Robert M. Webster

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United States Air Force general

title: "Robert M. Webster" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1892-births", "1972-deaths", "aviators-from-massachusetts", "air-corps-tactical-school-alumni", "air-corps-tactical-school-faculty", "aerial-warfare-pioneers", "burials-at-arlington-national-cemetery", "military-personnel-from-boston", "recipients-of-the-distinguished-service-medal-(us-army)", "recipients-of-the-legion-of-merit", "recipients-of-the-air-medal", "recipients-of-the-silver-star", "united-states-air-force-generals", "united-states-army-air-forces-generals", "united-states-army-command-and-general-staff-college-alumni", "united-states-army-air-forces-generals-of-world-war-ii"] description: "United States Air Force general" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Webster" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary United States Air Force general ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

Field	Value
name	Robert Morris Webster
birth_date
death_date
birth_place	Boston, Massachusetts
placeofburial	Arlington National Cemetery
image	Robert Morris Webster.jpg
caption	Major General Robert Morris Webster
allegiance	United States
branch	[[File:USAAC Roundel 1919-1941.svg
[[File:Us army air corps shield.svg	25px]] U.S. Army Air Corps
[[File:Us army air corps shield.svg	25px]] U.S. Army Air Forces

|serviceyears= 1918–1954 |rank= [[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|20px]] Major General |commands= First Air Support Command, 1942

42d Bomb Wing, 1943

Allied Forces in Sardinia, 1944

United States/Free French 1st Tactical Air Force (provisional), 1945

Air Transport Command, European Division, 1945

Air Transport Command, 1946

First Air Force, 1947

Eastern Air Defense Force, 1949 |battles= World War II |awards= Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit Air Medal (2) Silver Star |=

Robert Morris Webster (October 19, 1892 – March 1, 1972) was a United States Air Force major general who was an early advocate of daylight precision bombing as a war-winning strategy. A rated command pilot, he commanded a number of large air units during and after World War II and served as a senior military representative of the United States in foreign relations.

Early career

Webster was born in Boston on October 19, 1892. He enlisted as a flying cadet on February 21, 1918. He attended the School of Military Aeronautics at Princeton University from March to June 1918 and was then assigned to Chanute Field, Illinois. He attended the Aerial Gunnery School at Carlstrom Field, Florida from October 1918 to February 1919. Webster was trained at the Instructors School at Kelly Field, Texas and was then assigned to the District Ordnance Office in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as an Army Reserve officer.

Webster was commissioned lieutenant in the United States Army Air Service in July 1920. In January 1921, Webster went to the Long Island Air Reserve Depot in New York. In March, he returned to Carlstrom Field, then moved to Brooks Field, Texas, in July 1922. After the formation of the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) in July, Webster was assigned to the Philippines in October 1926—he served with the Second Observation Squadron at Nichols Field, and a month later was assigned to the Fourth Composite Group there. In December 1928, Webster became an instructor with the Connecticut National Guard at Hartford.

Air Corps Tactical School

Webster entered the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) at Maxwell Field, Alabama, in August 1933. Webster taught within the Air Force Section of the school.

Along with other young Air Corps officers Donald Wilson, Robert Olds, Kenneth Walker, Claire Chennault, and Harold L. George, Webster risked his career by advocating an independent Air Force in a speech he presented to the Howell Commission in 1934. Webster said:

Webster further asserted to the commission that "Ground officers were not aware of the fact that a properly organized attack, once launched in the air, cannot be stopped." The Howell Commission was impressed by the testimony of Webster and the young officers, and they drew up plans for the activation of GHQ Air Force, an interim solution one step closer to an independent air force.

On March 7, 1936, Webster was raised to the rank of major and was assigned chief of the Bombardment Section, ACTS, replacing Major Odas Moon who had been relieved of the position five weeks earlier. For the school year 1936–1937 Webster was named chief of the Air Force Section.

Webster entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in August 1937, was graduated the next June, and was The assigned in Washington, D.C., as chief of the Training Section in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps.

World War II

United States became directly involved in World War II in December 1941 while Webster was stationed in Washington. Webster continued to work there to organize the massive training programs undertaken by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Remaining in the nation's capital, in March 1942 Webster joined the Operations Division of the War Department General Staff. Webster was named commanding general of the First Air Support Command at Mitchel Field, New York, in August 1942. On October 2, 1942, Webster took command of the unit.

In April 1943, Webster assumed command of the 42nd Bomb Wing, a unit without men or aircraft. In the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Webster supervised the incorporation of air groups in August. He took official command on August 24, 1943. Webster commanded the unit during its participation in the Allied invasion of Italy. In July 1944, he was appointed commander of the Allied Forces in Sardinia, Italy, and deputy commander of the 12th Air Force. Going to France in March 1945, Webster assumed command of the First Tactical Air Force, a provisional unit made up of both Free French and American units.

In July 1945, Webster joined the Air Transport Command, and in August assumed command of its European Division in Paris, France.

Post-war career

In July 1946, Webster was named deputy commander of Air Transport Command, based at Gravelly Point, Virginia. On September 20, 1946, he assumed command. On February 10, 1947, Webster addressed the National War College with a lecture about the planning of air transportation for war. On July 16, 1947, Webster was transferred to Fort Slocum, New York, where he became commanding general of the First Air Force. During this time, the United States Air Force (USAF) was chartered from the former USAAF. Webster assumed command of the Eastern Air Defense Force, a part of the Continental Air Command, at Mitchel Air Force Base in New York, in September 1949. In this role, Webster presented the Amelia Earhart Scholarship to Virginia L. Sweet, a WASP aviator, in late 1949.

In June 1950, Webster was appointed chief of the Air Section, Joint Brazil-U.S. Military Commission, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Recognition

His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, and Air Medal with oak leaf cluster.

Effective dates of promotion

Second lieutenant - 1918
First lieutenant - July 1, 1920
Captain - October 1, 1934
Major (temporary) - March 7, 1936
Major (permanent) - July 1, 1940
Lieutenant colonel (temporary) - July 15, 1941
Lieutenant colonel (permanent) - December 11, 1942
Colonel (temporary) - February 1, 1943
Brigadier general (temporary) - September 18, 1943
Major general (temporary) - November 9, 1944
Major general (permanent) - February 19, 1948, backdated to December 20, 1942

References

"USAF Biography: Major General Robert M. Webster".
(March 2025)
For the next three years, Webster worked with other ACTS instructors—[[Harold L. George]], [[Donald Wilson (general)
Johnson, David E. ''Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917–1945''. Cornell studies in security affairs. Cornell paperbacks. Cornell University Press, 2003, pp. 160, 162. {{ISBN. 0-8014-8847-8
Tate, James P. ''The Army and Its Air Corps: Army Policy toward Aviation, 1919–1941''. Diane Publishing, p. 180. {{ISBN. 1-4289-1257-6
Nulty, Bernard C. ''Winged Shield, Winged Sword 1907–1950: A History of the United States Air Force, Volume 1.'' The Minerva Group, Inc., 2003, p. 128. {{ISBN. 1-4102-0901-6
[http://www.15thaf.org/49th%20BW/484th%20BG/Torretta%20Flyer/TF18/PDF/TF18-18.pdf ''The Toretta Flyer'', No. 18, Winter 1989–1990.] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-07-22 Retrieved on November 5, 2009.)
Maurer, Maurer and James Gilbert. (1980) ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Flight, its first seventy-five years. Perennial Works in Sociology. Ayer Publishing, pp. 391, 440, 457. {{ISBN. 0-405-12194-6
[https://waspfinalflight.blogspot.com/2009/07/wasp-virginia-l-sweet-43-4.html WASP Final Flight: Virginia L. Sweet, 1943–44. Died July 12, 2009.] Retrieved on November 5, 2009.

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