Clarence R. Autery
American general
Clarence Reuben Autery (September 23, 1933 – February 23, 2010) was a United States Air Force pilot and general who served in Strategic Air Command, ending his career as the Commander of the Eighth Air Force in 1985. A native of Polk County, Texas, he was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Baylor University in Waco and flew combat missions with Tactical Air Command during Operation Rolling Thunder in the Vietnam War. After joining SAC in the late 1970s, he commanded B-52 bomber units and served in a number of staff roles.
He is best known for his appearance in the 1979 docudrama First Strike, scenes of which were later edited into the television film The Day After with Autery and his staff depicted aboard the Looking Glass aircraft during a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. For much of his later career in the Air Force, he flew and led Looking Glass sorties at SAC Headquarters in Offutt AFB, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was also interviewed about his role at SAC in the 1981 CBS News documentary series "The Defense Of The United States," which also used some of the "First Strike" footage. He would retire in 1988.
Biography
Autery was born in Corrigan, Texas, in 1933. He would go on to graduate from Baylor University. Autery died on February 23, 2010.
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