George Howard Brett (7 February 1886 – 2 December 1963) was a United States Army Air Forces General during World War II. An Early Bird of Aviation, Brett served as a staff officer in World War I. In 1941, following the outbreak of war with Japan, Brett was appointed Deputy Commander of a short-lived major Allied command, the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), which oversaw Allied forces in South East Asia and the South West Pacific. In early 1942, he was put in charge of United States Army Forces in Australia, until the arrival of Douglas MacArthur. Brett then commanded all Allied Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area. In November 1942, he was appointed commander of the US Caribbean Defense Command and remained in this post for the rest of the war. Early life George Howard Brett was born in Cleveland, Ohio on 7 February 1886, the second of five children of William Howard Brett, a notable librarian, and his wife Alice née Allen. George's older brother Morgan graduated with the United States Military Academy at West Point class of 1906, and served for many years as an ordnance officer, retiring in 1932 as a colonel. The family was unable to secure a second West Point appointment, so George Brett graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1909 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Philippine Scouts on 22 March 1910. While in the Philippines he transferred to the US Cavalry on 10 August 1911, joining the 2nd Cavalry. Brett returned to the United States in May 1912 and was first stationed at Fort Bliss. In December 1913, he moved to Fort Ethan Allen where he became friends with a fellow lieutenant of the 2nd Cavalry, Frank M. Andrews, who was engaged to the daughter of Major General Henry Tureman Allen. While serving as one of Andrews' groomsmen, Brett met Mary Devol, one of the bridesmaids, and the daughter of another Army officer, Major General Carroll A. Devol. Brett married Mary Devol in Denver on 1 March 1916. Influenced by Allen and Andrews, Brett transferred to the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps on 2 September 1916. He attended aviation school and on graduation in 1916 was assigned to the office of the Chief Signal Officer in Washington, D.C. where he was promoted to first lieutenant on 1 July 1916 and captain on 15 May 1917. World War I Brett