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United States Air Force base
- Mitchel Air Force Base, also known as Mitchel Field, was a United States Air Force base located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, United States.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchel_Air_Force_Base
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William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. [ 1 ][ 2 ] Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, commanded all American air combat units in that country.
Aug 31, 2023 · Father of the U.S. Air Force. William L. “Billy” Mitchell was born in Nice, France, in 1879, the son of a U.S. senator and Civil War veteran. Billy had the martial urge as well, so he enlisted in the Army when the Spanish-American War broke out.
William "Billy" Mitchell became an untiring advocate for air power between the two world wars. His name remains synonymous with military aviation during the 1920s. The son of a wealthy United States senator from Wisconsin, Mitchell was born in Nice, France, on Dec. 29, 1879, while his parents were on vacation.
- Early Life & Career
- An Interest in Aviation
- World War I
- Air Power Advocate
- Project B
- Fall from Power
- Court Martial
The son of wealthy Senator John L. Mitchell (D-WI) and his wife Harriet, William "Billy" Mitchell was born on December 28, 1879 at Nice, France. Educated in Milwaukee, he later enrolled at Columbian College (present-day George Washington University) in Washington, DC. In 1898, prior to graduating, he enlisted in the US Army with the goal of fightin...
Sent north in 1901, Mitchell successfully built telegraph lines in remote areas of Alaska. During this posting, he began studying Otto Lilienthal's glider experiments. This reading, combined with further research, led him to conclude in 1906 that future conflicts would be fought in the air. Two years later, he witnessed a flying demonstration given...
Working closely with the Royal Flying Corps' General Sir Hugh Trenchard, Mitchell learned how to develop aerial combat strategies and plan large-scale air operations. On April 24, he became the first American officer to fly over the lines when he rode with a French pilot. Quickly earning a reputation as a daring and tireless leader, Mitchell was pr...
Following the war, Mitchell expected to be placed in command of the US Army Air Service. He was blocked in this goal when Pershing named Major General Charles T. Menoher, an artilleryman, to the post. Mitchell instead was made Assistant Chief of the Air Service and was able to retain his wartime rank of brigadier general. A relentless advocate for ...
Continuing to agitate, Mitchell managed in February 1921 to convince Secretary of War Newton Baker and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to hold joint Army-Navy exercises in which his aircraft would bomb surplus/captured ships. Though the US Navy was reluctant to agree, it was compelled to accept the exercises after Mitchell learned of their o...
Mitchell repeated his success later that year by sinking the retired battleship USS Alabama (BB-8) in September. The tests incensed President Warren Harding who wished to avoid any show of naval weakness immediately prior to the Washington Naval Conference, but did lead to increased funding for military aviation. Following a protocol incident with ...
Later that year, following the loss of the US Navy airship USS Shenandoah, Mitchell issued a statement accusing the military's senior leadership of "almost treasonable administration of the national defense" and incompetence. As a result of these statements, he was brought up on court-martial charges for insubordination at the direction of Presiden...
Jun 12, 2006 · As the U.S. Air Force celebrated its 50th anniversary in September 1997, it is fitting that the man who did much to help bring the Air Force into being should be remembered. William ‘Billy’ Mitchell was a crusader who had the vision to understand the potential of air power long before his contemporaries.
General Mitchell learned first-hand the inherent value of the tenets of air power, by serving as the overall de-facto air commander for allied air forces in the St.-Mihel offensive in WWI.
Feb 1, 2001 · Mitchell was at his best when in command of air forces, either in France in 1918 or in the experiments he conducted in the early 1920s. He left later generations of airmen a wealth of experience on how to run air campaigns and air forces. That was what the real Billy Mitchell held most dear.
