Jones, David Charles

Jones, David Charles,

1921–2013, American military officer, b. Aberdeen, S. Dak., studied Univ. of N Dakota and Minot State College. He joined the Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II, and was a flight instructor during the war and a bomber pilot in the Korean War. He served (1954–55) at the Strategic Air Command in Nebraska, and graduated from the National War College in 1960. In Vietnam, Jones was vice commander of the Seventh Air Force; he later was commander in chief of American air forces in Europe. In 1974 he was appointed Air Force chief of staff, and from 1978 to 1982 he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. An able administrator, he advocated reforms in the U.S. military, including a reorganization aimed at giving the Joint Chiefs chairman greater powers as principal military adviser to the president and secretary of defense and reducing rivalries among the military services (enacted 1986).