When, on June 5, 1998, Falcon Air Force Base, ten miles east of
Colorado Springs, Colorado, was renamed in honor of General Bernard
A. Schriever, USAF (Ret.), it marked a singular event. Normally,
such an honor is bestowed posthumously, but in this case, the
renaming ceremony proved the exception. Although World War II had
sparked an effusion of scientific and technical developments, among
them radar, electronic warfare, jet engines, air-to-air and
air-to-ground missiles, and data-processing technology, the two
innovations of unprecedented character that had the greatest affect
on the Air Force and the world balance of power were nuclear
weapons and ballistic missiles. Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, who led
the Army Air Forces in World War II, believed correctly that the
Air Forces' future lay in adapting scientific and engineering
advances to air warfare. He was determined to continue in peacetime
the cooperation between the Air Force, university scientists, and
industry that had paid such handsome dividends during the war. One
of the men selected to help fashion the technology of the postwar
Air Force was a young colonel named Bernard Schriever, who combined
some uncommon personal attributes with engineering training and
combat experience. Schriever was to become the officer most closely
associated with the development of ballistic missiles. Ultimately,
he would be responsible for research, development, and acquisition
of all new weapons used by the United States Air Force. Recognized
as an unusually intelligent man, Bennie Schriever had a strong
character and a precise, disciplined, but creative mind, determined
to master any task he undertook, and willing to make hard
decisions. He is generally known as the "father of Air Force
missiles and space." United States Air Force, Office of Air Force
History. 1903 - 2003 Flight: the 100th Anniversary Commemorative
Edition.
General
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