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Although his background was in single-engine fighter aircraft, Eaker became
the architect of a strategic bombing force that ultimately numbered forty groups of 60 heavy bombers each, supported by a
subordinate fighter command of 1,500 aircraft, most of which was in place by the time he relinquished command at the start
of 1944.
Eaker then took overall command of four Allied air forces based in the Mediterranean
Theater of Operations, and by the end of World War II had been named Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces. He worked
in the aerospace industry following his retirement from the military, then became a newspaper columnist.
Almost 40 years after his retirement,
Congress passed special legislation awarding four-star status in the U.S. Air Force to General Eaker, prompted by retired
Air Force Reserve major general and Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) and endorsed by President Ronald Reagan. On April 26, 1985,
Chief of Staff General Charles A. Gabriel and Ruth Eaker, the general's wife, pinned on his fourth star.”
General Ira Clarence Eaker
is a co-author or significant contributor to Impact: Taking the War to the Foe: The Army Air Forces Confidential
Picture; Impact: The Army Air Forces’ Confidential Picture History of World War I; This Flying Game; Army Flyer; and,
Winged warfare: How air power has changed the face of the world and what it means to our national security.
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