Stratemeyer, George Edward

Stratemeyer, George Edward ˈstræṯəˌmīyər (1890–1969) air force officer. Born in Ohio but raised in Indiana, Stratemeyer trained as a pilot in California as a member of the aviation section of the U.S. Signal Corps. Just before the outbreak of World War II, he was head of the Training and Operations Section in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps. After the United States entered the war, he was named chief of the Air Staff at the Army Air Forces headquarters in Washington, D.C. He later headed AAF operations in the China-Burma-India theater and advised Gen. Joseph Stilwell; in 1943 he took command of the Eastern Air Command, which directed joint U.S.-British air operations. In 1945 he became commanding general of the AAF in China and deputy commander of U.S. Forces China theater, with the rank of lieutenant general. After the war he headed the U.S. Air Defense Command and the Tactical Air Command; he later took over the Far East Air Forces (FEAF). During the Korean War, FEAF provided strong support to ground forces but was unable to incapacitate the Chinese logistical system. He sided with Gen. Douglas MacArthur in his disagreement with President Harry S. Truman over war strategy, believing that it would be advantageous to carry the war to China, instead of restricting the fighting to Korea.