Bryant LeMaire Boatner (9 April 1907 – 16 December 1986) was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Early life and family

Boatner was born and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana. His father, Mark Mayo Boatner, graduated from

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

and was a respected lawyer and judge in New Orleans. His mother's maiden name was Byrd Elizabeth Bryant. He was one of six children: Mark II, Frank, Haydon (who became an Army Major general), Charlotte and Elizabeth (Betty).

Military career

He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and was commissioned a second lieutenant of

Field Artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

in 1928. After attending flying schools at

Brooks Brooks may refer to: * Brook (small stream) Places Antarctica * Cape Brooks Canada *Brooks, Alberta United Kingdom * Brooks, Cornwall * Brooks, Powys, a location United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas * Brooks, California *Brooks, ...

and

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-use airport, Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, he was transferred to the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

as a Second lieutenant in November 1929, and assigned as squadron engineering and operations officer at

Selfridge Field Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Un ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He was promoted to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

on 1 February 1934. In October 1934, he was assigned to

Wheeler Field Wheeler Army Airfield , also known as Wheeler Field and formerly as Wheeler Air Force Base, is a United States Army post located in the City & County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii. It is a National H ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

as assistant station supply officer, operations officer and squadron commander. He was promoted to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(temporary) on 12 March 1935. In late 1936, he was assigned to

Barksdale Field Barksdale may refer to: Places * Barksdale, Mississippi, an unincorporated community *Barksdale, Texas, an unincorporated community * Barksdale, Wisconsin, a town ** Barksdale (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community *Barksdale Air Force ...

, Louisiana, where he served as operations officer, flight commanding officer and adjutant. In August 1938, he went to the Air Corps Engineering School at

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loc ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, from which he graduated a year later. He was stationed at the Air Corps Engineering School from August 1939. He was promoted to

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

(temporary) on 1 February 1941. He was transferred to the Special Projects Branch of the Production Engineering Section in July 1941. He was promoted to Lieutenant colonel (temporary) on 5 January 1942 and then to

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

(temporary) on 1 March 1942. He became chief of the Special Projects branch in October 1942. He retained that position when the branch was redesignated the Aircraft Modification Section. In July 1943, he became assistant chief of the Production Division, serving until February 1944, when he was appointed assistant chief of the Inspection Division. Two months later he became chief of that division. In September 1944, he was named chief of the Quality Control Section of the Procurement Division, and in June 1945, was appointed deputy chief of the Procurement Division and chief of the Inspection Section. In June 1945 he was sent to the 501st Army Air Force Base Unit in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

for indoctrination in

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...

policies and procedures. In August 1945 he went to Europe as deputy division commander of the 1400th Army Air Force Base Unit, and in November 1945 he became commanding officer of the European Wing (Provisional) of Air Transport Command. In April 1946, he was assigned to Army Air Force Headquarters as secretary of the air staff and executive to the deputy commander of the Army Air Force. In January 1947, he was designated deputy chief of Air Staff in addition to his other duties. On 4 February 1947 he was promoted to Brigadier general (temporary). In June 1947 he was relieved as executive to the deputy commander. In October 1947, after

(USAF) headquarters was established, he was appointed secretary of the Air Staff. Still at USAF Headquarters, he was appointed assistant deputy chief of staff for personnel and administration, in February 1948. On 8 April 1948 he was promoted to Major general (temporary). In May 1949 he became assistant comptroller, and in September of that year was redesignated assistant deputy chief of staff, comptroller. He assumed command of the Air Proving Ground at

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, in July 1950. Returning to USAF headquarters in July 1952, he was appointed

Inspector General of the Air Force The inspector general of the Department of the Air Force is responsible for conducting investigations and inspections as directed by the secretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, chief of staff of the Air Force, a ...

. On 5 September 1952 he was promoted to

(temporary). On 1 April 1954, he was designated deputy chief of staff, materiel, there. On 31 August 1955 he retired from the USAF with 80 percent disability. In April 1961 a private bill was passed by the United States Senate providing for his retirement pay.

Death

He died on 16 December 1986 and was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boatner, Bryant L. 1907 births 1986 deaths United States Air Force generals United States Military Academy alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit