General of the Air Force Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold

General of the Air Force

Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold

“... Most important of all, we will need retire. The story of his life as an Army
an ably staffed, adequately financed aviator is the story of the evolution
and properly equipped research and of airpower from its infancy to the
development program. I say most development of the first long-range
important of all because, if we fail to missiles in 1918, the first long-range
keep not merely abreast of, but ahead bomber in 1934, the first American jet
of, technological development, we fighter in 1941, and the first television-
needn’t bother to train any force, guided bomb in 1943.
and we needn’t make any plans
for emergency expansion; we Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold
will be totally defeated before any was born on June 25, 1886, in
expansion could take place.” Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. His
father, Dr. Herbert A. Arnold,
Five-Star General of the Air Force his desire to become a member of the wanted his son to be a minister,
Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold was calvary. but that didn’t really excite
known for his smile. the boy’s interest. Arnold
Then, 42 years later, it was the roar managed to obtain the West
However, on Aug. 17, 1945, his and “horsepower” of the military’s Point appointment his father
face was stern as he called a press finest aircraft and his desire to ensure had arranged for his oldest
conference in the War Department the future of the Air Force that led son, Tom, who chose to stay at
headquarters in Washington, D.C., to to his concluding paragraph in that Penn State to get an electrical
discuss “the future.” Many in the press momentous press conference. engineering degree.
of that era described General Arnold’s Much like his nickname thought
conference as “the most important Arnold stated,“... Most important to be “Happy,” Arnold was elated
pronouncement in all his years of press of all, we will need an ably staffed, to leave the small town and carry
conferences.” adequately financed and properly on the family’s military heritage. He
equipped research and development became a member of the Black Hand,
General Arnold, who entered West program. I say most important of all
Point as a young cadet in 1903, the because, if we fail to keep not merely Arnold as a West Point sophomore in
same year that the Wright brothers abreast of, but ahead of, technological 1905.
flew the first powered, heavier-than-air development, we needn’t bother to
craft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, train any force, and we needn’t make
was about to make one of the most any plans for emergency expansion;
important declarations about the future we will be totally defeated before any
of air dominance and security that the expansion could take place.”
nation would ever hear.
These words came three days after
Ironically, it was the love of horses V-J Day, more than two weeks before
and the thunderous charge of the horse the Japanese surrendered aboard
brigade coupled with the wide gold the battleship Missouri and the day
stripe upon uniform pants that drove before Arnold announced his plans to

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a secret organization that managed to maps. He lived the life of an explorer,
keep him in the bottom quarter of his setting up base camps to work from
class in discipline. He culminated his and living off the land. It was excellent
career as a prankster by setting off a training because he and another
barrage of fireworks from the roof of lieutenant were basically responsible
an academy barracks – a prank that only to themselves and had the
earned him solitary confinement in his freedom to do the job the way they
room during visitors’day and cost him saw fit.
the opportunity to visit with the future
Mrs. Arnold, Eleanor Pool. He left for his next assignment at
Governors Island, New York, in 1909,
Arnold expected to be assigned and made the long trip home via Hong
to the cavalry upon his graduation in Kong, Singapore, Cairo and Paris.
1907 but found himself in the infantry
instead. Interestingly, aviation was his In Paris, he saw an airplane for the
fourth choice. first time and was unimpressed. His
interest didn’t grow even with such
Accompanied by his luminaries as Glenn Curtiss and the
congressional representative and Wrights flying around the level fields
one of Pennsylvania’s senators, he of Governors Island. But, a chance
appeared before the Army Adjutant opportunity whetted his appetite.
General, demanding the assignment
be changed. The general told him Concerned with promotion to first
that only the Secretary of War could lieutenant,Arnold took an examination
do that and he was in the Philippines. for an opening in the Ordnance
Department. While he awaited the
Arnold immediately volunteered results, the War Department asked
to go there. He missed the Secretary if he would be willing to become a
but found himself in an exciting new pilot. Arnold was unsure and asked
job: surveying. his commander for advice. The senior
soldier told Arnold he knew no
For two years, Arnold tramped better way for a man to kill himself.
through the jungles of Luzon and Arnold sensed the kind of adventure
Corregidor preparing topographical

Top, a 25-year-old Arnold sits at the (Left to right) Capt. Frederick Hennessy, Lt. Henry Arnold, Lt. Roy Kirtland, Capt.
controls of a Type B two-seater Wright Frank Kennedy, Lt. Samuel McLeary, Lt. Harold Geiger, Lt. Thomas Milling and Lt.
plane while learning to fly under Louis Rockwell at College Park, Maryland, in 1911. Lieutenants Arnold and Milling
instructions of the Wright brothers at were the first to qualify as military aviators, along with Capt. Charles Chandler.
their school in Dayton, Ohio, in 1911.
Middle, Arnold and Thomas DeWitt
Milling, in 1931. Bottom, Arnold was
the first recipient of the Mackay Trophy
in 1912. He won a second in 1935.

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Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold

he had loved in the Philippines and Francisco as the aviation
immediately accepted the Army’s
offer. officer for the west coast.

Arnold and Lt. Thomas DeWitt Promoted to major, he
Milling arrived at the Wrights’ bicycle
shop in Dayton, Ohio, in 1911. After returned to Rockwell
extensive training on the ground,
Arnold made his first flight on May Field in San Diego as
3. It lasted seven minutes.
commander. There he
For the next 10 days, he practiced
under the watchful eyes of his encouraged Lieutenants
instructor, Al Welch, and the local
undertaker, who sat on his wagon Lowell Smith and Paul
awaiting the inevitable each day. After
logging three hours and 48 minutes Richter in developing
of flight time, Lt. Arnold received his
badge as Military Aviator Number 1. aerial refueling. The first

In 1912, Arnold received the first air-to-air contact refueling
Mackay Trophy for flying a 42-mile
triangular circuit and for establishing took place in June 1923.
a new world altitude record of 6,540
feet. Later that same year, after In 1925, after
surviving a horrible crash, he decided
to quit flying. He had seen too many graduating from the Army
friends die, and his nerves were
shot. This decision greatly relieved Industrial College, he
his fiancée, Eleanor. The two were
married in 1913. returned to Washington.

The couple spent the first three There he found himself
years of married life in the Philippines
before returning to Rockwell Field, in the middle of the
California. Surrounded again by
airplanes, Arnold got flying fever. biggest military trial of
His wife could no longer stand to
see him in so much anguish and the century: Col. Billy
encouraged him to fly again. It was all
the encouragement he needed. Mitchell’s court martial.

When World War I broke out in Arnold plunged headlong Then Lt. Gen. Arnold with Brig. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle.
Europe, Arnold was in Panama. He into the trial, testifying in Doolittle, who led the first bombing raid on Japan and
was recalled to Washington to be the Mitchell’s behalf. When would later work for a superior airframe research and
chief of the Information Division and, the trial was over, he got development program.
in 1917, became Assistant Director
of Military Aviation – the youngest his reward for speaking
colonel in the Army. He fought hard
to get into combat but was turned out: “exile” to Ft. Riley,
down because he was indispensable
in his job. He always remembered Kansas.
this frustration and made it a point in
World War II to get everyone he could In 1928, Hap attended
some combat experience.
Command and General
He reverted to his permanent
rank of captain after the war and Staff School at Ft.
served in various jobs in California,
ending up at the Presidio of San Leavenworth. It was not

a happy year for him,

and he became more

and more restive as

graduation approached.

On the final day, he had

Eleanor and their three

boys waiting in the car

with the engine running.

As soon as the ceremony

ended, he bolted down

steps, jumped in the car The meeting between General of the Air Force Henry
“Hap” Arnold and a young Dr. Theodore von Kármán
and drove out the gate in 1923 would later play a role in the 1945 report,
as fast as he could. Their Toward New Horizons which became the “blueprint for
destination: Fairfield Air Air Force research and development.” In this photo,
Depot, Dayton, Ohio. Arnold awards von Kármán the Meritorious Service

F a i r f i e l d w a s t h e Emblem after the Scientific Advisory Group’s (SAG)
home of one of Billy first year.

Mitchell’s few mistakes – the Barling gain enough altitude to surmount
Bomber. It was the first big bomber the Appalachian Mountains. Arnold
and that was its major drawback. tried desperately to get rid of the
Its state-of-the-art engines had too plane through official channels, but
little power, and it couldn’t even it was such an embarrassment to the

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Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold

bombardment advocates that Army scrap “one obsolete bomber” and received in its bout with the air mail,
and the flight was topped off by
leaders refused to scrap it. Arnold received approval. It wasn’t long Arnold’s second Mackay Trophy.

was not one to stop at a simple “no” before a mysterious fire broke out in On Feb. 11, 1935, Arnold received
his first star, skipping the rank of
answer. If he couldn’t get rid of the hangar that housed the Barling and colonel, due to expansion of the Air
Corps rank structure associated with
the plane with approval, he’d find completely destroyed both building the activation of General Headquarters
(GHQ) Air Force. In January 1936, he
some other way. He sent an obscure and plane. returned to Washington as Assistant
Chief of the Air Corps to Maj. Gen.
message requesting permission to In 1931, Lt. Col. Arnold became Oscar Westover and replaced him
as chief when Westover died in a
the commander of March Field, in plane crash in 1938. This was to be
Arnold’s last job in the Army – he
Riverside, California. While would be Chief of the Air Corps until
his retirement in 1946.
there, he arranged for the
His work during wartime made
purchase of a huge chunk of him a legend in both military and
civilian circles. He opened Officer
the Mojave Desert. He used the Candidate Schools in Miami Beach
hotels that had been emptied by the
Muroc Dry Lake area for training war, cajoled civilian flying schools
into training pilots for the Army long
his pilots in combat operations, before funds and official approval
were available and constantly pushed
both air-to-air and bombardment. aircraft manufacturers for more and
better equipment. His subordinates
The land he purchased later called him “Do-it-yesterday Arnold”
and he was known to stop junior
became Edwards Air Force Base officers in the hall, tell them to handle
a problem and disappear.
(AFB).
In 1923, General Arnold was
After commanding the introduced to Dr. Theodore von
Kármán, a Hungarian scientist who
western sector during the “Air later became an instrumental figure
in the development of AEDC.
Mail Fiasco” in 1934, Arnold
Arnold had found the aeronautics
led a flight of 10 B-10s from tutor he needed. He became dependent
upon von Kármán to inform, educate
Dayton to Fairbanks, Alaska. and guide him during his years in
command of the Army Air Corps, later
On the return trip, the planes called the Army Air Forces (AAF).

flew non-stop from Juneau to Their relationship grew, and near
the end of World War II Arnold
Seattle, entirely over water. The asked von Kármán to direct a study
of military aeronautical technology
In September 1938, Arnold was sworn in as the press coverage helped massage and its future, considering the state
the bruises the Air Corps had of the art in Germany, Japan, Russia
Commander of the Army Air Corps. and all the countries in between them.
The result led to the December 1945
President Truman decorates Arnold on his retirement in 1946. report Toward New Horizons, which
is now considered the “blueprint for
Air Force research and development”

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Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold

Arnold’s widow, Bee, and
sons attend the center’s
dedication in his memory
on June 25, 1951.

and the foundation of AEDC. a general of the Army in December his retirement, everyone called him
The two men first met when Arnold 1945, the only airman ever to attain “Hap,” a name with dubious origins,
that rank. yet while the exact origin of his
commanded March Field. He had nickname remains a historical mystery,
always shown a keen interest in In March 1946, he retired from his accomplishments, contributions
science and even sent several of his active duty in an attempt to relax. and pioneering efforts in aviation
officers to classes taught by von Hard work had taken its toll on his remain a constant:
Kármán at the California Institute once-strong body; he had survived • He was the first to demonstrate
of Technology (Caltech). In 1939, five major heart attacks and countless how the airplane could be used for
Arnold had asked him what facilities minor ones. reconnaissance.
the Air Corps needed for research. • He was awarded the first military
In 1947, after the U.S. Air Force aviator’s badge and expert aviator’s
Von Kármán told him they needed a became an independent Service, certificate.
large wind tunnel and added, “Maybe President Truman made Arnold • He established a world altitude
you don’t wish to invest in such General of the Air Force. Arnold is record of 6,540 feet.
a large and revolutionary piece of the only Airman to hold that rank and • He promoted innovations such as
equipment?” the only five-star general to serve in the aerial forest patrol and in-flight
two services at a five-star rank. refueling.
“On the contrary, that’s exactly • He organized and led 10 B-10
what we do want, the highest On Jan. 15, 1950, a sixth heart bombers on a historic flight from
combination of speed and size,” attack claimed his life. Ohio to Alaska, flying 18,000 miles
Arnold replied. round trip and conducted more than
Eighteen months later, on his 35,000 square miles of aerial surveys
Wright Field’s 20-foot wind 65th birthday, the Air Engineering of Alaskan territory.
tunnel was the result. But Arnold had Development Center would be
something bigger in mind. dedicated in his name as Arnold Arnold was enshrined in the
Engineering Development Center – a National Aviation Hall of Fame
He wanted the scientist to gather testimony to his foresight, drive and in 1967. He was inducted as an
a group of experts to give direction determination. His widow, Bee, and honorary AEDC Fellow during the
to military research. And at their first sons attended the dedication of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of
meeting, he told them, “The next center in his memory on June 25, AEDC in June 2001.
Air Force is going to be built around 1951.
scientists – around mechanically
minded fellows.” During his aviation career
General Arnold made history. By
Arnold received his fifth star as
Compiled from Beyond the Speed of Sound
212 www.arnold.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100323-069.pdf

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