General Claire Lee Chennault by Dan Witkoff

Lieutenant General Claire Chennault, who gained fame as commander of the American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers" in China during World War II, spent several years as a Primary Flying School instructor at Brooks Field.

Born in Commerce, Texas in 1890, Lieutenant General Chennault was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry in 1917, transferring immediately to the U.S. Army Signal Corps Aviation Section. He earned his wings at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, in 1919, and continued to serve at Kelly, studying aeronautical engineering until he was transferred to various assignments in Louisiana, Texas and Hawaii. In 1926, Lieutenant General Chennault returned to San Antonio as an instructor at the Primary Flying School at Brooks Field, where he was promoted to captain and named director of flying in 1929.

Lieutenant General Chennault proceeded to instruct pursuit training, and became an advocate of bomber pursuit as a tactical strategy in warfare. Upon retirement from the U.S. Army in 1937, Lieutenant General Chennault went to China as a Brigadier General in the Chinese Air Force to form the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG), known as the Flying Tigers. This small group of U.S. pilots joined with the Chinese Air Force to fight the Japanese after beginning training in 1941. The next year, the AVG was incorporated into the U.S. Army as the 14th Air Force, at which time Lieutenant General Chennault was reinstated as a brigadier general. He continued to command the Flying Tigers in China until his retirement from service in 1945. Under his command, the Flying Tigers racked up an impressive record, shooting down hundreds of Japanese fighters using leftover P-40B planes, few pilots, and fewer resources.

After the war, Lieutenant General Chennault returned to China as a civilian manager of the Civil Air Transport Company. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1958.