ADVOCATE OF AIR POWER
1879-1936
Brigadier-General William "Billy" Mitchell was born of American parents in 1879 at Nice,
France. When he was eighteen he joined the United States Army and served as a private
during the Spanish-American War. Later he went to the Philippines, where he saw action
fighting Aguinaldo's insurgents. In 1901, as a first lieutenant, Mitchell went to Alaska, where
he was instrumental in setting up a primitive telegraph system. Later he went to San Francisco
to help restore communications after the great fire.
By 1909 Captain Mitchell's interest in new ideas and activities had already set him apart from
the regular Signal Corps officer. He asked leave to go to the Far East and make a thorough
study of the area, which he did. Upon his return, he was appointed to the General Staff of the
army, a remarkable honor for an officer only thirty-two years of age.
As a General Staff officer, Mitchell had the opportunity to study intelligence reports from all
over the world. As he saw what other countries were doing with aviation his own interest
began to grow, and in 1916 he learned how to fly. Six months later he went overseas to
study first- hand the Great War. When America entered the conflict, he was already on the
scene, and the story he tells in his memoirs leaves no doubt as to his energies or abilities.
After the war, General Mitchell devoted his full time to advancing the then controversial idea
of air power. In 1921 he proved that his bombers could sink a battleship, much to the
discomfort of the navy. Of course, much of what he said and did met with angry opposition.
When, in 1925, the dirigible Shenandoah was lost in a storm, he could contain himself no
longer and accused the navy and war departments of "criminal negligence and almost
treasonable administration."
For his outspoken actions, Billy Mitchell was court-martialed, demoted and taken off active duty for a year. He resigned rather than remain inactive in the service. He died in 1936.
He wrote Our Air Force (1921), Winged Defense (1925), and Skyways (1930).
*Editors note:
General Mitchell's plan of defense of the Philippines and his prediction that Ford Island was vulnerable to attack were ignored by military planners. His advocacy of a separate Air Force was ridiculed in the 1920's and 30's. It would not be until 1947 that the Air Force was separated from the Army, too late to change attitudes about those "flyboys." Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in World War II because the United States military establishment ignored Mitchell's radical prophecy's. The United States military carried this bias against our Air Force for many years. General Mitchell was ahead of his time and had we listened to his ideas, many lives would have been saved. It would not be for over 70 years that Mitchell's prophecies would be realized. A large part of the modern Air Power Doctrine is based on Mitchell's writings from the 1920's.
In 1952, William Mitchell, Jr., attempted to have his father's court-martial verdict overturned. He was denied by the Secretary of the Air Force. We strongly believe that until this verdict should be overturned, until then, a "black mark" remains against our military. If you feel the same, we would love to hear from you.
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