William "Billy" Mitchell, 1879-1936, was one of the most famous, and at the same time, one of the most stubborn and controversial figures in American airpower history.

Billy Mitchell was born in France, to Mr. and Mrs. John Mitchell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Billy's father was a U.S. Senator. His grandfather was the wealthiest person in Wisconsin for his generation. Young Mitchell grew up with the proverbial "Silver Spoon" in his mouth. Never lacking for funds, he attended the prestigious Columbian College (now George Washington University), just four blocks from the Capitol in Washington DC.

When the Spanish American War broke out in 1898 Mitchell enlisted (as a private). However, it was not long (due primarily to his father's intervention) that he received a commission and entered the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a Lieutenant. Early on he showed a considerable talent for seeing into the future. While an instructor at the Army's Signal School in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., he predicted -- in 1906 -- that future conflicts would take place largely in the air, not on the ground.

During the years leading up to the First World War, Mitchell was shuttled to various posts overseas, and at 32 became the youngest member of the General Staff. He continued a strong interest in airplanes and flying, and in 1916, at age 37, two years after the war broke out among the European nations he took private flying lessons -- because the Army considered him too old and too high-ranking for regular flight training.

When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, Lt. Col. Mitchell deployed immediately to France. He collaborated with British and French airmen, and learned from them. He gained a reputation as a daring, outspoken, and tireless leader, and was promoted to Brigadier General. In 1918 he planned and led 1,500 British, French, Italian, and American aircraft in the air phase of the Battle of St.-Mihiel, one of the first coordinated air-ground offensives in history. By the end of the war he was recognized as one of America's top combat airmen, alongside Eddie Rickenbacker and other aces. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal and numerous foreign decorations.

At the same time, he had alienated nearly all his superiors because of his public criticisms, and his headstrong flamboyancy.

Upon his return to the United States after the war Mitchell was appointed the deputy director of the Air Service, but was extremely disappointed when he was passed for the appointment of Director of Air Service. Instead the Office went to an infantry officer, effectively maintaining control of aviation power by the ground forces.

World War I was widely believed to be "The War to end All Wars." Gen. Mitchell did not share his view, saying, "If a nation ambitious for universal conquest gets off to a flying start in a war of the future, it may be able to control the whole world more easily than a nation has controlled a continent in the past." This was the beginning of his chilly relationship with his superiors in both the War and Navy Dept. He criticized both departments as being nearsighted when it came to airpower. As much as he could in his own department he advocated development of bombsights, ski-equipped aircraft, engine superchargers, and aerial torpedoes.

To keep aviation in the news he ordered the use of aircraft in fighting forest fires and border patrols, encouraged Army pilots to challenge speed, altitude, and endurance records. He promoted a transcontinental air race and a flight around the perimeter of the United States.

Mitchell infuriated the Navy by claiming that he could sink battleships with airplanes carrying bombs. When his planes did sink the captured German battleship "Ostfriesland," in 1924, Mitchell announced that he had proven that surface fleets were obsolete as weapons of war. He conducted a publicity campaign promoting his opinion.

In 1924 he further riled his superiors with a 324-page report in which he predicted that a future war would ensue with Japan -- including an attack on Pearl Harbor. His report was virtually ignored by the Navy and the War Department (but not the Japanese).

In 1925 Mitchell issued a statement accusing senior leaders in the Army and Navy of incompetence and "almost treasonable administration of the national defense." This was the last straw.

Later, in 1925 he was court-martialed, at the direct order of President Coolidge. He was found guilty of insubordination, and suspended from active duty for 5 years without pay. Instead, Mitchell resigned his commission from the Army.

For the next 10 years, Mitchell continued his criticism of the Army and Navy brass, while at the same time continuing his promotion of a strong air arm for the U.S. Unfortunately, he was not as effective in his campaign out of uniform as he had been while still in the service.

In 1932 he viewed the election of Franklin Roosevelt, an old Navy man, as an advantage to the promotion of strong airpower. However, in those Depression days of the early '30s, Roosevelt had other problems before him and Mitchell went to his grave in 1936 believing that he had failed in his efforts to see the creation of the United States Air Force as an independent branch of service.

Ironically, it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that revitalized Mitchell's plan for the Air Force. It was said that the Japanese had used Mitchell's own 1924 report to the Army and War Departments in their secret plans for their attack on Pearl Harbor. They proved Mitchell's view of the importance of the airplane in modern warfare, in one fell swoop, on Dec. 7, 1941, in a way that Mitchell was never able to do in his lifetime of crusading for a strong Air Force.

Billy Mitchell's greatest honors were paid to him posthumously. The B-25 bomber that Gen. Jimmy Doolittle used to bomb Tokyo in 1942 in retaliation for Pearl Harbor was nicknamed the "Mitchell." The raid was a symbolic gesture that did little harm to the Japanese (the war raged for over three years more), yet it served notice to the Japanese that Japan itself was within the range of American bombers. The "Mitchell" is the only American military aircraft that has been named after a specific person.

In 1946 he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, "in recognition of his outstanding … service and foresight in the field of American … aviation".

In 1955 the U.S. Air Force passed a resolution voiding Mitchell's court-martial.

General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee Wis., is named after him.

Gen. Wm. Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., is named after him, as is Mitchell Hall at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

In 2004 Congress authorized Mitchell's promotion to Major General, posthumously.

In 1999, General Mitchell's portrait was put on an U.S. airmail postage stamp.

In 2006 the U.S. Air Force unveiled a new dress uniform, designated the "Billy Mitchell Heritage Coat."

Recently the 1955 motion picture, "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell," starring Gary Cooper and Charles Bickford, has been showing on Turner Classic Movies (next showing, Dec. 14, 9:30 p.m. CST local Channel 44). The film gives a sympathetic view of Mitchell's trouble with the Army, and by Hollywood standards is quite accurate.

Source:

Wikipedia