John Gordon Fowler (September 6, 1905 – December 8, 1971) 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 ...

brigadier general who was a recipient of 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 ...

Biography

Early life

Fowler was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in 1905. In 1924 he graduated from Lake View High School in the same city, and four years later got a degree in engineering from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He entered Primary Flying School as a flying

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and later on was transferred to the Advanced Flying School at

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, from which he graduated on June 22, 1929, and the same year became second lieutenant. In October of the same year he was a pilot 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, ...

. Between 1930 and 1940 he was a flying instructor and pilot at more than one base of the

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and

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 July 1940 he entered into the

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at Maxwell Field,

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from which he graduated in September of the same year and was given a task to command Second Bomb Group at

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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 ...

World War II

When

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 ...

began, he became an assistant

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 ...

for the Anti-Submarine Command in

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where he also became

deputy chief of staff Deputy Chief of Staff and similar titles can refer to: Military positions United States Air Force *Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Cyber Effects Operations of the United States Air Force * Deputy Chief of St ...

for the

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission i ...

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in October 1943. In June 1944 Fowler worked with the 20th Air Force at

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where he operated 314th Bomb Wing which was sent by him to

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. In September 1945, he took command of the 20th Air Force Combat Staging Center at

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

and a month later he became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the 315th Bomb Wing.

Postwar era

On July 1, 1946, he worked for the Japan Air Materiel Area Command as chief of administration. In August 1947 Fowler became an assistant commandant of the 2621st Base Unit at

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and next year he took command of the 2518th Base Unit at Enid Air Force Base,

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. Later on, in October 1949, he moved to

Randolph Field Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United ...

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where he was in charge of the 3510th Pilot Training Wing and a year later, in August, entered into the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

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He graduated from there in June and was stationed at Joint Subsidiary Plans Division as the Air Force member. In March 1952, Fowler became a deputy to the assistant at the

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and in April he was already an assistant deputy director and became a deputy director a couple of months later. He came back to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in September 1954, and worked at the Far East Air Forces Headquarters as a deputy for intelligence. From December 1954 to June 1955 he worked in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

as a United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commissioner and on April 17, 1956, was assigned at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and Far East Command in Tokyo. He retired in May 1959 and died on December 8, 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, John Gordon 1905 births 1971 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Air Force generals Recipients of the Legion of Merit Military personnel from Chicago United States Army Air Forces officers