General Bennie Luke Davis, a Native American, was born on May 12, 1928, in McAlester, Oklahoma. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1950 and began training at Vance Air Force in Enid, Oklahoma. In 1968, General Davis joined the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C. where he served in the Directorate of Operations as operations officer and later as chief of the Current Operations Branch, Strategic Operations Division. He flew 142 missions over Vietnam and later became Commander of Air Force training at Randolph Air Force Base. After a promotion to four star General, Davis was assigned to the U.S. Strategic Air Command in 1981 and was named director of the Joint Strategic Planning Staff until his retirement in 1985. His military decorations and awards are many and include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, and the Bronze Star Medal.