1946, he returned with the Seventh Air Force to Hawaii. That October, he was appointed chief of staff of the Pacific Air Command in Tokyo, Japan. One year later, in October 1947, White took command of the Fifth Air Force in Japan. Transferred to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force in October 1948, White became director of the Legislation and Liaison. He was appointed, in May 1950, Air Force Member of the Joint Strategic Survey Committee in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was assigned as director of Plans, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, in February 1951, and in July 1951, assumed duties of deputy chief of staff of operations for the Air Force. White was promoted to the rank of general on June 30, 1953, and designated Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force at that time, becoming Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on July 1, 1957. He retired June 30, 1961. Life after military Right after his retirement White was elected a director in Eastern Air Lines. General White was the 1963 recipient of the General William E. Mitchell Memorial Award, which was awarded "the United States citizen making the outstanding individual contribution to aviation progress." White was a fisherman, aquarist and amateur ichthyologist and while in Brazil he collected Zoological specimens with his wife, Constance, including the type of the Rio pearlfish Nematolebias whitei which was named in his honor. He died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on December 22, 1965, of leukemia, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2011. Awards and decorations White received at least three more foreign decorations. References Thomas Dresser White Papers at Syracuse University |- 1901 births 1965 deaths Joint Chiefs of Staff Chiefs of Staff of the United States Air Force United States Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Air Force generals United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Air Corps Tactical School alumni Recipients of the Air Medal Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Vice Chiefs of Staff of the United States Air Force People from Walker, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota