Vandenberg Air Force Base - History

History

Vandenberg Air Force Base is named in honor of the late General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, second Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force and chief architect of today's modern Air Force.

General Vandenberg was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 24, 1899. In 1923, he graduated from West Point. During World War II, Colonel Vandenberg was transferred to England and assisted in planning air operations for the invasion of North Africa. He received his first star in December 1942, and became chief of staff of the Twelfth Air Force in North Africa under General James H. Doolittle. During this campaign he flew over two dozen combat missions over Tunisia, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, and Pantelleria to obtain first hand information.

In March 1945, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and full general in 1947. Meanwhile, in January 1946, General Vandenberg was appointed chief of the intelligence division of the General Staff. In June, he was named director of the Central Intelligence Group, predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency formed in 1947.

With the establishment of a separate Air Force in September 1947, Vandenberg became its first vice chief of staff under General Carl Spaatz, and succeeded him on April 30, 1948. He held that post through the critical periods of the Berlin Airlift (1948–1949) and the Korean War (1950–1953).

General Vandenberg retired from the Air Force in June 1953. He died in Washington, D.C. on April 2, 1954.