Reginald C. Harmon
# Reginald C. Harmon

Reginald C. Harmon (February 5, 1900 – October 23, 1992) was a Major General in the United States Air Force and served as its first Judge Advocate $General.^{:5}$ At the age of 29, he was elected as the mayor of Urbana, $Illinois.^{:5}$

## Background

Reginald C. Harmon was born on February 5, 1900, near Olney, $Illinois.^{:5}$ After graduating from high school, he worked as a teacher in a rural $school.^{:5}$ He studied law at the University of Illinois College of Law receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree in $1927.^{:5}$ During his time at the University of Illinois, Maj Gen Harmon joined the Phi Delta Phi legal $fraternity.^{:5}$ Maj Gen Harmon's military career also began during his undergraduate years at the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps $(ROTC).^{:5}$

At the age of 29, Maj Gen Harmon was elected as mayor of Urbana, $Illinois.^{:5}$ He held the office from 1929 to $1933.^{:5}$ As mayor during the onset of the Great Depression, Maj Gen Harmon declared the nation's first business moratorium to prevent a run on the $banks.^{:5}$

## Military career

After completing the ROTC program at the University of Illinois, Reginald Harmon was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery $Reserve.^{:5}$ In October 1940, Mr. Harmon was called to active duty at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, as a major in the Officers' Reserve Corp of the $Army.^{:5}$ Mr. Harmon represented the U.S. Government in an industrial expansion program to meet the growing needs of the Army Air Corps during World War II from 1940 to $1945.^{:5}^{:5}$ For his work in opening new supply sources for the production of aircraft, Mr. Harmon received the Legion of $Merit.^{:5}$ Between 1945 and 1948, he served as the Judge Advocate of the Air Material Command where he provided legal representation for the Air Force in a billion dollar procurement $program.^{:5}$ During this period, Mr. Harmon left the Reserve Corp for the regular component of the $military.^{:5}$ On September 8, 1948, Mr. Harmon became the first Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force and was promoted to the rank of Major $General.^{:5}^{:4}$ He was reappointed as the Judge Advocate General in 1952 and $1956.^{:5}^{:5}$

