Surgeon General of the United States Air Force
In September 1947 the combat elements of the Army Air Forces separated from the U.S. Army, forming the United States Air Force. But a few Air Force support functions, such as medical care, remained U.S. Army responsibilities for the next two years. Starting in 1948, the Air Force and the Air Surgeon, Maj. Gen. Malcolm C. Grow (1887-1960), began to convince the U.S. Army and the administration of President Harry S. Truman that the Air Force needed its own medical service. In the summer of 1949, Air Force General Order No. 35 established a medical service with the following officer personnel components: Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps, Medical Service Corps, Air Force Nurse Corps, and Women’s Medical Specialist Corps.
Gen. William Mitchell House
Mitchell had a major role in the development of American military air power during World War I, and sought to broaden the Air Service (then part of the United States Army). His views were often poorly received and controversial, and he was eventually court-martialed in 1925, and resigned from the Army the following year. His views were to some degree vindicated when the United States Air Force was established in 1947, on an equal footing with the Army and Navy.