Lieutenant General Frank Alton Armstrong Jr

US Air Force Military Biographies, Annual, 2004

LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRANK ALTON ARMSTRONG JR.

Retired July 31, 1962. Died Sep. 1, 1969.

Frank Alton Armstrong Jr., was born at Hamilton, N.C., in 1902. He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1923 with a bachelor of laws degree. Two years later he received a bachelor of science degree from Wake Forest.

He began military service in February 1928 when he enlisted as a flying cadet at Nashville, N.C. He received primary training at Brooks Field, Texas and advanced training at Kelly Field, Texas. He received his pilot's wings in March 1929 and today is a command pilot with around 11,000 flying hours. He has flown the B-47 Stratojet in addition to many types of conventional aircraft.

Lieutenant Armstrong's first assignment after Kelly Field was with the Second Bombardment Group at Langley Field, Va. The lieutenant returned to Kelly Field in 1930 to attend the Flying Instructors' School and then went to March Field, Calif., as a flying instructor. In 1931 he transferred to Randolph Field, Texas where he continued his flying instruction duties.

In 1934, Lieutenant Armstrong received special navigation and instrument flying training at Rockwell Field, Calif., before he became a chief pilot with the Air Corps mail operations at Salt Lake City, Utah.

His first overseas tour was with the 78th Pursuit Squadron at Albrook Field, Canal Zone. Other pre-World War II assignments were: commander of the 13th Bombardment Squadron at Barksdale Field, La; a student at the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Ala; a military observer in England; with the 90th Bombardment Squadron at Savannah, Ga., Air Base; and duty at Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Early in 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong went to England to become the operations officer for the Eighth Bomber Command. After promotion to colonel during the same year, he became a bombardment group commander and a wing commander.

Colonel Armstrong led the first daylight raid ever made by the U.S. Army Air Force over Axis territory. This raid over Rouen-Sotteville, France blasted the target without loss of life or aircraft. For this operation Colonel Armstrong received the Silver Star and an oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross. (He had received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1936 for the landing of a twin-engine amphibian after one engine had exploded). He was also awarded the British Flying Cross for the Rouen-Sotteville raid, the first United States officer to be so honored.

Early in 1943, Brigadier General Armstrong led the group over Wilhelmshaven in the first heavy bomber raid over Germany proper. The B-17 experiences during this time became the basis of Bierne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett's book and movie "Twelve O'Clock High".

He returned to the United States in August 1943 and commanded bombardment training wings at Dalhart, Texas, Ardmore, Okla., and Colorado Springs, Colo. He then headed the 315th Bomb Wing at Peterson Field, Colo.

Brigadier General Armstrong's stay in the United States was of short duration. By mid-year 1945 he went to the Pacific where he took command of the same bomb wing that he trained at Peterson Field.

During the summer of 1945 he flew numerous missions over oil targets in Japan. In August he flew from Guam to Honshu, the longest and last very heavy bombing raid in the war, without bomb-bay tanks and with an extremely heavy bomb load. In November 1945, he led the first non-stop flight from Hokkaido, Japan, to Washington, D.C., in a Boeing B-29 bomber. He was awarded an oak leaf cluster to the Distinguished Flying Cross for each of the above achievements.

With World War II ended, Brigadier General Armstrong could look back on many significant achievements he had made during this worldwide conflict. He had served in both theaters. He personally led the first and last heavy bombing raids of World War II.

Early in 1946, he became the Pacific Air Command chief of staff for operations and later that year he returned to the United States to become senior air instructor at the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Va.

Early in 1949, Brigadier General Armstrong began the first of two tours in Alaska. He headed the Alaskan Air Command. In addition to increasing the combat capabilities of the Air Forces in Alaska, he pioneered (with other members of the Alaskan Air Command) an air route non-stop from Alaska to Norway, and from Norway to New York. Following the flight to Norway, he received the Gold Medal of the Aero Club of Norway, the highest civil award of that country.

Early in 1950, Armstrong was promoted to major general and a year later returned to the United States to command Sampson Air Force Base, N.Y. He was commended for the harmonious relationship established between the base and surrounding civil communities in the trying period of base activation.

Later in 1951, Major General Armstrong became commanding general of the Sixth Air Division at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., trained and equipped the Air Force's first B-47 Stratojet Wing.