Kuter (pronounced COO-ter) was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1905, and graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York on June 14, 1927.

During this period he flew alternate wing position with Captain Claire L. Chennault's acrobatic group, "The Men on the Flying Trapeze."

He then was given a leading role in the operational development of the Boeing Y1B-9 twin engine bombers which pioneered high altitude bombing techniques and tactics in the USAAC.

He graduated at the top of his class in the spring of 1935 and was retained at the school as instructor in bombardment aviation and in the employment of air power.

The ideas born and developed at the school were to play an important part in his next assignment in the Operations and Training Division, War Department General Staff, Washington, D.C., where he was ordered to duty on July 1, 1939.

When General Kuter assumed command he found four understrength groups of B-17 Flying Fortresses operating separately.

This was done on the assumption that the largest practicable combat unit over the target at one time would provide more mutual fire support, saving lives and planes, and improve the probability of destroying the objective without having to repeat.

Then in January 1943 Brigadier General Kuter was transferred to North Africa and the newly formed Northwest African Air Forces.

So in May 1943 General Kuter returned to Headquarters USAAF to become assistant chief of air staff for plans and combat operations.

Previous to this, in August 1943 and extending through February 1945, he participated in the series of combined chief of staff conferences at Quebec, Cairo and London.

His experiences in these two conferences are told in detail in his book, "An Airman at Yalta," Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1955.

In September 1946, by presidential order, the general was appointed U.S. representative to the Interim Council of the Provisional International Aviation Organization in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

This experience led U.S. president Harry S. Truman to nominate General Kuter for the chairmanship of the Civil Aeronautics Board.

General Kuter preferred not to resign from the United States Air Force (USAF) and asked that his nomination be withdrawn.

Within a month he was named commander designate of the proposed Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in February 1948.

Two years later the same global resources of MATS were operating across the Pacific Ocean in support of fighting in the Korean War.

At the same time General Kuter's command brought air evacuation of troops into extensive and effective operation.

He was promoted to lieutenant general in April 1951 and in October of that year was designated deputy chief of staff for personnel, Headquarters USAF.

According to declassified Pentagon documents, Kuter was among the USAF generals advocating the use of nuclear weapons if China blockaded the Taiwan Strait in 1958.

When U.S. president Eisenhower vetoed this policy, forcing the USAF to plan for the defense of Taiwan using conventional weapons, Kuter continued to object.