Commanding Officer Major John G. Whitesides led operations at Rich Field. Whitesides attended West Point in 1891 and served in the Spanish-American War. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1907 and to captain in 1910. He assumed command of Rich Field on August 23, 1918. The Rich Field Flyer described him as “honorable and upright, steady and keen in his judgement, unbiased and fair in all matters, and free from those radical preferences which always tend to unfairness… A true soldier, a staunch friend, and a zealous patriot, John G. Whitesides is every inch an American.”