Gordon Aylesworth Blake (July 22, 1910 – September 1, 1997) was a

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 ...

in the

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 ...

who served as director of the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

from 1962 to 1965.

Early life and training

Gordon Aylesworth Blake was born in

Charles City, Iowa Charles City is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Iowa, United States. Charles City is a significant commercial and transportation center for the area. U.S. Route 18 in Iowa, U.S. Routes 18 and U.S. Route 218, 218, Iowa Highway 14, ...

, on July 22, 1910, the son of George and Cecelia Blake. He graduated from high school in Charles City and was appointed to 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 ...

by the late Gilbert N. Haugen in 1927, graduating on June 11, 1931. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps and detailed as a student officer to pilot training. In October 1932, Blake completed Primary and Advanced Flying Schools. He was transferred to the Air Corps on January 25, 1933, and was assigned to a pursuit squadron at Barksdale Field,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Entering the Signal School at

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, in July 1934, he completed the Communications Officers' Course the following June and was assigned as communications instructor at the Air Corps Technical School, at Chanute Field, Illinois.

World War II

Going to

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 ...

in February 1939, Blake was communications officer of the 18th Composite Wing. During September 1941, he acted as communications officer on the first land-based aircraft flight from Hawaii to the Philippines. This flight was made in

B-17 bomber The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

s sent to the Philippines as reinforcements and flew a pioneer route –

Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housi ...

;

Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...

; Port Moresby, New Guinea;

Darwin, Australia Darwin (Laragiya language, Larrakia: ') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 Australian census, ...

; Clark Field, Philippine Islands. All members of the flight were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. On December 7, 1941, Blake was base operations officer (in the rank of major) at Hickam Field during the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the tim ...

and was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

for gallantry in action that day. He became operations officer, Seventh Air Force Base Command, was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and spent the first months of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

supervising operation of the airplane ferry route to Australia via

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

–

Canton Island Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...

–

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

–

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. In October 1942, Blake shifted back to communications work and commanded Army Airways Communications System in the Pacific for the rest of World War II, with the exception of the period October 1943 to January 1944, when on temporary duty in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, he established the Air Communications Office for Alaska. He was promoted 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 ...

in November 1942. On August 28, 1945, he accompanied a special 150-man task force into Japan to prepare for airborne occupation troop landings on August 30.

Post-war

For his work in World War II, Blake was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

by Admiral

Chester W. Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; 24 February 1885 – 20 February 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, ...

, plus an

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

to the Legion of Merit by the War Department, the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

with oak leaf cluster, and

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s for participation in the following campaigns: Central Pacific, Eastern Mandates, New Guinea, North Solomons, Guadalcanal, Papua and South Philippines, Luzon and Western Pacific. He returned from overseas in November 1945, and in January 1946, was appointed deputy commander of the Airways and Air Communications Service at Langley Field,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Entering the

Air War College The Air War College (AWC) is the senior Professional Military Education (PME) school of the U.S. Air Force. A part of the United States Air Force's Air University (United States Air Force), Air University, AWC emphasizes the employment of air, ...

Maxwell Air Force Base Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, in August 1947, Blake graduated the following June and went to research and development work at

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

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 ...

. Between 1948 and 1951, he was with the Electronics Subdivision of the Engineering Division and served as chief of the Armament Laboratory. In the summer of 1951, he was placed in charge of 12 development laboratories and promoted to brigadier general. His final assignment at Wright Field was as vice-commander from June 1952 to January 1953. Transferred to Air Force Headquarters in January 1953, Blake was appointed deputy director of communications in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, becoming director of communications the following month. Many changes to the United States Air Force system for global communications and navigation, including pioneer operational circuits using tropospheric scatter communications for the first time, were carried out during his tour as director of communications.

Washington and other moves

Blake was named assistant deputy chief of staff for operations on June 2, 1956. In this capacity he served on the Permanent Joint Board for Defense, Canada — US, under which many defense projects such as the Dewline radar network were planned between the two countries. During the latter part of his Washington assignment, he was given the aeronautical rating of command pilot and was promoted to major general, the highest permanent rank in the regular service. Blake left Washington on January 4, 1957, to become commander of the United States Air Force Security Service, a major component of the United States Air Force with its headquarters in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Texas. He was awarded the

Air Force Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force and is presented to airmen and guardians to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorious service to the United S ...

for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service in this command. On September 1, 1959, Blake was assigned as vice-commander-in-chief and

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Pacific Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PAC ...

, the air arm of the joint Pacific Command with its headquarters in

. Blake came to Headquarters

Continental Air Command Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary aug ...

in July 1961 as commander-designate. He assumed command of Continental Air Command on September 30, 1961, and became a

on October 1, 1961. Blake assumed the position of director,

, at

Fort George G. Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, th ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, July 1, 1962, which he held until his retirement in 1965. The US Air Force Aircraft Save Award is named after him. It is awarded for any action taken by an air traffic controller or airfield manager that results in the safe recovery of an imperiled airborne aircraft or help given to an endangered aircraft on the ground.

Decorations

References

External links

Air Force Link biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Gordon A. 1910 births 1997 deaths Directors of the National Security Agency People from Charles City, Iowa United States Air Force generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Military personnel from Iowa