Hap Arnold

On 23 Jun 1886, Henry Harley Arnold was born in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. In 1907, he graduated from West Point. He was so fond of horses that he threatened to resign his commission if he was assigned to any branch of the service other than the cavalry. But he swallowed his pride when he was assigned to the Signal Corps. He was one of the first flyers in the aviation division. "Hap" Arnold was sent to Dayton, Ohio, for flight instruction under the Wright Brothers.

In 1912, he won the Clarence H. Mackay trophy for making a thirty mile reconnaissance flight in the early Wright Bi-plane. He won the trophy again in 1935 for commanding a squadron of ten bombers on a transcontinental flight from Washington D.C. to Fairbanks, Alaska and back. The flight covered a distance of 18,000 miles.

As a young Lieutenant assigned to the aviation division of the Signal Corps, Arnold was stationed in Panama when the United States entered WWI. There, he organized and commanded the 7th Aero Squadron (1917-1918). After he served overseas for a few months in 1918, he was assigned to San Francisco as Air Officer (1919-22). Arnold's WWI experience convinced him that air power would be the decisive factor in future wars.

In 1938, Arnold was appointed Chief of the Air Corps, a post he held until 1940 when he became Deputy chief of Staff. He was Chief of the United States Army Air Force throughout WWII.

In 1942, when the Joint Chiefs of Staff were organized, he was appointed Commanding General of the Army Air Force. His promotion to General in 1943 made him the first man in aviation history to achieve that rank.

In 1944, he became a five-star General along with Generals MacArthur, Marshall, and Eisenhower.

General Arnold saw the establishment of the 20th Air Force, composed of B-29s. This was under his direct command until the end of the war. In 1946, however, he retired as head of the Army Air Force and was succeeded by General Carl A. Spaatz. In 1949, Arnold was made the first Air Force five-star General.

Arnold died in 1950, a forceful proponent of the use of air power in war. His autobiography is entitled Global Mission (1949).

 

 

 

 

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