"Maj. Gen. Edward Mechenbier, who reached the Air Force's mandatory retirement age for his rank at 62,"
Questions for those in the know. Are there different age limits for higher ranks? Have the retirement rules changed over the years? I seem to recall that Admiral Rickover was in his seventies and I think Patton was late sixties during WWII, and MacArthur was 71 when relieved by Truman.
Different rules for different folks. 62 is the mandatory retirement age for Major Generals in the Reserve...had Gen Mechenbier remained on active duty, he would have retired years ago; 35 years is (effectively) the limit for any active duty general office without prior enlisted service. Rickover, by comparison, operated under his own set of rules. The Navy tried to show him the door in the late 1940s, but "Rick" cultivated enough friends on Capitol Hill to advance to the rank of Admiral, and remain in service until the early 1980s.
Incidentally, Rickover essentially advanced at his own whim, outside the normal promotion system. When the Admiral decided he needed another star, one of his buddies on the hill would call the Chief of Naval Operations and threaten the Navy budget if Rickover wasn't promoted. Rickover also flaunted his power by wearing civilian suits to his office, instead of an admiral's uniform.
Rickover wasn't the only octogenerian in the Navy's upper ranks. RADM Grace Hopper served well into her 70s, as I recall. However, Admiral Hopper did not thumb her nose at the Navy brass; she remained on active duty for years because of her expertise in computers...Rickover was also an "expert"--the father of the nuclear Navy--but he also hung on to exact his revenge on a Navy that had (in his opinion) denied him promotion and opportunities earlier in his career, due to his Jewish roots....