William W. Momyer

William Wallace Momyer
General William W. Momyer
Nickname	Spike
Born	(1916-09-23)September 23, 1916
Died	August 10, 2012(2012-08-10) (aged 95)
Place of birth	Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S.
Place of death	Merritt Island, Florida, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1938–1973
Rank	General
Commands held	Tactical Air Command  Air Training Command  Seventh Air Force  8th Fighter-Bomber Wing  33rd Fighter Group
Battles/wars	World War II Vietnam War
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star (3) Legion of Merit (3) Distinguished Flying Cross

William Wallace Momyer (September 23, 1916 – August 10, 2012) was a general officer and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Among his notable posts were those commanding the Air Training Command, the Seventh Air Force during the Vietnam War, and the Tactical Air Command.

Early life

Momyer was born in 1916, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, attended Broadway High School in Seattle, Washington, and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Washington in 1937. His nickname within the service was "Spike".

Momyer entered military service in 1938 as an aviation cadet in the Air Corps, and after successfully completing primary and basic pilot training at Randolph Field, moved on to the advanced training school at Kelly Field, Texas, graduating in February 1939. He received his commission as a second lieutenant and a rating of pilot, assigned to pilot and flight commander duties until February 1941, when be became military observer for air with the military attaché in Cairo, Egypt. In this capacity, he was technical advisor to the Royal Air Force in equipping the first squadrons of the Western Desert Air Force including No. 112 Squadron RAF with Curtiss Tomahawk fighters, which enabled him to fly combat missions.

Service in World War II

Early in 1942, at the age of 25, Momyer replaced Col. Elwood R. Quesada as commanding officer of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk-equipped 33d Fighter Group. In October the group was carried to North Africa aboard the USS Chanango as part of Operation Torch. Launching from the aircraft carrier on November 10, the group attempted to land at the Port Lyautey airfield in French Morocco, which was still under occasional fire from French forces. Several aircraft were disabled in landing accidents and Momyer was awarded the Silver Star for personally extricating a trapped pilot from a P-40 that had flipped onto its back.

Curtiss P-40Fs similar to those flown by the 33rd FG in 1942-43

From Telergma Airfield, Algeria, and Thelepte Airfield, Tunisia, Momyer led the 33rd FG on combat missions in the Tunisia, Sicily and Naples-Foggia campaigns. For his performance during several combat actions of the North African campaign, he received the Distinguished Service Cross and two oak leaf clusters to his Silver Star. In North Africa, while leading his group on a ground attack against German positions near El Guettar, he single-handedly engaged 18 Junkers Ju 87 (Stuka) aircraft escorted by German and Italian fighters on 31 March 1943, and had four confirmed kills. He accrued more than 200 combat flying hours and became an ace with eight credited aerial victories.

During the initial campaign to evict the Axis forces from Tunisia in which the Luftwaffe had air superiority, the 33rd FG, in addition to supporting the push to the east, had half of its operational strength in reserve in the Oran area to help 12AF guard the Strait of Gibraltar and other lines of communication from possible attack from Spain or Spanish Morocco. Because of inadequate training and equipment of the A-20 portion of the XII Air Support Command and the tactical ineffectiveness of two French P-40 squadrons attached, the burden of air support fell primarily on the understrength 33rd FG. Thus despite cautions from his superiors, Generals Jimmy Doolittle and Howard Craig, Momyer was compelled to commit his aircraft to battle in small increments. The priority of demands by ground force commanders for defensive air cover from attacks by Stukas, however, meant that other tactical missions such as close air support and escort were necessarily left to small elements, and attrition was high during the German offensives in central Tunisia of 18 and 30 January 1943. On 2 February 1943, during German attacks on Faid Pass, where the Luftwaffe had been reinforced by the remains of the Desert Luftwaffe retreating with Rommel, the group was tasked to provide both an air cover umbrella for Allied ground forces under attack by Stukas and escort for attacking U.S. bombers, losing nine aircraft. As a consequence the 33rd Fighter Group was one of five Twelfth Air Force groups so debilitated that they were withdrawn from combat to reconstitute losses in pilots and acquisition of better aircraft. Soon after, during the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, Allied tactical airpower was reorganized in North Africa with the activation on 18 February of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) under the command of RAF Air Marshal Arthur Coningham. The 33rd returned to combat on 22 February from Youks-les-Bains Airfield, the last forward field for the Twelfth Air Force. Coningham, like Momyer, advocated attacks on Luftwaffe airbases as essential to acquiring air superiority, and initiated a counter-air campaign in mid-March that achieved air superiority soon after. The 33rd FG, operating from the recaptured Sbeitla Airfield, transitioned to the role of fighter-bomber at the same time and increased its effectiveness while decreasing its losses. Following the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa on 13 May, the Allied air forces immediately began a campaign of softening up the island of Pantelleria in preparation for Operation Corkscrew, the amphibious landing to seize the island scheduled for 11 June as a preliminary to the invasion of Sicily in July. The 33rd FG took part in fighter-bomber attacks on the island and on 29 May was augmented by attachment of the segregated 99th Fighter Squadron (known unofficially as the Tuskegee Airmen) to the group. Following the surrender of Pantelleria on 11 June, the 33rd FG maintained patrols over the island and Allied shipping until 26 June, when it moved to the island's airfield to begin attacks on Sicily.

During this period, Momyer reported that the 99th FS was ineffective in combat, alleging its pilots were incompetent and cowardly. Ignoring both their winning of a Distinguished Unit Citation and the fact he personally had ordered them into a ground attack role, he blamed them for seeing little air to air combat. He reported to NAAF Deputy Commander Major General John K. Cannon that, "It is my opinion...they have failed to display...aggressiveness and daring for combat...It may be expected that we will get less work and less operational time out of the 99th FS than any squadron in this group." Reports in the press resulted in a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee that refuted Momyer's accusations. Historian Walter J. Boyne wrote: "Momyer's illustrious combat record was tarnished by (the) incident of racial intolerance...at a time when such attitudes were still pervasive. Eventually, an unbiased analysis of the 99th record against other P-40 units showed that Momyer's assessment was wrong." The 99th Fighter Squadron continued in combat despite his recommendation, and became the nucleus of the African-American 332nd Fighter Group.

Momyer returned to the United States in 1944 and became chief of the Combined Operations Branch of the Army Air Forces Board, with the mission of devising doctrine for cooperation of air, land, and sea forces in combat operations. From his work came AAF (and later USAF) doctrine that after the first priority of achieving air superiority was successful, the next priority for airpower was isolating an enemy’s forward forces by destroying his forces in the rear.

Post World War II and Korea

Lt. Gen William W. Momyer, Commander, Air Training Command

He became assistant chief of staff, A-5, for Tactical Air Command in 1946 during the formation of Tactical Air Command headquarters, and continued serving with TAC until he entered the Air War College in 1949.

Upon graduation from the Air War College in 1950 he became a member of the faculty. He attended the U.S. Army War College in 1953-1954 and then went to Korea where he commanded the 8th Fighter-Bomber Wing. With the redeployment of units from Korea to Japan, the 8th Fighter-Bomber Wing moved to Itazuke Air Base.

Post Korean service

In March 1955 Momyer returned to Korea to establish the 314th Air Division and command all U.S. Air Force units in Korea. Returning from Korea in October 1955, he assumed command of the 312th Fighter-Bomber Wing, Clovis Air Force Base, New Mexico, (subsequently renamed Cannon Air Force Base).

Momyer assumed command of the 832d Air Division, Cannon Air Force Base, in May 1957. As commander of the two F-100D Super Sabre fighter wings, he had the distinction of commanding the first units to take top honors for both conventional and special weapons teams during the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons Meet at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

Momyer was director of plans, Headquarters TAC, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, from July 1958 to October 1961. He was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force from October 1961 to February 1964 as director of operational requirements, and during the period of February–August 1964, as assistant deputy chief of staff, programs and requirements.

Vietnam era service

In August 1964 Momyer became commander of the Air Training Command and held that post until July 1966, when he went to Vietnam to serve as deputy commander for air operations, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, and also, commander, Seventh Air Force. He served in this important dual role until August 1968, at which time he assumed command of Tactical Air Command.

Momyer has been subject to criticisms for his relationship to subordinates and insistence on implementation of his own views in tactical matters. During Momyer's tour in Southeast Asia, he was a vigorous exponent of an all-jet air force, believing that jet fighter-bombers could outperform the slower, often more accurate propeller-driven strike aircraft such as A-1 Skyraiders and T-28 Trojans. According to the autobiography by Brigadier General Chuck Yeager, Yeager as a colonel and fighter wing commander had a serious dispute with Momyer. Yeager's career was saved when he was promoted to Brigadier General, possibly over Momyer's objections. It is implied by Yeager's book that Momyer held highly prejudiced views that contrasted greatly with his tactical expertise. Boyne reported, however, that Momyer supported the tactical initiative Operation Bolo proposed by Col. Robin Olds despite personally disapproving of Olds' public persona, and supported Col. Jack Broughton's attempts to localize planning of air missions against North Vietnam until PACAF commander Gen. John D. Ryan made known his extreme dislike of Broughton. Momyer retired from the Air Force on September 30, 1973. He died of heart failure on August 10, 2012 at an assisted living center in Merritt Island, Florida, aged 95.

Awards and decorations

Momyer was a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours. Among his military awards and decorations are the Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Silver Star with two oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, French Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, and the British Distinguished Flying Cross.

•   Distinguished Service Cross
•   Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
•   Silver Star with two oak leaf clusters
•   Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
•   Distinguished Flying Cross
•   French Légion d'honneur
•   British Distinguished Flying Cross.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "General William Wallace Momyer".

• Boyne, Walter J. (2013). "Momyer". http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2013/August%202013/0813momyer.aspx. Retrieved 2013-08-13. 
• Mayock, Thomas H. (1946). The Twelfth Air Force in the North African Winter Campaign, 11 November 1942 to the Reorganization of 18 February 1943, USAF Historical Study No. 114, Air Force Historical Research Agency
• Mortenson, Daniel R. (1987). A Pattern for Joint Operations: World War II Close Air Support, North Africa. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History/U.S. Army Center of Military History.
• 332nd Fighter Group: Tuskegee Airmen. Chris Bucholtz. Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-84603-044-7, ISBN 978-1-84603-044-4.
• The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men who Changed a Nation. Charles E. Francis, Adolph Caso. Branden Books, 1997. ISBN 0-8283-2029-2, ISBN 978-0-8283-2029-0.
• CROSSWINDS: The Air Force's Setup in Vietnam: Volume 30 of Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series. Earl H. Tilford. Texas A&M University Press, 2009. ISBN 1603441263, 9781603441261.