Curtis E. LeMay commanded the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base after its post-war relocation to Nebraska. An Ohio native, LeMay entered the Army Air Corps in 1930 and gained valuable flying experience for the world war to follow. LeMay’s innovative and effective bombing strategies helped him become the army’s youngest Major General in 1944. After World War II General LeMay commanded American air forces in Europe and organized the Berlin Airlift, a Cold War success. In 1948 he became commander of the newly reorganized SAC. LeMay spent nine years overseeing SAC’s remarkable growth from his Nebraska command center. At his departure this ever-alert force consisted of thirty-nine bomber wings and 224,000 personnel stationed at sixty-eight bases around the globe.