis and told the President that the armed forces have to standby in cased some major crisis erupted.[18][17] Some other service chief are considering for major mobilization forces along with the Western Allies. However General Twining saw that it was not necessary for that and The Soviet finally withdrew from its deadline in May 1959.[17][18]
During his tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Twining also played central role in working out a new procedures to coordinate a nuclear strike plans in order to prevent thefirst-strike and strength the United States deterrence against the United States enemy, especially those who own Nuclear Weapons.[19][17] This resulted in the development of land-based missiles andPolaris Submarines missile in order to complement thesubmarine-launched ballistic missiles as part of theNuclear Triad. Together with Secretary of DefenseThomas S. Gates Jr., Twining coordinated the creation of the Joint Strategic Planning Staff and also theSingle Integrated Operational Plan. These two functions plan played major role during the Cold War and eventually still play major role even after the end of the Cold War.[19][17]
Twining was re-appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the second term in 1959. However, due to his deteriorating health condition following major surgery, Twining chose to take early retirement from active-duty on September 30, 1960.[17]
Following his retirement from active duty Twining worked as vice chairman for the publishing firmHolt, Rinehart, and Winston. In 1965, Twining was named ninth annual recipient of the General William E. Mitchell Memorial Award.[20]
General Nathan F. Twining died on March 29, 1982, atLackland Air Force Base inTexas and was buried inArlington National Cemetery.
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | Private | Oregon National Guard | 1915 |
 | Corporal | Oregon National Guard | June 19, 1916 |
 | Sergeant | Oregon National Guard | March 25, 1917 |
 | First sergeant | Oregon National Guard | 1917 |
| None | Cadet | United States Military Academy | June 14, 1917 |
| No pin insignia at the time | Second lieutenant | National Army | November 1, 1918 |
 | First lieutenant | National Army | January 1, 1920 |
 | Second lieutenant | Regular Army | December 15, 1922 |
| First lieutenant | Regular Army | November 20, 1923 |
| First lieutenant | Regular Army (United States Army Air Service) | November 16, 1926 (transferred) |
 | Captain | Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps) | April 20, 1935 (temporary) August 1, 1935 (permanent) |
 | Major | Regular Army (United States Army Air Corps) | September 1 (accepted September 7) 1938 (temporary) July 1, 1940 (permanent) |
 | Lieutenant colonel | Army of the United States | September 15 (accepted September 22) 1941 |
 | Colonel | Army of the United States | February 1, 1942 |
 | Brigadier general | Army of the United States | June 17, 1942 |
| Lieutenant colonel | Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces) | July 15 (accepted July 22) 1941 (temporary) December 11, 1942 (permanent) |
 | Major general | Army of the United States | February 5, 1943 |
 | Lieutenant general | Army of the United States | June 5, 1945 |
| Brigadier general | Regular Army (United States Army Air Forces) | July 18, 1946 |
| Major general | United States Air Force | February 19, 1948 |
 | General | United States Air Force | October 10, 1950 (temporary) June 30, 1953 (permanent) |
General Twining held the ratings of Command Pilot and Aircraft Observer. In addition, General Twining was awarded numerous personal decorations from the U.S. military and foreign countries.
 | US Army Air Forces Command Pilot Badge |
 | US Army Air Forces Aircraft Observer Badge |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force 1950–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force 1953–1957 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1957–1960 | Succeeded by |
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