He attended Southeastern State Teachers College in Durant, Oklahoma, and then joined the United States Army in 1917. He worked in the aerospace industry following his retirement from the military, then became a newspaper columnist.Įaker was born in Field Creek, Texas, in 1896, the son of a Dutch tenant farmer. Eaker then took overall command of four Allied air forces based in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, and by the end of World War II had been named Deputy Commander of the U.S. While he struggled to build up airpower in England, the organization of the Army Air Forces evolved and he was named commander of the Eighth Air Force on December 1, 1942.Īlthough his background was in single-engine fighter aircraft, Eaker became the architect of a strategic bombing force that ultimately numbered forty groups of 60 heavy bombers each, supported by a subordinate fighter command of 1,500 aircraft, most of which was in place by the time he relinquished command at the start of 1944. Eaker, as second-in-command of the prospective Eighth Air Force, was sent to England to form and organize its bomber command. General (Honorary) Ira Clarence Eaker (Ap – August 6, 1987) was a general of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. VP of Hughes Aircraft (1947–57) and Douglas Aircraft (1957–61)
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