Rollen Henry Anthis

Major General Rollen Henry Anthis (December 4, 1915 – August 19, 1995) was an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF) who served as commanding general of the Seventeenth Air Force, Air Force Logistics Command, Headquarters Command and the 2d Air Division. He retired from the USAF in 1973.

Early life Anthis was born in Navina, Oklahoma, on 4 December 1915. He graduated from El Reno High School in 1933, attended Oklahoma Military Academy and studied law at the University of Oklahoma.

Military career In 1938 he became a flying cadet at Randolph Field, Texas. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939 and received his pilot wings at Kelly Field, Texas. he was assigned first to the 3rd Attack Group at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. In 1940, he became a test pilot for the Douglas A-20 Havoc attack bomber at Patterson Field, Ohio and later at Langley Field, Virginia. He became engineering officer for the 80th Bombardment Squadron at Manchester Air Base, New Hampshire in June 1941. Selected as one of the original pilots for the U.S. Army Air Forces Ferrying Command, he became commander of the 14th Ferrying Squadron at Long Beach, California, in July 1942. He was one of the few "unlimited card" pilots of the ferrying command who were authorized to fly at their own discretion and during adverse conditions. He then became commander of Palm Springs Army Air Base, California. In 1943 he took command of the 4th Fighter Operational Training Unit in Brownsville, Texas. A year later he was assigned to Marrakesh, Morocco, as commander of the 1257th Air Base Unit. This organization was a prime support activity for "Mission 17," the Yalta Conference. In 1945 he became commander of the 1252nd Air Base Unit at Casablanca, Morocco, with additional duty as deputy commander of the Air Transport Command, North African Division.

Awards and decorations Anthis's military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Alawite Medal of the Third Order (Morocceudes Consulate General French) and the Medal of Independence (Libya). He Anthis was also awarded the wings of the French Air Force, Royal Thai Air Force, Vietnamese Air Force and the Republic of Korea Air Force. In April 1964, the International Supreme Council, Order of DeMolay, awarded Anthis its Legion of Honor. He was the first recipient of the Air Force Association's Citation of Honor Award for outstanding work in counterinsurgency in Southeast Asia.