Editing Curtis LeMay (section)

==Career==
LeMay was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in October 1929. He received a regular commission in the [[United States Army Air Corps]] in January 1930. While finishing at Ohio State, he took flight training at [[Norton Field]] in Columbus, in 1931–32.<ref>{{Citation |title=Ohio History Central |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=773}}</ref> On June 9, 1934, he married Helen Maitland.

[[File:B-17s flyby Rex.jpg|thumb|left|In 1938, three [[B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17s]] (one navigated by Lt. LeMay) [[Interception of the Rex|intercept]] the [[SS Rex|Italian liner&nbsp;''SS Rex'']] 620 nm at sea]]

LeMay became a [[fighter aircraft|pursuit]] pilot with his first duty station at [[Selfridge Field]] with the [[27th Pursuit Squadron]]. After having served in various assignments in fighter operations, LeMay transferred to bomber aircraft in 1937.<ref name=AFBio>{{cite web |title=General Curtis Emerson LeMay |url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106462/general-curtis-emerson-lemay/ |publisher=United States Air Force |access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref> While stationed in [[Hawaii]], he became one of the first members of the Air Corps to receive specialized training in aerial navigation. In August 1937, as navigator under pilot and commander [[Caleb V. Haynes]] on a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]], he helped locate the battleship {{USS|Utah|BB-31|2}} despite being given the wrong coordinates by Navy personnel, in exercises held in misty conditions off California, after which the group of B-17s bombed it with water bombs. In March 1938, LeMay as a member of the [[2nd Operations Group|2nd Bombardment Group]] participated in a good will flight to Buenos Aires. For this flight, the 2nd Bombardment Group was awarded the [[Mackay Trophy]] in 1939.<ref name=AFBio/> For Haynes again, in May 1938 he navigated three B-17s {{cvt|620|nmi|mi km}} over the Atlantic Ocean to [[Interception of the Rex|intercept]] the Italian liner {{SS|Rex}} to illustrate the ability of land-based airpower to defend the American coasts. In 1940 he was navigator for Haynes on the prototype [[Boeing XB-15]] heavy bomber, flying a survey from Panama over the Galapagos islands.<ref>{{Citation |last=Boniface |first=Patrick |contribution=Boeing's Forgotten Monster: XB-15, a Giant in Search of a Cause |title=[[Air Enthusiast]] |number=79 |date=Jan–Feb 1999 |pages=64–7}}</ref> By the end of 1940, he was stationed at [[Westover Air Reserve Base]], as the operations officer of the [[34th Training Wing|34th Bombardment Group]].<ref name=coffey>Coffey, ''Iron Eagle''</ref>{{rp|8}} War brought rapid promotion and increased responsibility.

When his crews were not flying missions, they were subjected to relentless training, as LeMay believed that training was the key to saving their lives. "You fight as you train" was one of his cardinal rules. It expressed his belief that, in the chaos, stress, and confusion of combat (aerial or otherwise), troops or airmen would perform successfully only if their individual acts were second nature, performed nearly instinctively due to repetitive training. Throughout his career, LeMay was widely and fondly known among his troops as "Old Iron Pants", and the "Big Cigar".<ref name=Boot_2006>{{cite book |publisher=[[Gotham Books]] |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/warmadenewtechno00boot/page/268 268]|isbn=978-1-59240-222-9 |lccn=2006015518 |title=War Made New: Technology, Warfare, And the Course of History, 1500 to Today|chapter=Chapter 9—Superfortresses and Firebombs: Tokyo March 9–10, 1945 |author-link=Max Boot |first=Max |last=Boot|year=2006 |access-date=January 16, 2013 |url=https://archive.org/details/warmadenewtechno00boot|url-access=registration |quote={{nbsp}}..."Big Cigar"—their nickname for Major General Curtis E. Lemay, commander of the 21st Bomber Command, who always had a fat stogie stuffed in his mouth{{nbsp}}...}}</ref><ref name=Harper>{{Cite book |first=CB (Red) |last=Harper|title=With The Mighty Eighth and the Fifteenth Air Forces in Action Over Europe in World War II |url=http://www.buffalogal.org/MarchBerliln.htm |chapter=March 1944 and Berlin  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822175123/http://www.buffalogal.org/MarchBerliln.htm |archive-date=August 22, 2007 }}</ref>