 At this time, he was assigned to the 49th Bombardment Squadron, 2d Bombardment Group, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., where he served as aircraft commander on B-29 and B-50 aircraft.He transferred to Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, in April 1949 with the 2d Bombardment Group.In November 1951 he became the 49th Bombardment Squadron operations officer and in June 1953 was appointed commander.