Hoyt Vandenberg was a career military aviator who served as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force (1948–1953). He was educated the Military Academy at West Point and entered the Army Air Corps after graduation, becoming a pilot and air commander. After numerous command positions in World War II, most significantly as commander of Ninth Air Force which provided fighter support in Europe during the invasion and march to Berlin, he returned to Washington and helped with the formation of the Department of Defense (DoD) in 1947. As Air Force Chief of Staff he was a senior official in the DoD during the formative period of rocketry development and the work on intercontinental ballistic missiles.