After someone mentioned General LeMay, I remembered that he was a "gun guy" , unusual in very high ranking military officers of that(and this) time. I read that he was the original driving force behind the M16 when he was SAC commander, just before he became AF Chief of Staff. I had the privilege of meeting him in the early 60s at Ubon AFB where myself and some other Army aviators were flying Mohawks out of there. On the base, pursuant to orders from our Army CO we were always armed with a handgun. I was walking toward base OPS one day when the great man was visiting. I was an Army MSG as I was an enlisted pilot(enlisted at on my 17th birthday and was still under 18 when I graduated from flight school). I was 20 at the time and looked 14. The Army uniform was still the baggy green skin with white name/US Army tapes. The general was walking toward me with an abundance of other great men in attendance and a few AF Police. I saluted of course, and LeMay walked up to me and asked "exactly whose Air Force are you in son". I told him I was assigned to the Army contingent on the other side of the field, he noted my flight wings and asked "you fly those things?" pointing to a group of JOV1As down at the end of the flight line, I of course said "yes sir". He looked at my side arm (an M10 RB heavy barrel) in an AF holster on my web belt. He asked me "you know how to use that thing kid"? I again said "yes sir" slightly loudly(could not have THE USAF General Officer think an Army guy could not shoot). "Let me see that weapon" he said. Whereupon I did a proper administrative presentation (we did not call it that back then), dumped the ammo in my hand the way the AF instructor on the base had told us when we qualified periodically, and presented a just cleaned well oiled up M10 with personally owned grips. "Are these issue grips" the big guy asked, I told him that 'I issued them to myself sir, they help me shoot better". All this transpired while he held a really big cigar in one side of his mouth. He looked at my (brand new) shiny flight wings, he said, "you want to be an AF pilot see the personnel officer, we'll make you a real officer", said, "keep taking care of your sidearm son, you may need it someday" and they all stalked off. Trailing the group was an AF SP SGT I knew, I asked him if they were not worried about the General walking around a bomber being armed with a lit cigar, as it could blow up, the guy told me "it wouldn't dare". My first and last time standing on the same piece of real estate with one of the USAFs' greatest warriors. He was a really impressive guy IMHO, and given the number of other wearers of various numbers of stars following him at a very close distance (BN distance), he was either greatly respected or greatly feared. IN any case he built one hell of a AF.