(Gerald Waller/Stars and Stripes)

Frankfurt, West Germany, July 1949: The Joint Chiefs of Staff are welcomed to Rhein-Main Air Force Base after arriving on the "Independence," President Harry S Truman's private plane (seen in the background). Left to right are Adm. Louis E. Denfeld, Chief of Naval Operations; John J. McCloy, U.S. High Commissioner; Lt. Gen. Clarence R. Huebner, acting commander-in-chief, EUCOM; Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Air Force Chief of Staff; Lt. Gen. John K. Cannon, USAFE commanding general; and Gen. Omar N. Bradley, Army Chief of Staff. During their 10-day visit to Europe, the three joint chiefs (the Marine Corps did not yet have a full membership) were to confer on collective security with military leaders from participants in the recently-signed North Atlantic Treaty (on which NATO was based) in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna and Rome. After returning to Washington, Bradley was sworn in as the first JCS chairman.