F. Ryan III became president of Mid-Continent Airlines. He served as president until he joined the United States Army March 6, 1942. At that time, J. W. Bill Miller was elected President and General Manager, which he held until the merger with Braniff Airways in 1952. From May 1942 to September 1944, Mid-Continent flew a cargo route for the Army Air Transport Command, which carried nearly 17,000 pounds of critical war materials. The Airline also operated scheduled passenger services with a greatly reduced fleet and it also trained Army pilots and mechanics and modified military aircraft. The company modified the famed B-25s that General Jimmy Doolittle used to bomb Tokyo. By June 1942, the company had remanded 70 percent of its fleet to the US Military. However, by 1943, the fleet had been restored to 50 percent of its pre-war count. From Lodestars to DC-3s In January 1945, Mid-Continent began replacing its Lockheed Lodestars with luxurious 21-passenger twin-engine Douglas DC-3 airliners. This revolutionary new airliner increased the company's available space by 223 percent and enabled it to significantly increase its schedule. During this period, the company had improved it maintenance procedures to an unprecedented level. As a result, this improvement enabled the Airline to operate 85 percent of its pre-war scheduled mileage by late 1943 and by the end of 1944, it had surpassed its 1941 full fleet scheduled mileage all despite its reduction in fleet size by 50-percent. Down to the Gulf Coast In August 1945, Mid-Continent inaugurated new extension service from Tulsa to New Orleans, Louisiana, with intermediate stops at Fort Smith, Arkansas; Texarkana, Arkansas/Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. Seven months later in March 1946, the company began stopping at Mason City, Iowa, on its Des Moines to Minneapolis route and in July 1945, service was added at Muskogee, Oklahoma, on the Tulsa to New Orleans flights. During wartime service, the company had discontinued service at Aberdeen, Bismarck/Mandan and Minot as well as St. Joseph, Missouri. In September 1946, all service was restored to these destinations. Colonel Thomas F. Ryan III returned from military service in February 1946 after having served as Staff Officer under General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific. At this time, Mr. Ryan was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mid-Continent Airlines. In February 1947, service was extended from Tulsa to Houston, Texas, with an intermediate stop at Tyler, Texas, and a month later