Oris Baker Johnson – Major General, United States Air Force

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Courtesy of the United States Air Force

MAJOR GENERAL ORIS B. JOHNSON

Retired August 1, 1973, Died September 14, 1999

Major General Oris B. Johnson was deputy chief of staff, materiel, Headquarters Aerospace Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, Colorado.

General Johnson was born in Ashland, Louisiana, in 1920. He graduated from high school in Natchitoches, Lousiana, in 1935 and entered Louisiana State Normal College where he majored in chemistry and physics. After receiving his bachelor of science degree in 1939, he taught for one year in Mer Rouge, Louisiana.

He entered the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in November 1940 and received pilot training at Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Randolph and Kelly Fields, Texas. In July 1941 he graduated with his pilot wings and commission as Second Lieutenant. He then served as a pilot at several air bases in the United States.

During World War II, from October 1943 to September 1945, General Johnson was commander of the 422d Night Fighter Squadron in the European Theater of Operations. After the war he was assigned to the Tactical Air Command, and in July 1946 was transferred to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.

General Johnson was assigned in August 1947 to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, where he served in the Fighter Branch and later as chief of the Air Defense Division.

During the Korean War in April 1951, he was assigned to Headquarters Far East Air Forces in Tokyo, Japan, and became director of requirements, Directorate of Operations.

General Johnson returned to the United States in October 1953 to begin a series of assignments with Aerospace Defense Command (then Air Defense Command). He assumed command of the 501st Air Defense Group at O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, Ill. In January 1956 he was assigned to Air Defense Command Headquarters at Ent Air Force Base, Colo., where he served initially as chairman of the Distant Early Warning Operations Warning Group and then as special assistant to the deputy for operations.

In August 1957 General Johnson was reassigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force and served in the Directorate of Operations and as chief, Weapons Systems Division in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Air Defense Systems. During 1960 under the U.S. Air Force-Royal Air Force exchange program, he was a student at the Imperial Defence College in London, England. After completing the course, he assumed duty in
December 1960 with Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany. During this tour of duty he served as the assistant deputy chief of staff for operations.

In August 1963 he returned to the United States as commander of the Washington Air Defense Sector based at Fort Lee, Va. In February 1966 General Johnson returned to Ent Air Force Base as director of operations for North American Air Defense and Continental Air Defense Command and in August 1966 he assumed command of the 9th Aerospace Defense Division, ADC. The division became the Fourteenth  Aerospace Force in July 1968. He became commander of the 313th Air Division, with headquarters at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, in August 1969.

General Johnson again was assigned to Aerospace Defense Command in September 1971 in the position of deputy chief of staff materiel, Aerospace Defense Command.

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon,
French Croix de Guerre with star, and the Belgian Fourragere.

General Johnson’s hometown is Ashland, Louisiana.

He was promoted to the temporary grade of Major General effective August 1, 1966, with date of rank July 1, 1961.

objohnson-gravesite-photo-august-2006

Johnson, Oris Baker
Born June 20, 1920
Died September 14, 1999
US Air Force,
Major General
Residence: Baton Rouge, Lousiana
Section 3, Grave 2149-B
Buried Ocotber 22, 1999

JOHNSON, ORIS BAKER
MAJ GEN   US AIR FORCE

  • VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 07/12/1941 – 07/31/1973
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 06/20/1920
  • DATE OF DEATH: 09/14/1999
  • DATE OF INTERMENT: 10/22/1999
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 3  SITE 2149-B
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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