Robert Olds

[2] With eight colleagues at the ACTS, he was a member of the "Bomber Mafia,"[3] whose influence led to adoption of the theory as the doctrine of daylight precision bombing during World War II.Olds was a persuasive, sometimes controversial figure in the unsuccessful campaign during the 1930s to promote air force independence, but the bombardment doctrine the clique championed ultimately became the foundation for separation from the Army.[7] His grandfather was Mark Lafayette Olds,[6] a former physician, infantry veteran of the Mexican–American War, and Episcopal minister of Christ Church on Capitol Hill in the District of Columbia[8] who stood on the gallows at the hanging on July 7, 1865, of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination.His first marriage, to Eloise Karine Wichman, the ex-wife of Frederick Dickson Nott, in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 22, 1921,[10][11] resulted in sons Robert Jr. (later Robin Olds; 1922–2007)[12] and Stevan Meigs (1924–1988).[14][15][16] Eloise died in 1926 while Olds was assigned to the headquarters of the Air Service in Washington, D.C.[17] In 1928 he remarried, to Marjorie Langley (née Marvin), a divorcée with two sons from her previous marriage, and they were divorced in 1930.His outspokenness resulted in several public rebukes, notably during the Billy Mitchell court martial, and in flaps regarding "imprudent comments" he allegedly made during his goodwill trip to Argentina in 1938[23] and a congressional junket to Alaska in 1942.[30] His home at Langley was a social gathering place for numerous aviation pioneers, war veterans, and air power advocates which included Eddie Rickenbacker, Fiorello La Guardia, Ernst Udet, Roscoe Turner, Elliott White Springs, Jimmie Mattern, and Beirne Lay.[31] Olds had a reputation for irascibility, part of which may have been due to arthritis, noted General William H. Tunner, a subordinate at Air Corps Ferrying Command in 1941.[44] With his career conceivably in jeopardy, Olds testified on November 10, describing the dangerous conditions under which the Air Service was forced to operate, and a lack of understanding of aviation requirements on the part of non-flying senior staff and commanders.Between 1929 and 1931, when the school moved from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama, they were responsible for the ascendancy of bombardment (which existed mainly in theory and undeveloped technology) over pursuit as the primary emphasis of both the ACTS curriculum and the development of Air Corps doctrine.[33][49][n 6] His role as an air power advocate continued to expand when in November 1934 he was one of six current and former ACTS instructors invited by name to appear before the Federal Aviation Commission.Chaired by Clark Howell,[50] the commission was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to review all aspects of U.S. aviation and became the sixteenth board since 1919 to examine the military's role in it.[33][54][n 8] To fulfill a directive from Andrews to build a capability of conducting bombing missions anywhere in the world and in any weather, Olds' training emphasized competency in instrument landings and takeoffs, and long range navigation.[55] Olds' command tour at Langley developed standard operating procedures and tactics for the B-17, and was marked by numerous highly publicized exercises and goodwill missions.In August 1937 the group located and attacked the target ship USS Utah off California, followed in May 1938 by interception of the Italian liner Rex 620 miles at sea, both under adverse weather conditions.[57] Olds personally led two goodwill flights to South America, first to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in February 1938 (for which he was awarded the Mackay Trophy and the Distinguished Flying Cross)[58][59] and next to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November 1939.[60] Olds ended his tour with the 2 BG by developing plans to reduce unit costs of new B-17s to facilitate procurement of 42 more bombers, and to train new aircrews without any reduction of standards in the face of an estimated expansion rate of 800%.[63] Meanwhile, and until the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Olds, together with Army Corps of Engineers Colonel later General Lucius D. Clay, selected construction sites for 457 new airports, which would form the nucleus of America's civil aviation network.[69][70] When the United States entered the war, Olds immediately implemented a previously-prepared plan to use civil transport pilots to replace reserve military aviators recalled to their combat commands.After first corresponding with Jacqueline Cochran in January 1942, Olds submitted a plan to Arnold proposing their use in a civil service status while fully integrating them into the Ferrying Command with male civilian pilots.[33] Olds moved his headquarters from Spokane, Washington, to a forward location at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, as Second Air Force expanded into a massive training establishment.[82][83] General Curtis E. LeMay said of Olds: During my 35 years of service, I've been fortunate in coming in contact with... practically all (of the leaders) of the Air Force during that period, and we've had a great number of very good ones.
Henry Oldys, ornithologist
Boeing YB-17 of 2nd BG, 1937
Robert E. OldsWoodside, MarylandTucson, ArizonaAviation Section, Signal CorpsAir Service, United States ArmyUnited States Army Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Forces17th Aero Squadron5th Composite Group2d Bombardment GroupAir Corps Ferrying CommandSecond Air ForceWorld War IWorld War IIDistinguished Service MedalDistinguished Flying CrossNina S. GoreRobin Oldsgeneral officerstrategic air powerUnited States Air Forcetriple aceVietnam WarAir Corps Tactical SchoolBomber MafiaB-17 Flying FortressesgoodwillSouth AmericaAir Transport CommandornithologistDivision of Biological Survey of the Department of AgriculturephysicianMexican–American WarEpiscopalCapitol HillDistrict of ColumbiagallowshangingAbraham Lincoln assassinationHonolulu, HawaiiWashington, D.C.Thomas GoreWilliam "Billy" MitchellArgentinaAlaskaHarold L. GeorgesquashaerobaticsP-1 HawkLangley FieldVirginiaEddie RickenbackerFiorello La GuardiaErnst UdetRoscoe TurnerElliott White SpringsJimmie MatternBeirne LayCarl SpaatzarthritisWilliam H. TunnerCentral High SchoolAviation Section, Signal Enlisted Reserve CorpssergeantNewport News, Virginia1st lieutenantKelly Field, TexasToronto, OntarioRoyal Flying CorpsLeaside AerodromeCamp BordenOntarioScott FieldIllinoisEllington FieldcaptainFranceIssoudunClermont-FerrandAmerican Expeditionary ForceFrank P. LahmAir Service, Second ArmyFort RugerAir ServiceRegular Army5th Observation GroupLuke FieldMolokaiHaleakalāde Havilland DH-4BsAir CorpsFrank M. AndrewsGeorge H. BrettArmy Air ForcesJohn F. CurryKenneth N. WalkerMaxwell FieldAlabamaHaywood S. HansellCommand and General Staff SchoolFort LeavenworthKansasClark HowellFranklin D. RooseveltB-17 Flying Fortresslieutenant colonelinstrument landingsnavigationinterception of the Italian liner RexMarch FieldCaliforniaBuenos AiresMackay TrophyRio de JaneiroBrazilBogota, ColombiaBoeing XB-15earthquakeSantiago, Chilebrigadier generalcolonelNancy Lovecommercial pilotArmy Corps of EngineersLucius D. ClayLend LeaseRoyal Air ForceGreat BritainHenry H. ArnoldCaleb V. HaynesGreenlandIcelandAfricaMiddleFar EastPan American AirwaysJacqueline Cochrancivil serviceWomen Airforce Service Pilotsheart attackIII Bomber Commandmajor generalSpokane, WashingtonDavis-Monthan FieldArizonapericardial diseaseLibman-Sacks endocarditispneumoniaUnited States Military AcademyTucsonTime Magazinedead-marchedCurtis E. LeMayCommand PilotCombat ObserverWorld War I Victory MedalAmerican Defense Service MedalAmerican Campaign MedalWorld War II Victory MedalOfficer, Order of the Southern CrossHarmon TrophyLiberty shipsArmy Transport ServiceWestern PacificAir Mobility CommandUnited States Air Force AcademyGene VidalGore VidalFédération Aéronautique Internationaleper diemBoyne, Walter J.Command and General Staff CollegeMaxwell Air Force BaseAir University