.75 cu ft
Call No. 168.7112
IRIS No. 1027959-1027973
Major General. USAFR, 1931-1966. Insurance Agent, 1931-1984.
Born in Waco, TX. Attended Baylor U and U of Texas. Commissioned Second Lieutenant, Air Corps Reserve, 1931; began active duty, May 1941. Career assignments include: Barnstormer and member of Reserve Squadron, Brooks Field, 1931-1940; Organizer and Deputy Commander, 6th Tow Target Squadron, June 1941-July 1942; Chief, 26th Tow Target Squadron and Staff Officer, Radio Control Division, HQ US Air Corps, July 1942-September 1942; Deputy Wing Commander and Combat Training Inspector, 16th Bombardment Operational Training Wing, 1942-1944; Staff Officer, Combat Operations Section, Mediterranean Allied Air Force, 1944-1949; Organizer and Wing Commander, 8707th Training Wing (later 433rd Troop Carrier Wing), 1949-1960; Assistant to Commander, Twelfth Air Force, 1960-1966. Retired 1966.
Personal and official papers relating to Foster's Air Force Reserve career, primarily during World War II. Contains official correspondence including some pertaining to the establishment of the US Strategic Bombing Survey Investigation Team (1942-1945). Also contains official memoranda, operating instructions and reports on the operations of the Fifteenth Air Force (August 1944), the Balkan Air Force, the organization of the Eighth Air Force (1944) and Operations DRAGOON (1944) and GRAPESHOT (1945). Also includes a copy of the report by the Supreme Commander to the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the Operations in Europe of the Allied Expeditionary Force, 6 June 1944 - 8 May 1945. Contains transcripts of General Eaker's press conference in Rome (2 February 1945), as well as comprehensive summaries including Digest and lessons on Recent Military Operations, The German Campaign in Poland, 1 September-5 October 1939 (31 March 1942); History of Special Operations (Air) in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940-1945 (undated); Army Air Forces in Europe, 1944 in Review, and The Greatest Airlift, The Story of Combat Cargo (May 1954). Also contains a copy of Deutschland Erwacht (in German), a history of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) issued by the party (1933), and a copy of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, Air Surrender Documents, 10 May-6June 1945. Also includes news clippings (1945) and photographs of the death of Benito Mussolini (April 1945).
Related materials located elsewhere in the Air University Library include articles about Foster (AUL Index to Military Periodicals, 1962-1967).