Robert William Strong Jr. (November 23, 1917 – March 16, 2006) was an American Major general and

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 ...

recipient.

Biography

Robert Strong was born on November 23, 1917, in Painseville, Ohio. His father, Robert William Strong Sr., was a member of the

class the stars fell on "The class the stars fell on" is an expression used to describe the class of 1915 at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. In the United States Army, the insignia reserved for generals is one or more stars. Of the 164 gradu ...

at West Point, who ended his career as a Brigadier General. Strong graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy at Wayne, Pennsylvania and in July 1936 entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. Four years later he graduated from there as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and in October of the same year began flight training at

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

, Texas where he also got his

Aircrew Badge The Aircrew Badge, commonly known as Wings, is a qualification badge of the United States military that is awarded by all five branches of armed services to personnel who serve as aircrew, aircrew members on board military aircraft. The badge ...

in September 1941. In December of the same year he was a bomber aircraft operations officer for the 41st Bombardment Group at Hammer Field, California. Later on,

47th Bombardment Group 47th may refer to: Chicago Transit Authority stations * 47th station (CTA Green Line) 47th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system, located in the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago, Illinois and serving the Green ...

at Visalia went also under his command. In August 1942, he went to Topeka, Kansas where he trained 333rd Bomb Group and the same year moved to Salina, Kansas where he did the same thing with the 346th Bomb Group. In January 1943 he took command of Salina's

504th Bombardment Group The 504th Bombardment Group (504th BG) was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. The unit served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The 504th Bomb Group's aircraft ...

and the same year moved back to Topeka. From March 1943 to February 1944 he served as an operations officer for the 2nd Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters and 3rd Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters at Topeka's 272nd Base Unit. In June 1944 Strong came back to Salina and became a commander of the 62nd Bombardment Group which played an important strategic role in South West Pacific Theater. Later on he was transferred to command the 39th Bombardment Group which was stationed on the island of Guam. During this time, his B-29s' squadron bombarded

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

for 200 hours. He came back to the United States in October 1945 and served as tactical officer at the U.S. Military Academy till July 1948. In August 1952 Strong became an assistant air attaché to Canada and then got enrolled into the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island. When he graduated from the War College in June 1953 he became a general at the Headquarters of the United States Air Force in Washington, D.C. In November 1961 Strong came back to the United States and became a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the 825th Strategic Aerospace Division which was stationed in Little Rock, Arkansas. There, he remained till March 1963 when he became commandant of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Two years later in July, he came back to SAC and was an

817th Air Division The 817th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Second Air Force, at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, where it was inactivated on 30 June 1971. The ...

commander there at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire. In July 1966, in the same place, he also served as a chief of staff for the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

where he remained till he retired on May 1, 1970. Strong died on March 16, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Robert William Jr. United States Air Force generals United States Army personnel of World War II United States Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit 1917 births 2006 deaths Military personnel from Ohio Naval War College alumni United States Army War College alumni United States air attachés