Major General Salvador E. Felices (1923-July 14, 1987) born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was the first Puerto Rican to reach the rank of Major General (2-Star) in the United States Air Force.

The Distinguished Flying Cross.

Felices was born in the Santurce section of San Juan, the capital city of Puerto Rico. There he received his primary and secondary education. After graduating from the Santurce Central High School, he enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico and joined its ROTC program.

In 1943, Felices was granted a congressional appointment to West Point, the U.S. Military Academy in New York. While he was a cadet at the academy, he undertook flying lessons at Curtis Field, Texas and Stewart Field in New York. On June 4, 1946, he was awarded his pilot wings and the following day, on June 5, he graduated from the academy and commissioned a second lieutenant.

On September 18, 1947, he became part of the newly formed branch of the armed forces, The United States Air Force. Felices received training in multi-engines and also completed the weapons training course. He was assigned in 1952, to the 303rd Bombardment Wing as the 359th Bombardment Squadron operations officer. Felices participated in a bombing competition, using a B-29 equiped with a APQ-7 radar set and a Norden bombsight rate head. This would eventually lead the way to the developement of the current techniques of synchronous radar bombimg used today.

In 1953, Felices flew in 19 combat missions over North Korea, during the Korean War, as combat operation officer for the 344th Bombardment Squadron. In 1954, he was reassigned and stationed at the Castle Air Force Base in California. In 1955, Felices completed the instructor course for the B-52 and participated in January 1957 in the "Operation Power-Flite", the first around the world flight by an all-jet aircraft. He completed a course on the KC-135 aircraft at the Boeing Company Ground School and participated in its flight test program. He wrote the first flight curriculum and initial qualification requirements for future SAC pilots.

On July 1957, Felices delivered the first KC-135 to SAC Headquarters and he was the first to pilot the first flight of a KC-135 made by the then joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1958, he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for landing a B-52 without the right rear landing gear.

Felices held various positions within the the military and rose in rank. On June 1968, he was named commander of the 306th Bombardment Wing. He flew 39 combat bombing missions over North Vietnam during the Vietnam War in a B-52 aircraft. In 1969, he became the commander of the 823rd Air Division which covered the regions of Florida, Puerto Rico, North Carolina and Georgia. On May 1970, Felices was named Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff at the Headquarters of Strategic Air Command. He was responsible for SAC's intercontinental ballistic missile operational testing programs.

Felices was promoted to the rank of Major General on April 2, 1973 and on August of that year became the Vice Commander of the Sixteenth Air Force, U.S. Air Force in Europe at Torrejon Air Base, Spain.

Among his decorations and awards are: The Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon with two oak leaf clusters and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon.

Major General Salvador E. Felices retired form active duty on September 1, 1974. He died of natural causes on July 14, 1987 in Florida and was buried with full military honors in the Arlington National Cemetery.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans