War Pilot to Take Over Western Marine Bases

A Vietnam combat pilot will take over in August as commander of the Marine Corps’ western air bases, replacing a general who was reassigned from El Toro last month during an investigation into his use of base planes, officials said Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. P. Drax Williams, 51, will head the air bases at El Toro, Tustin, Camp Pendleton and Yuma, Ariz.

A graduate of Cornell University, Williams now serves as both director of public affairs and a legislative assistant to the commandant of the Marine Corps in Washington. An F-8 Crusader pilot, he flew more than 300 combat missions in Vietnam and later became an AV-8 Harrier pilot and then a squadron commander.

An aide said Williams would not comment on his new post until he takes over in August.

His assignment follows the promotion earlier this week of Maj. Gen. Harold W. Blot, who was given command of the 3rd Aircraft Wing at El Toro--the Marine Corps’ largest--after Blot’s old boss, Maj. Gen. Royal N. Moore--was elevated to a higher command post in Hawaii.

Blot has been serving since May as interim commander of the western air bases after his predecessor, Brig. Gen. Wayne T. Adams, was abruptly reassigned to Quantico, Va., while the Marine Corps investigated his use of base planes.

With the investigation’s findings now under review by top officials, the Marine Corps is prepared to decide whether Adams improperly mixed business travel with personal trips, such as his signing of a divorce decree in Florida and taking a weekend trip to Big Bear with his fiancee.

Just weeks before several of the questionable trips, Adams had suspended two of his top aides for allegedly using base planes for golfing jaunts and purportedly committing other abuses. One of the aides, Col. James A. Sabow, killed himself five days after he was stripped of his post as assistant chief of staff.