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6 GENERALS OF THE ARMY AND THE AIR FORCE AND ADMIRALS OF THE NAVY [[image - portrait photograph captioned BRIG. GEN. CHESTER A. CHARLES]] [[photo credit]] U. S. Air Force Photograph [[/photo credit]] and captain in 1932, he served in numerous assignments in that unit and in 1939 was promoted to major and appointed squadron commander. He was inducted into federal service for World War II in 1940. He remained in active federal service until December 1946. General Charles served as Observation Group Commander, Bombardment Group Commander and Anti-submarine Wing Commander until 1943. In that year, the then Colonel Charles was ordered overseas to command air bases in the Southwest Pacific area. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Commendation Ribbon for outstanding accomplishments in these assignments. He was transferred to Hawaii and the West Coast as Wing Chief of Staff to assist in the initial organization of Air Corps Wings in those areas. After V-J Day, General Charles commanded the Air Force Base at Charleston, South Carolina. In 1946 he assumed command of McGuire Air Force Base at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he served until he was released to receive an appointment in state service, charged with the reorganization of the postwar Air National Guard units in New Jersey. He was assigned to duty as Deputy Chief of Staff, New Jersey Department of Defense, on January 16, 1949, and appointed brigadier general, New Jersey Air National Guard, June 15, 1949. He remained in this assignment until he was appointed Chief of Staff, Headquarters, New Jersey Air National Guard on September 28, 1954. From 1927 to 1938, General Charles was a Supervising Aeronautical Inspector with the Civil Aeronautics Authority. He resigned from this position to engage in private aviation activities. In this work, he managed the Dupont Airport in Wilmington, Delaware, and organized aircraft sales and service agencies in which he occupied offices of major responsibility. The General and Mrs. Charles are residents of Sea Girt, New Jersey. Address: Department of Defense, State of New Jersey, Trenton 10, New Jersey. EDWARDS, IDWAL H., LT. GEN. USAF (Ret.) (11A) Born in Freedom, New York, on April 5, 1895. He entered the army in 1917, and in February 1918 was transferred to the Air Corps. During the period between the two World Wars he served in the Philippines, in Hawaii, and at many stations in the continental United States. He attended the various Service Schools, including the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Army War College, Washington, D. C., graduating from the latter in 1938. At the outbreak of World War II, General Edwards was in command of Randolph Field, Texas. During the war he served, on two occasions, as Assistant Chief of Staff for Training on the War Department General Staff. He also served as Chief of Staff of the European theater of operations in 1943, and as a deputy commander of the U. S. Air Force in the Mediterranean theater during 1944 and 1945. General Edwards was commanding general of the United States Air Forces in Europe from March 1946 to August 1947. He was then designated Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, at Air Force headquarters in Washington, D. C., until March 1950, when he was named Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, there. On July 28, 1951, General Edwards was appointed commandant of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, where he remained until he retired from active duty on February 28, 1953. Called back to active duty as a major general on February 8, 1954, General Edwards returned to Air Force headquarters for duty with the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, as President of a Special Board of Officers. He reverted to retired status on March 9, 1954. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster; Legion of Merit; Commander of the Order of the British Empire; and Commander of the French Legion of Honor. He was rated a command pilot, combat observer and aircraft observer. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in Infantry Reserve August 15, 1917, and received his Regular commission as a second lieutenant of Infantry October 26, 1917; was promoted to first lieutenant (temporary) on June 20, 1918; to first lieutenant (permanent) on September 8, 1919; to captain (permanent) on July 1, 1920; to major (permanent) on August 1, 1935; to lieutenant colonel (temporary) on June 17, 1938; to lieutenant colonel (permanent) on August 18, [[end page]] [[start page]] FEBRUARY, 1955 ISSUE 7 [[image - portrait photograph captioned LT. GEN. IDWAL H. EDWARDS]] [[photo credit]] U. S. Air Force Photograph [[/photo credit]] 1940; to colonel (temporary) on January 21, 1941; to brigadier general (temporary) on May 24, 1942; to major general (temporary) on February 5, 1943; to brigadier general (permanent) on February 21, 1947; to lieutenant general (temporary) on October 1, 1947; to major general (permanent) on February 19, 1948. He was advanced to lieutenant general on the Regular Air Force retired list. Address: c/o The Air Adjutant General, Hq. USAF, Washington 25, D. C. EISENHOWER, DWIGHT D. GENERAL OF THE ARMY (Resigned) (O3822) NOTE: This biographical sketch supersedes the biographical sketch which appeared in GENERALS OF THE ARMY in February 1953. Born on October 14, 1890, in Dennison, Texas, the third of seven sons born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower. In 1892 the Eisenhowers moved to Dickinson County, Kansas, where the family had resided until 1888, when they moved to Texas. The family home has been at Abilene, Kansas, continuously since the return in 1892. Dwight David Eisenhower attended public schools in Abilene, graduating from the high school there in 1909 with a good record in scholastics and athletics. During the year following graduation from high school he took competitive examinations for both the United States Military and Naval Academies, finishing first in the Annapolis examination and second in the West Point examination. He was appointed to the Naval Academy, only to discover that he would be several months too old for admission when the next Academy year started. However, the highest man on the West Point examination list was unable to accept the appointment and Dwight David Eisenhower received it instead. He entered the Military Academy on July 1, 1911, and was graduated in 1959, scholastically among the upper third of his class. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry and assigned to the 19th Infantry at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on September 13, 1915, and served there until May 28, 1917, with the exception of short periods when he was on detached service with the National Guard of Illinois at Camp Wilson, Texas, and as Assistant Mustering Officer, Southern Department, Camp Wilson. General Eisenhower then served with the 57th Infantry at Leon Springs, Texas, to September 18, 1917; as instructor in the Officers' Training Camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, to December 12, 1917, and as instructor, Army Service Schools, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to February 28, 1918. He organized the 65th Battalion Engineers at Camp Meade, Maryland; commanded Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, from March 24 to November 18, 1918; commanded Tank Corps troops at Camp Dix, New Jersey, to December 22, 1918; and at Fort Benning, Georgia, to March 15, 1919. General Eisenhower then went to Fort Meade, Maryland, where he served until January 7, 1922, as Executive Officer, and in command of various tank battalions. During this period he was graduated from the Infantry Tank School. He then went to the Panama Canal Zone where he served as Executive Officer, Camp Gaillard, to September 19, 1924, when he was assigned as Recreation Officer at Headquarters of the Third Corps Area, Baltimore, Maryland, remaining until December 15, 1924. He was Recruiting Officer, Fort Logan, Colorado, to August 19, 1925, when he entered the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, completing the course as an honor graduate in June 1926. (He was number one in a class of 245). On August 15, 1926, General Eisenhower joined the 24th Infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia, and on January 15, 1927, was transferred to Washington, D. C., for service with the American Battle Monuments Commission, remaining on that duty until August 15, 1927. He was graduated from the Army War College on June 30, 1928 and returned to duty with the American Battle Monuments Commission. From November 8, 1929 to February 20, 1933 he was Assistant Executive, Office, Assistant Secretary of War, during which time he was graduated from the Army Industrial College. He then served in the Office of the Chief of Staff to September 24, 1935. In September 1935, he went to Manila as Assistant to the Military Advisor, Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands, General Douglas MacArthur. He joined the 15th Infantry at Fort Ord, California, in February 1940, and accompanied this regiment to Fort Lewis, Washington, a few weeks later. On November 30, 1940, he was assigned as Chief of Staff of the 3rd
