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MAJOR GENERAL OSCAR WESTOVER
(1883 - 1938)
Major General Oscar Westover was chief of
the Air Corps from December 1935 until September 1938, and was
in part responsible for the beginning of a period of expansion
that ended with the emergence of the U.S. Air Force as a
separate service.
Oscar Westover was born in Bay City, Mich., in 1883. His
military service began as an enlisted man in the U.S. Army from
1901 to 1902, when he was appointed to the U.S. Military
Academy. He graduated in 1906 and was commissioned a second
lieutenant in the infantry. Westover was promoted to first
lieutenant on April 13, 1911; to captain on July 1, 1916; and to
major on Oct. 20, 1917.
In 1919 Captain Westover was detailed to the Aviation Section,
Signal Corps, and in 1920 transferred to the Air Service with
the rank of major. (He had previously been promoted to
lieutenant colonel and colonel.) Westover attended the Air
Service Balloon School in 1921, the Air Service Airship School
in 1922, the Air Service Primary Flying and Advanced Flying
Schools in 1923, the Air Corps Tactical School in 1927, and
Command and General Staff School to January 1932, both as a
student and as an instructor. As a result of various courses,
Westover was awarded aeronautical ratings as a balloon observer,
airship pilot, airplane pilot, and airplane observer.
Westover served as assistant executive and executive in the
Office, Chief of the Air Service, from November 1918 to November
1920. He was appointed director of aircraft production in the
Office, Chief of the Air Corps in April 1921, serving until
December 1922. From 1924 to 1926 he served as commandant of the
Air Service Tactical School at Langley Field, Va., and as
commanding officer of Langley Field. On Jan. 13, 1930 he was
promoted to lieutenant colonel and on Dec. 22, 1931 appointed
assistant to the chief of the Air Corps and promoted to
brigadier general. He was named chief of the Air Corps and
promoted to major general on Dec. 22, 1935. He spent the next
two-and-a-half years flying to bases around the country to step
up pilot training and increase the emphasis on aviation which
would be important in the 1940s. On Sept. 21, 1938, General
Westover lost his life in an airplane accident near the Lockheed
plant at Burbank, Calif., when his plane burst into flames on
landing. Westover Air Force Base, Chicopee Falls,
Mass., was
named in his honor in June 1949.
General Westover has been awarded the Distinguished Service
Medal and the World War I Victory Medal.
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