Strategic Air Command

James Stewart joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, and flew combat missions in Europe. At war's end, he transferred to the Reserve as a colonel. He remained an active pilot in the Air Force Reserve, and was trained on the B-36 and B-47 bombers which he flew in this film. He flew one combat mission over Vietnam in a B-52. He retired as Brigadier General James Maitland Stewart, USAFR in 1968. In 1985 he was promoted on the retired list to Major General (by his friend, President Ronald Reagan), making him the highest ranking member of the military of anyone ever in the acting profession.

At one point, Dutch refers to his old aircraft as a B-24, not a B-29 as mentioned earlier in the film (an understandable mistake, since Jimmy Stewart commanded a B-24 Liberator during WWII, flying 29 combat missions).

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