Talk:Lauris Norstad

Resignation

Did he resign, or retire, or both, in 1963? Danceswithzerglings (talk) 06:31, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Your confusion is justified! I spent nearly two full days at AFHRA unraveling this mystery for Wikipedia. USAF's official bio creates a massive one-year gap in his career as a four-star general. I went into AFHRA on Friday to answer a question: "in what position did Norstad serve as a four-star throughout all of 1963?" Speaking as a retired 3H0x1 Enlisted Historian, I know Air Force generals "fall off the radar" whenever they take joint assignments. Norstad qualifies as one of the more brazen examples because (a) he was the 11th four-star in USAF, (b) he put on a SHAPE hat just four years after USAF stood up, and (c) he never again reappeared in a "Big Air Force" role. He just stopped existing from USAF's perspective. Indeed, his official Air Force bio admits no knowledge after July 1960; they don't even know when he retired (they got the year, month, and day wrong). However, he did command USAFE before falling off the radar and I've learned USAFE historians kept an eye on him. They published Norstad's detailed biography in 1992, which I've now referenced in Norstad's article. USAFE's biography offers detailed dates and those dates make sense. It resolves the "phantom year" in Norstad's career.

The question now is, "did he resign or just retire?" We might never know the answer but as I like to say, "the devil's in the wording." Let's begin by noting the fact Norstad fell under the wing of then-Brigadier or Major General Dwight Eisenhower in the first half of 1942. He goes on to become president in January 1953 and it's time for the next SHAPE Air Deputy. What a coincidence: Norstad is already in Europe at the helm of USAFE so Eisenhower appoints him Air Deputy. 3½ years later Ike needs someone to fill the chair he once sat in at SHAPE. There's already been three Army commanders so why not give it to the USAF guy under his wing who's been stationed in Europe so long that he arguably is the best qualified? Norstad took the role. But then he falls out of favor with French President de Gaulle over their nuclear capabilities ... and a youthful Navy veteran gets elected president ... and all generals serve at the pleasure of a president ... and Norstad's been a four-star general for 10½ years ... so he reads the writing on the wall and files for retirement before Kennedy asks him to leave. To quote Dennis Miller: "Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rsnbrgr (talk • contribs) 03:17, 19 October 2021 (UTC)

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