in the National Order of the Legion of Honor of France. Air Force and promotion to general Upon his return to the United States in January 1945, Col. Yates was made chief of the Weather Division, which later was merged with the Weather Wing to form the Air Weather Service, which he commanded at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, until 1950. During this period he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1947, and transferred to the U.S. Air Force. On March 17, 1947, he flew the first scheduled weather reconnaissance mission over the North Pole. In 1950, Brig. Gen. Yates was appointed assistant deputy chief of staff for development at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, and the following April he became director of research and development with the headquarters. He was promoted to the rank of major general in 1952. Patrick Air Force Base and the Pentagon Maj. Gen. Yates was commander of the Air Force Missile Test Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, from 1954 to 1960. During this tour he was awarded the Navy Legion of Merit for his services in connection with the Navy Project Vanguard and the Navy Ballistic Missile Program Polaris. in 1960 Yates was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed deputy director of defense research & engineering (ranges and space ground support) at the Pentagon. Yates retired from the United States Air Force on March 31, 1961. Scientific appointments Yates was a president of the American Meteorological Society, a member of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Rocket Society. Yates' younger brother Elmer P. Yates also graduated from West Point and became a major general in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. See also Weather forecasting for Operation Overlord James Martin Stagg Sverre Petterssen References Air Force Link Biographies: Donald Norton Yates Retrieved June 1, 2008 1909 births 1993 deaths Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Bangor, Maine United States Army Air Forces officers United States Air Force generals United States Military Academy alumni California Institute of Technology alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit Bangor High School (Maine) alumni