Brigadier General Clifford Schoeffler (March 8, 1924 – August 22, 2005) was director of operations and training in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. He was a command pilot with more than 10,000 flying hours accumulated during his career. Early life Schoeffler was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he graduated from Lafayette High School in 1940 and attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then named the Southwestern Louisiana Institute. In 1942 he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps Reserve and began pilot training as an aviation cadet at Kelly Field, Texas. He received his pilot wings and commission as a second lieutenant in 1943. Military career Early career After serving in 1944 as a B-24 pilot in which he completed 30 missions for the Eighth Air Force in England, he returned to the United States. He became an instructor pilot at Bryan Army Air Base, Texas, and later at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. Carswell Air Force Base From 1948 to 1960, Schoeffler was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. During the return of the 7th Bomb Wing from an Arctic bombing exercise then-Lt Col Schoeffler was involved in a crash at Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay on 12 February 1953 that claimed two lives. Flying through adverse weather Schoeffler was receiving directions for an instrument landing by a ground control operator who was actually monitoring another nearby B-36. Colonel Chadwell, the Wing Commander, was on board at the time. When the plane hit the ground the aft section broke off and the open end acted like a giant scoop packing in the snow. This incident would provide the basis for the 1955 film Strategic Air Command starring James Stewart which Schoeffler served as a consultant. He graduated from the Air Tactical School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. While at Carswell he also flew B-29 Superfortress and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, and accumulated more than 5,000 hours flying the B-36. He served consecutively as a crewmember, flight standardization chief, squadron commander, and deputy commander for operations of the 7th Bombardment Wing. 1961-1975 Schoeffler graduated from the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in 1961. He next was assigned to the 379th Bombardment Wing, equipped with B-52H aircraft, at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, where he served as squadron commander, deputy commander