Born in 1920, James began studies at the Tuskegee Institute, completing civilian flight training along with earning his Bachelor's degree in 1942. Remaining at Tuskegee as a flight instructor, Chappie joined the Aviation Cadet program of what was then the Army Air Forces and received his commission in 1943. While the famed "Red Tails" of the 99th Fighter Squadron went to war under the command of Benjamin O. Davis, Chappie James remained stateside. His turn at combat would come in Korea after the Communist armies of dictator Kim Il-sung invaded South Korea to "unify" the peninsula under Communist rule. As a flight leader in the 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, Chappie flew 101 combat missions in piston-engine F-51 Mustang and, after unit conversion, jet-powered F-80 Shooting Star fighters. As there was negligible air opposition, most of his missions were hazardous close air support sorties flown in defense of United Nations troops.
In July 1951, Chappie was rotated stateside and assigned to fly all-weather interceptors with the 58th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. This would mark the beginning of a long personal association with air defense. Chappie soon worked his was up to become the squadron operations officer. By 1953, Chappie had moved up the ladder to take his first command as squadron commander of the 437th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron assigned an all-weather interceptor mission under Air Defense Command. One of the pilots that I interviewed for my book, Harry Schmidt, was assigned to his squadron as a young USAF captain. He has nothing but good things to say about his former commander, and feels that he was an excellent pilot and a fair and able leader. After another command billet as CO of the 60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Chappie was selected to attend the Air Command and Staff College, the first step toward advanced rank. After graduating in the summer of 1957, Chappie was assigned to a staff position in the Air defense Division at the Pentagon.
During Chappie's time at the Pentagon, the sole F-101 wing in Tactical Air Command, the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing, was given orders to deploy its men and aircraft to stand nuclear alert with the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing based in England, replacing their obsolescent F-84F Thunderstreak fighter-bombers. A staff of officers containing among some of the Air Force's best fighter tacticians was led by their legendary operations officer, Lt. Col. William D. "Dinghy" Dunham, who as an officer assigned to Strategic Air Command in the late 1940s wrote the original letter detailing what would later become the F-101 Voodoo. Chappie James joined this select group in the summer of 1960, initially as assistant director of operations to Lt. Col. Dunham. When Dunham left to assume command of the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing, equipped with the hot new Lockheed F-104C Starfighter, Chappie assumed his responsibilities as the wing director of operations for the 81st TFW. The F-101 had been introduced to Europe in 1959, over the strong objections of the commanding general of United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE), who wanted all of his tactical fighter-bomber units to be equipped with the new F-100D. Dunham and his squadron commanders worked hard to adapt their blistering-fast mounts into NATO's first effective all-weather strike aircraft.
Having learned at the feet of the master and now as director of operations, it was Chappie's job to develop concepts of operation and specific plans to attack Soviet and Soviet-bloc targets with fighter-borne nuclear weapons. Although very similar to the F-100D in low-level performance, the radar-equipped F-101A and F-101C fighters assigned to the 81st TFW could run in on their targets at 500 feet and below, even in adverse weather and had a 200-nautical-mile range advantage over the F-100. Based on the far eastern coast of Suffolk, England at the "Twin Bases" of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge, the Voodoos were within striking distance of the heart of Soviet air defenses guarding the approaches to Moscow. Chappie constantly reviewed and adjusted plans to attack these vital targets in the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as well as the Leningrad District in European Russia. In the event of a general war with the Soviet Union, Chappie carried the responsibility of ensuring that the Voodoos of the 81st TFW could successfully "kick in the doors" and allow the heavy bombers of Strategic Air Command to pour through the breach and into their targets in the Soviet heartland. Considered by many to be the best unit in the USAF, Chappie's job was to make sure that the point of NATO's spear remained razor sharp.
It was during his tenure with the 81st TFW that Chappie would make a life-changing acquaintance when Col. Robin Olds, World War 2 double-ace and considered a maverick within the Air Force, assumed command of the 81st TFW. Olds was considered by many to be a throwback, a fierce and fun-loving warrior-leader within an increasingly technocratic Air Force culture. Chappie had already established a reputation as an excellent staff officer but also recognized a fellow natural leader in Olds, and the two formed a fast friendship. Chappie was soon promoted to squadron commander of the wing's 92nd TFS and then to deputy commander of operations. Together, he and Olds worked together to burnish the reputation and esprit-de-corps of the 81st TFW to even greater heights. In 1964, Chappie was assigned to the same position in a prestigious slot with the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Wing, which was the USAF unit that introduced the new F-4 Phantom to waiting fighter crews. It was during this time that Olds had pushed things a little too far with USAFE leadership--by his own design. Knowing that he was in line for promotion to brigadier general and wanting to lose an opportunity for a combat command in Vietnam, he had trained a demonstration team composed of the best of his pilots to fly daring Thunderbirds-style in the notoriously touchy and unforgiving Voodoo. Narrowly avoiding a court martial, Olds was sent stateside to cool off while he maneuvered for an opportunity to once again lead young fighter pilots in combat.
Within six months of his dressing down by USAFE commanding general Disosway, Olds had taken command of the hard-luck 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon airbase in Thailand. Overall morale was low within the unit, but among the staff and squadron commanders there were many individuals who held considerable promise. Olds was not only aggressive and decisive, but also an astute judge of character. While he was the quintessential combat-leader, he recognized that what really made any unit tick and function properly was a good staff officer, someone who could anticipate his needs as a commander, keep track and cover the fine details, and basically turn the unit into a well-oiled machine and keep it that way. It was the staff that could either make or break a unit. The 8th TFW was broken, but Olds knew just the man to help him fix it. He called his old friend Chappie James, who joined him at Ubon as director of operations, then later as vice commander of the wing. Building renown as the team of "Blackman and Robin," Chappie and Olds patiently began to turn the hard-luck unit into the most aggressive fighter outfit in Southeast Asia, the famed "Wolfpack" as the 8th TFW is known to this day. Allowing imaginative young leaders to take point in collecting intelligence and planning operations, they created an environment that led to one of the most one-sided air battles in history during Operation Bolo, where the much-feared MiG-21 force of the North Vietnamese air force was decimated by the 8th TFW with the loss of seven MiGs and withdrawal of the Communist 921st Fighter Regiment from combat operations for a number of months as they regrouped and rebuilt. By the end of 1967, Chappie had been reassigned to a stateside command but his honored place in aviation had been assured.
Chappie continued moving up into higher staff positions, becoming vice commander of Military Airlift Command in 1974 and, after earning his fourth star and the rank of General, he became the commanding general of North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), in charge of both United States and Canadian air and space defense forces. During his tenure, he flew a resplendent F-106B interceptor as his personal aircraft.
General Chappie James is remembered as an eloquent public speaker with a tireless dedication to his local communities, an outstanding leader of men, and above all an American patriot.
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