Frank Maxwell Andrews

Who was Frank Maxwell Andrews?

Frank Maxwell Andrews was a general officer in the United States Army and one of the founders of the United States Army Air Forces, which was later to become the United States Air Force. In leadership positions within the Army Air Corps, he succeeded in advancing progress toward a separate and independent Air Force where predecessors and allies such as Billy Mitchell had failed. Andrews was the first head of a centralized American air force and the first air officer to serve on the Army's general staff. In early 1943, he took the place of Dwight D. Eisenhower as commander of all U.S. troops in the European Theater of Operations.

General Andrews was killed in an airplane accident during an inspection tour in Iceland in 1943. He was the first of four lieutenant generals to die during the war, the others being Lesley J. McNair, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. and Millard Harmon. Joint Base Andrews in Maryland is named after him, as well as Andrews Barracks, General Andrews Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Andrews Avenue in Pasay City, Philippines.