Ernest Thorpe Cragg (January 19, 1922 – March 9, 2006) was a major general in the United States Air Force.

Biography

Pre World War II

Ernest T. Cragg was born in

Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of t ...

. He spent his youth in the Greenwich/ Cos Cob area of Connecticut, graduating from

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...

in 1939. He subsequently attended the

Stanton Preparatory Academy Stanton Preparatory Academy was founded in 1925 to prepare young men for entrance to the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. The school was located in Cornwall, New York, five miles from W ...

in Cornwall New York to complete work needed for enrollment in the United States Military Academy.

World War II

On July 1, 1940, then

Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

Cragg entered what became the first of the World War II accelerated 3-year West Point classes, completing basic flight training by graduation on June 1, 1943. He received advanced flight training at Craig Field and Matagorda Island. After training, he was assigned to the 401st fighter bomber squadron,

370th fighter group The 370th Fighter Group was a unit of the Ninth Air Force that was located in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 198 ...

, which joined the 9th Air Force in England in early 1944. He served the squadron as pilot, flight commander and assistant operations officer. The unit began combat operations May 1, 1944. By October he had competed 76 combat missions, totaling 175 flying hours in

P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

and P-51 aircraft. During those missions he compiled an air-to-air combat record of 2 confirmed kills, 2 probable kills and 1 damaged. He flew two air cover missions over the Normandy Invasion fleet on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

. Having completed his combat tour, rather than return to the US, he requested and received an assignment to the 9th Infantry Division and the 9th Armored Division as air liaison officer and forward air controller; then to the IX Tactical Air Command as combat operations duty officer. By V-E Day he had attained the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters. In the days following the end of the war he met and subsequently married, while still in Germany, his wife, First Lieutenant Helen Claire Petraborg, a nurse with the 91st Evacuation Hospital. After the wedding she returned to the United States while he made preparations to go to the Pacific for the then expected

invasion of Japan Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ...

. With the surrender of Japan, he stayed on in Germany for another year, serving in the occupation with the 70th Fighter Wing at Neubiberg, Germany, as the assistant chief of staff, operations.

Military career after World War II

After the war, he served in the

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...

at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, as director of special weapons. While a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

he became the commander of the 563rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron (which flew

F-86 The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

aircraft) at Clovis (now Cannon) AFB in New Mexico. He led the squadron on its "Fly Away" to Bitburg Air Base Germany in 1954. His next assignment was with the Twelfth Air Force in Ramstein, Germany. There he served as chief, Special Weapons Division; chief, Tactical Operations Division; and later deputy director of operations and training. In January 1958 he was appointed director of the Combat Operations Center, Twelfth Air Force, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe Advanced Echelon (aka Kindsbach Cave). In 1958 then Colonel Cragg returned to the United States and was assigned to Headquarters, USAF in the Pentagon. In 1963, Colonel Cragg became first the vice commander, and then the commander of the

20th Tactical Fighter Wing The 20th Fighter Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Shaw Air Force Base South Carolina. The wing is assigned to Air Combat Command's Fifteenth Air Force. The wing's mission is to provide, project, and sustain c ...

(flying F-100s) at RAF Wethersfield England. He also served as commander of the 3500th Pilot Training Wing (flying T-37s and T-38s) at

Reese AFB Reese Technology Center is a research and business park located on the grounds of former Reese Air Force Base in western Lubbock at the unincorporated community of Reese Center. History Reese Technology Center began as the Lubbock Army Air Corp ...

outside Lubbock, Texas, which he considered his favorite and most challenging assignment. Upon his promotion to brigadier general he became deputy chief of staff, operations, the

Air Training Command Air Training Command (ATC) is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command designation. It was headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, but was initially formed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was re-designated as Ai ...

, Randolph AFB Texas. In 1969 he returned to the Pentagon, first as assistant director and then as deputy director of aerospace programs (after receiving his second star). With the death of his wife Helen in 1972, General Cragg was reassigned to be vice commander of Second Air Force at Barksdale AFB. A year later he became the commander of the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center at Norton AFB, California. His final assignment was as chief of staff of the Allied Air Forces Southern Europe, based in Naples, Italy. A command pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours, he retired in 1975.

Decorations

General Cragg's decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

with two oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and the Belgian Fourragère. * COMMAND PILOT WINGS

Command Pilot Badge (more than 3,000 flying hours / 15 years as rated pilot) *

Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster * Legion of Merit ribbon

with two oak leaf clusters * Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon

Distinguished Flying Cross * Air Medal ribbon

Air Medal with thirteen oak leaf clusters * Air Force Commendation ribbon

Air Force Commendation Medal * Army Commendation Medal ribbon

Army Commendation Medal * Outstanding Unit ribbon

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

Activities after retirement

Upon retiring from the military, he became general director of RTB-Olympic Travel Limited in New York City. This company was chartered to provide the logistical planning and management for all US travel to the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

in Moscow. The US boycott of those games effectively ended operations for that company. After the Olympics, RTB-Olympic Travel was reorganized in Washington DC as a combination of Travelmasters International, Plane Travel, and The Society of Military Travelers. General Cragg served as chief executive officer. The companies catered to military personnel and their families. In this capacity he wrote a space available travel guide for retired military personnel. The agency's specialties were hunting trips (to Turkey and the former Yugoslavia) and trips to World War II European battlefields. With the advent of 50th anniversaries of various battles he was quite active, culminating in a formal dinner in England sponsored by Queen Elizabeth on the evening before the 50th anniversary of

General Cragg was an outdoorsman and hunter. He was active with the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited serving his home in Arlington, Virginia. He hunted ducks and geese on Maryland's Eastern Shore; white tail deer, dove, quail and wild turkey in Texas; and pheasants in North Dakota. He died on March 9, 2006 and was buried with full military honors alongside his first wife, Helen, in Section 5, Plot 104 Arlington National Cemetery.

References

External links

West Point June '43 Home PageErnest T Cragg Memorial Web Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cragg, Ernest T. 1922 births 2006 deaths People from Mount Vernon, New York Military personnel from Arlington County, Virginia People from Greenwich, Connecticut Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Air Force generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Recipients of the Air Medal Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Cos Cob, Connecticut Greenwich High School alumni