Oscar M. Westover succeeded Foulois as chief of the Air Corps, holding that position between 1935 and 1938. A balloonist originally, fellow airmen saw him as insufficiently airminded. For that precise reason he was popular with the General Staff and was thus named as Foulois's successor. He was killed in a plane crash in September 1938 and his place was taken by Henry H. ("Hap") Arnold. It is interesting to speculate on whether he would have played a role in the expansion of the Air Corps in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor, or if, like Malin Craig in the Army, he would have been shunted aside just as the crisis approached. There is no biography of Westover, but Frank Faulkner includes a chapter on him in his handbook,Westover: Man, Base and Mission (Springfield: Hungry Hill Press, 1990). In the truth, this chapter is little more than an expanded resume listing his various assignments and promotion dates with no analysis; it does, however, contain a number of interesting photographs.
James L. Crowder, Jr. is an Air Force historian who discovered a foot locker containing the personal papers of Major General Clarence R. Tinker; this led him to write a biography of this unusual airman who was an Osage Indian and also the first American general officer to die in World War II: Osage General: Major General Clarence R. Tinker (Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.: Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, 1987). Crowder states that his book "is neither a psychological analysis of the individual nor a study of aviation doctrine in the emerging air force." Rather, it is a mildly interesting, if somewhat chatty, account of Tinkers military career and life. In June 1942 his B17 went down at the Battle of Midway.
We are not told here of Tinker's theory of air warfare, but it appears from his speeches during the war that he was a strong strategic airpower advocate. The book's major flaw is that it tells us little of what made Tinker successful. We learn instead of his personal life and character traits. These are useful, but unfortunately, are too colored by their telling through the eyes of an adoring wife, sister, and daughter. The result is much anecdotal information but little real analysis. Nonetheless, this is a workmanlike story of a career soldier during peacetime who served in many capacities all over the world. He loved to fly, was highly competent and well respected within the Air Corps, and was probably destined for high rank and responsibility had he lived.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the US Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.
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