Army & Navy – COMMAND: General Hap

Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold last week became the 13th* U.S. soldier, and the first airman, to wear the four stars of a general. The Senate confirmed the appointment immediately.

In making buoyant Hap Arnold a general, Commander in Chief Roosevelt spotlighted the growth of the Army Air Forces, whose enrollment is expected to jump from 1,500,000 to about 2,450,000 by year’s end. He also corrected two situations: as a lieutenant general, Arnold 1) has been the only member of the Joint (British-American) Chiefs of Staff to wear less than four stars, 2) has had six of the eleven U.S. lieutenant generals who are overseas serving under him while sharing his rank.

*The others: Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Pershing, Bliss, March, Summerall, Hines, MacArthur, Craig, Marshall, Eisenhower.