Aviation Biographies
Table of contents
Mr. Joseph P. Cribbins
Hamilton H. Howze
Mr. Joseph P. Cribbins was born 14 March 1914 in Millbrook, New York. From 1931 until 1940 he was a professional steeplechase jockey and horse trainer. He attended the Cavalry School, the Transportation School, Command and General Staff College and the University of Nevada. He entered active duty as an enlisted man in December 1940 with the 101st Cavalry Division, New York National Guard. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, Cavalry in August 1942. He was then assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division and served with that unit through the Admiralty Islands Campaign when he was transferred to General MacArthur’s headquarters where he was responsible for intra-theater air transportation in the Southwest Pacific with a military airline operation from Melbourne, Australia to the Philippines. After World War II, Mr. Cribbins, who was then a Captain, reverted to reserve status and accepted a position in Chicago with Delta Airlines as passenger and freight traffic representative. In 1951, Mr. Cribbins was recalled to active duty and was transferred to the Transportation Corps to serve as Deputy Chief, Movements Control Division, Headquarters, U.S. Eighth Army, Korea. During 1953 and 1954, Mr. Cribbins served as Chief, Air Branch, USA Forces Far East (USAFFE), Japan, where he was responsible for the plans relative to movement control of all air traffic in support of the U.S. Army to, from, and within the USAFFE area of responsibility. During the period 1956-1959, Mr. Cribbins served with the Mannheim Ordnance Depot in Germany and the Transportation Corps Supply Control Agency in France. In 1960, he was assigned to the Office Chief of Transportation where he later became Chief, Program Control Office, Director of Materiel. In 1962, he was transferred to ODCSLOG, HQDA and in February 1963 was appointed as Special Assistant for Tactical Air Mobility, ODCSLOG, DA, a position he held until his retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel in June 1966. From July 1966 until January 1967, Mr. Cribbins served as a Special Consultant to General Besson, then Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command. In January 1967, Mr. Cribbins was appointed as Deputy Special Assistant for Logistical Support of Army Aviation (OSALSAA) and in December 1967 became Chief of that office. In December 1969, the Chief of Staff redesignated the office to the Directorate of Aviation Logistics and Mr. Cribbins remained as Director until 1 April 1973 when, with cessation of hostilities in Vietnam, the Directorate was disestablished. In 1986, Mr. Cribbins served in a dual capacity as the Special Assistant to the DCSLOG and as the Chief of the Aviation Logistics Office, ODCSLOG, HQDA. Mr. Cribbins was awarded the Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal. In 1964, he was given the PACE Award for exceptional service to the Department of the Army and in 1971, the Directorate he headed received a Management Improvement Certificate from the President of the United States. Also in September 1975, the Aviation Logistics Office, of which he was Chief, received another Presidential Management Improvement Award. In April 1977, Mr. Cribbins was honored by being awarded the Army Aviation Association of America Department of the Army Civilian of the Year Award. The Deputy Secretary of Defense awarded Mr. Cribbins the Distinguished Civilian Service Award in July 1978. Also in October 1978, the Secretary of the Army awarded Mr. Cribbins the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service. On 11 April 1980, Mr. Cribbins was inducted into the Army Aviation Association of America Hall of Fame. Mr. Cribbins was presented the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive in the Senior Executive Service on 22 November 1982 by President Ronald Reagan. In June 1983, the Commander of the U.S. Army Troop Support and Aviation Materiel Readiness Command, MG Emil Konopnicki, presented Mr. Cribbins with the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. Also in 1983, he was awarded the National Guard Bureau MG Francis S. Greenlief Award for Aviation Excellence. On 14 January 1987, the Under Secretary of the Army presented Mr. Cribbins with his second Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service award. His most recent honor was on 28 January 1987, when Honorable Constance Homer, Director, US Office of Personnel Management presented him with the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Service. Joseph P. Cribbins - Interview conducted with Mr. Cribbins in 1988 by LTC Hawthorne L. Proctor
General, USA
Hamilton Hawkins Howze was born in West Point, New York, on 21 December 1908. The son of Maj. Gen. Robert L. Howze (who served under Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders), he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated in the class of 1930, commissioned in the Cavalry. Howze saw action in numerous European campaigns during World War II. He earned his Army Aviator wings in 1955. He is recognized as the intellectual force behind the concept of airmobility and current Army Aviation doctrine. While serving as the first Director of Army Aviation, Department of the Army, from 1955 to 1958, he developed new tactical principles for the employment of Army Aviation, and was instrumental in helping the Aviation Center and School become fully established in its new home at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
As Chairman of the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board in 1961, he cited the need for the development of airmobile theory and doctrine. The Army’s adoption of the Howze Board recommendations revolutionized mobile warfare concepts based on the use of organic aviation in much the same manner as the introduction of the tank affected mobility concepts almost 50 years earlier. The 11th Air Assault Division was formed in 1963 to test and validate these concepts. As a result of his leadership, foresight, and perception, two airmobile divisions were eventually established in the Army force structure. These divisions successfully provided the full spectrum of mobile, combined arms capabilities which are requisite to successful ground combat and which have become fundamental to modern airmobility doctrine. Later, General (then LTG) Howze served as the Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps. His last assignment was as Commander-in- Chief, U.S. Forces Korea, a four star United Nations Command involving U.S. and R.O.K. troops. In retirement, he was a senior executive with an aviation company. A 1957 Charter Member of the Army Aviation Association, he later served as that organization’s Senior Vice President and President during a four year period. He was a member of the Army Aviation Hall of Fame and was the Chairman of the AAAA’s Hall of Fame Board of Trustees. He had resided in Ft. Worth, Tex. Howze was earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star for Valor, the Italian Military Valor Cross, the Korean Order of Merit First Class, and a number of campaign medals. He died on 8 December 1998.