Reginald C. Harmon was born on February 5, 1900, near Olney, Illinois.[3]: 5 After graduating from high school, he worked as a teacher in a rural school.[3]: 5 He studied law at the University of Illinois College of Law receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1927.[3]: 5 During his time at the University of Illinois, Maj Gen Harmon joined the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.[3]: 5 Maj Gen Harmon's military career also began during his undergraduate years at the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).[3]: 5
At the age of 29, Maj Gen Harmon was elected as mayor of Urbana, Illinois.[2][3]: 5 He held the office from 1929 to 1933.[2][3]: 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.[2][3]: 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.[3]: 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.[3]: 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.[3]: 5 [4]: 5 For his work in opening new supply sources for the production of aircraft, Mr. Harmon received the Legion of Merit.[3]: 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.[3]: 5 During this period, Mr. Harmon left the Reserve Corp for the regular component of the military.[3]: 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.[3]: 5 [4]: 4 He was reappointed as the Judge Advocate General in 1952 and 1956.[3]: 5 [4]: 5
