- published: 21 Sep 2010
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Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (January 24, 1899 – April 2, 1954) was a U.S. Air Force general, its second Chief of Staff, and second Director of Central Intelligence.
During World War II, Vandenberg was the commanding general of the Ninth Air Force, a tactical air force in England and in France, supporting the Army, from August 1944 until V-E Day. Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast of California is named for General Vandenberg. In 1946, he was briefly the U.S. Chief of Military Intelligence. He was also the nephew of Arthur H. Vandenberg, a former U.S. Senator from Michigan.
Vandenberg was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, spending his teenage years there. He graduated from the United States Military Academy on June 12, 1923, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Service.
General Vandenberg graduated from the Air Service Flying School at Brooks Field, Texas, in February 1924, and from the Air Service Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas, in September 1924.