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First Name: Walter

Last Name: Todd

Birthplace: Gonzales, TX, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Air Force (1947 - present)



Middle Name: Edwin



Date of Birth: 25 June 1906

Date of Death: 13 February 1978

Rank: Lieutenant General

Years Served:
Walter Edwin Todd

   
Biography:

Walter Edwin Todd
Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force

Walter Edwin Todd was born on 25 June 1906 in Gonzales, TX. He attended Texas University for a year and then obtained an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. He graduated from West Point on 9 June 1928, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery in the U.S. Army. His first assignment was with the 15th Field Artillery at Fort Sam Houston, TX.

In October 1929, Todd began flight training at the Primary Flying School at Brooks Field, TX, and upon completion, attended the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, TX. He graduated as a pilot in February 1931. Todd then served in various capacities at France Field, Panama Canal Zone, until May 1934. He was transferred to Selfridge Field, MI, for duty with the First Pursuit Squadron; six months later he was assigned to the 27th Pursuit Squadron, also at Selfridge. In August 1936, he entered the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field, IL, and graduated the following June.

After graduation, Todd was assigned as Flight Commander and Instructor at the Primary Flying School at Randolph Field; he later became Post Adjutant. He returned to the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field in July 1938, where he served as a Senior Instructor. A year later, he returned to his former position at Randolph Field. In April 1941, Todd joined the Fourth Bomb Wing at Westover Field, MA, as its Executive Officer.

That August, Todd began the first of three assignments in Washington, DC. First, he became Executive Officer, Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff for Personnel (A-1), Headquarters U.S. Army Air Forces; then, in March 1942, he was appointed Member of the Southwest Pacific Division, Theater Group, Operations Division, War Department General Staff; and finally, in May 1943, he was named Deputy for Air, Strategy and Policy Group, Operations Division, War Department General Staff.

Todd was then sent to High Wycombe, England, in May 1944, where he served in three positions at Eighth Air Force. First, he was Assistant to the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training (A-3); later, he moved up to Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training (A-3); and shortly after that, he became Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

A year later, Todd returned to Washington where he was Chief of the Theater Division, Office of the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff for Plans, Headquarters U.S. Army Air Forces. In November 1945, he was appointed as the Military Air Attaché at the American Embassy in Moscow, USSR.

Upon his return to the U.S. in January 1947, Todd began the first of three consecutive assignments in Washington. He first served as Deputy Director of the Intelligence Division, War Department General Staff. Next he was Deputy Director of the Joint Intelligence Group, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The last of his assignments was as Deputy Assistant for Programming, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, and he remained in that post from 1949 to 1952.

He was transferred to the Air Defense Command in March 1952 to serve as Commanding General of the Western Air Defense Force, at Hamilton AFB, CA. He remained there until September 1955.

Todd was sent to Fuchu Air Station, Tokyo, Japan, on 15 September 1955, as Vice Commander of the Fifth Air Force. On 12 July 1956, he was named as Vice Commander and Chief of Staff of the Far East Air Forces (FEAF), also in Tokyo. Then, on 1 July 1957, he was sent to Musan-Ni, South Korea, as Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command, with additional duty as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Forces, Korea.

On 15 July 1958, Lieutenant General Todd accepted his final Air Force assignment as Commander of the Air University at Maxwell AFB, AL. He retired from active duty in 1961.

Lieutenant General Walter Edwin Todd was rated as a Command Pilot, Combat Observer and Technical Observer.

Medals and Awards

Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal

Badges

Command Pilot Badge

Death and Burial

Lieutenant General Walter Edwin Todd died on 13 February 1978. He is buried at Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM.



Honoree ID: 3307   Created by: MHOH

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