Robin Olds
Encyclopedia
Robin Olds was an American fighter pilot
and general officer in the U.S. Air Force
. He was a "triple ace
", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II
and the Vietnam War
. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general
.
The son of regular Army
Maj. Gen. Robert Olds
, educated at West Point
, and the product of an upbringing in the early years of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Olds epitomized the youthful World War II fighter pilot. He remained in the service as it became the United States Air Force
, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Rising to command of two fighter wings, Olds is regarded among aviation historians and his peers as the best wing commander of the Vietnam War, both for his air-fighting skills and his reputation as a combat leader.
Olds was promoted to brigadier general
after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. The remainder of his career was spent in non-operational positions, as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy
and as an official in the Air Force Inspector General
's Office. His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking.
Olds had a highly-publicized career and life, including marriage to Hollywood actress Ella Raines
. As a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All American for his play as a lineman in American football
. Olds expressed his philosophy regarding fighter pilots in the quote: "There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks."
into an Army family and spent much of his boyhood in Hampton, Virginia
, where he attended elementary and high school. His father was Captain (later Major General) Robert Olds
, an instructor pilot in France during World War I
, former aide to Billy Mitchell from 1922 to 1925, and a leading advocate of strategic bombing in the Air Corps. His mother, Eloise Wichman Nott Olds, died when Robin was four and he was raised by his father. Olds was the eldest of four brothers, followed by Stevan (1924), Sterling (1935), and Frederick (1936).
Growing up primarily at Langley Field, Virginia
, Olds came in almost daily contact with the small group of officers who would lead the US Army Air Forces in World War II (one neighbor was Major Carl Spaatz
, destined to become the first Chief of Staff of the USAF), and as a result was imbued with an unusually strong dedication to the air service, and conversely, with a low tolerance for officers who did not exhibit the same. On November 10, 1925, his father appeared as a witness on behalf of Billy Mitchell during his court-martial in Washington, D.C.
. He brought three-year-old Robin with him to court, dressed in an Air Service uniform, and posed with him for newspaper photographers before testifying.
Olds first flew at the age of eight, in an open cockpit biplane
operated by his father. At the age of 12, Olds made attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
an objective to accomplish his goals of becoming an officer, a military aviator, and playing football
.
His father was made commander of the pioneer B-17 Flying Fortress 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field on March 1, 1937, and promoted to lieutenant colonel
on March 7. Olds attended Hampton High School
where he was elected president of his class three successive years, and played varsity high school football on a team that won the state championship of Virginia in 1937. Olds was aggressive, even mean, as a player, and received offers to attend Virginia Military Institute
and Dartmouth College
on football scholarships
.
Instead of entering college after graduating in 1939, Olds enrolled at Millard Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.
, a school established to prepare men for the entrance examinations to the military academies. When Germany invaded Poland
, Olds attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force
but was thwarted by his father's refusal to approve his enlistment papers. Olds completed Millard Prep and applied for admission to West Point. After he received a conditional commitment for nomination from Pennsylvania
Congressman J. Buell Snyder
, Olds moved to Uniontown, Pennsylvania
, where he lived in the YMCA
and supported himself working odd jobs. He also took and passed the entrance examination. Olds was accepted into the Class of 1944 on June 1, 1940, and entered the academy a month later.
squad that began the season with three losses but finished 3-4-1 while the varsity won only one game in its second consecutive losing season. As a result, the new academy superintendent
, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger
, replaced the head coach (an Army officer) with Earl "Red" Blaik
, a 1920 graduate and head coach at Dartmouth, who had recruited Olds in 1939.
Olds played on the varsity college football
team in both 1941 and 1942. At 6 foot 2 inches in height and weighing 205 pounds, he played tackle on both offense and defense, lettering both seasons. Army's record in 1941 was 5-3-1, with wins over The Citadel, VMI
, Yale
, Columbia
, and West Virginia
, a scoreless tie with Notre Dame
, and losses to Harvard
, Penn
and Navy. The loss to the midshipmen was followed eight days later by the attack on Pearl Harbor
.
In 1942 he was named by Collier's Weekly
as its "Lineman of the Year" and by Grantland Rice
as "Player of the Year." Olds was also selected as an All-America
as the cadets compiled a 6-3 record, beating Lafayette College
, Cornell
, Columbia, Harvard, VMI, and Princeton
, and falling to Notre Dame, Penn, and Navy. In the Army–Navy Game of 1942, which was played at Annapolis instead of Philadelphia, Olds had both upper front teeth knocked out when he received a forearm blow to the mouth while making a tackle. Olds returned to the game and reportedly was cheered by the Navy Third and Fourth Classes, which were assigned as the Army cheering section when wartime travel restrictions prevented the Corps of Cadets from attending. In 1985 Olds was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame
.
Olds developed ambivalent feelings about West Point, admiring its dedication to "Duty, Honor, Country", but disturbed by the tendency of many tactical officers to distort the purpose of its Honor Code
. In March 1943, Olds was braced by an officer upon returning from leave in New York City, and compelled on penalty of an honor violation to admit he had consumed alcohol. The infraction reduced him in rank from cadet captain to cadet private, characterized by Olds in his memoirs as "only the second cadet in the history of West Point to earn that dubious honor." He walked punishment tours until the day of his graduation in June. The incident left its mark on Olds such that when he became Commandant of Cadets at the Air Force Academy, use of the Honor Code as an instrument for integrity rather than as a tool for petty enforcement of discipline became a point of emphasis in his administration. During his Academy years Olds also acquired a strong contempt for alumni networking
, commonly called "ring knocking", to the degree that he went out of his way to conceal his West Point background.
By an act of Congress on October 1, 1942, during Olds' Second Class year, the academy began a three-year curriculum for the duration of the war for cadets entering after July 1939. Cadets applying to the Air Corps were classified as Air Cadets, with a modified curriculum that provided flying training but eliminated Military Topography and Graphics required for Ground Cadets. Olds' class was given an abridged second class course of study until January 19, 1943, when it began an abridged first class course.
Olds completed primary training in the summer of 1942 at the Spartan School of Aviation in Tulsa, Oklahoma
, and basic and advanced training at Stewart Field
, New York. 208 cadets including Olds completed the course, while five classmates died in accidents. Olds received his pilot's wings personally from Gen. Henry H. Arnold
on May 30, 1943, and graduated on June 1 as a member of the Class of June 1943, 194th in general merit of 514 graduates.
. His initial twin-engine training at Williams Field, Arizona
, was in the Curtiss AT-9
, followed by transition training to the P-38 in its P-322 variant. After gunnery training at Matagorda, Texas
in the first half of August 1943, he was assigned to P-38 phase training at Muroc Army Air Field
, California.
In early 1944 he became part of the cadre assigned to build up the newly activated 434th Fighter Squadron and its parent 479th Fighter Group
, based at Lomita, California
. Olds logged 650 hours of flying time during training, including 250 hours in the P-38 Lightning
, as the 479th built its proficiency as a combat group. It departed the Los Angeles area on April 15 for Camp Kilmer
, New Jersey
, and shipped aboard the USS Argentina
for Europe on May 3. The 479th arrived in Scotland on May 14, 1944, and entrained for RAF Wattisham
, England, where it arrived the next day.
The 479th began combat on May 26, flying bomber escort missions and attacking transportation targets in occupied France in advance of the invasion of Normandy. Olds flew a new P-38J Lightning that he nicknamed Scat II. Olds' crew chief, T/Sgt. Glen A. Wold, said that he showed an immediate interest in aircraft maintenance and learned emergency servicing under Wold. He also insisted his aircraft be waxed to reduce air resistance and helped his maintenance crew carry out their tasks. On July 24 Olds was promoted to captain
and became a flight and later squadron leader. Following a low-level bridge-bombing mission to Montmirail, France
, on August 14, Olds shot down his first German aircraft, a pair of Focke-Wulf Fw 190
s.
On an escort mission to Wismar
on August 25, his flight was on the far left of the group's line abreast formation and encountered 40-50 Messerschmitt Bf 109
s near Wittenberge
, flying north at the same 28000 ft (8,534.4 m) altitude in a loose formation of three large vees. Olds turned his flight left and began a ten-minute pursuit in which they climbed to altitude above and behind the Germans. Over Bützow
, undetected by the Germans, Olds and his wingman jettisoned their fuel drop tanks and attacked, although the second element of the flight had been unable to keep up during the climb. Just as Olds began firing, both engines of his P-38 quit from fuel exhaustion; in the excitement of the attack he had neglected to switch to his internal fuel tanks. He continued attacking in "dead-stick mode", hitting his target in the fuselage and shooting off part of its engine cowling. After fatally damaged the Bf 109 he dived away and restarted his engines. Despite battle damage to his own plane, including loss of a side window of its canopy, Olds shot down two during the dogfight and another on the way home to become the first ace of the 479th FG. His combat report for that date concluded:
He made eight claims while flying the P-38 (five of which are sustained by the Air Force Historical Research Agency) and was originally credited as the top-scoring P-38 pilot of the European Theater of Operations.
in mid-September. On his second transition flight, at the point of touchdown during landing, Olds learned a lesson in "false confidence" when the powerful torque of the single-engined fighter forced him to ground loop
after the Mustang veered off the runway. Olds shot down an Fw 190 in his new Scat IV on October 6 during a savage battle near Berlin in which he was nearly shot down by his own wingman. He completed his first combat tour on November 9, 1944, accruing 270 hours of combat time and six kills.
After returning to the United States for a two-month leave, Olds began a full second tour at Wattisham on January 15, 1945. He was assigned duties as operations officer of the 434th Fighter squadron. Promoted to major
on February 9, 1945, Olds claimed his seventh victory southeast of Magdeburg, Germany the same day, downing another Bf 109. On February 14, he claimed three victories, two Bf 109s and an Fw 190, but the latter was later changed to a "probable".
His final WWII aerial kill occurred on April 7, 1945, when Olds in Scat VI led the 479th Fighter Group on a mission escorting B-24s bombing an ammunition dump in Lüneburg
, Germany. The engagement marked the only combat appearance of Sonderkommando Elbe, a German Air Force Squadron formed to ram Allied bombers. South of Bremen
, Olds noticed contrail
s popping up above a bank of cirrus cloud
s, of aircraft flying above and to the left of the bombers. For five minutes these bogie
s paralleled the bomber stream while the 479th held station. Turning to investigate, Olds saw pairs of Me 262s turn towards and dive on the Liberators. After damaging one of the jets in a chase meant to lure the fighter escort away from the bombers, the Mustangs returned to the bomber stream. Olds observed an Me 109 of Sonderkommando Elbe attack the bombers and shoot down a B-24. Olds pursued the Me 109 through the formation, and shot it down.
Olds achieved the bulk of his strafing credits the following week in attacks on Lübeck Blankensee
and Tarnewitz
airdromes on April 13, and Reichersburg
airfield in Austria
on April 16, when he destroyed six German planes on the ground. He later reflected on the hazards of such missions:
Olds had not only risen in rank to field grade but was given command of his squadron on March 25, less than two years out of West Point and at only 22 years of age. By the end of his combat service he was officially credited with 12 German planes shot down and 11.5 others destroyed on the ground.
at March Field, California
, to fly the P-80 Shooting Star
, which began a career-long professional struggle with superiors he viewed as more promotion- than warrior-minded.
In April 1946, he and Lieutenant Colonel John C. "Pappy" Herbst
formed what may have been the Air Force's first jet aerobatic demonstration team
. In late May, the 412th was ordered to undertake PROJECT COMET, a nine-city transcontinental mass formation flight. Olds and Herbst performed a two-ship acro routine that thrilled the crowds at every stop, the highlight being a three-day layover in Washington, D.C. In June, Olds was one of four pilots who participated in the first one-day, dawn-to-dusk, transcontinental round trip jet flight from March Field to Washington, D.C. The jet demonstration performances with Herbst ended tragically on July 4, 1946, when Herbst crashed at the Del Mar Racetrack
after his aircraft stalled during an encore of their routine finale in which the P-80s did a loop while configured to land. Later that same year Olds took second place in the Thompson Trophy Race
(Jet Division) of the Cleveland National Air Races at Brook Park, Ohio
over the Labor Day
weekend. In this first "closed course" jet race, six P-80s competed against each other on a three pylon course 30 miles in length.
Olds went to England under the U.S. Air Force/Royal Air Force Exchange Program in 1948. Flying the Gloster Meteor
jet fighter, he commanded No. 1 Squadron
at Royal Air Force Station Tangmere between October 20, 1948 and September 25, 1949, the first foreigner to command an RAF unit in peacetime. Following his exchange assignment, Olds returned to March AFB to become operations officer of the 94th Fighter Squadron
of the 1st Fighter Group
, flying F-86A Sabres
, on November 15, 1949.
Olds was assigned to command the 71st Fighter Squadron
, then an Air Defense Command unit stationed at Greater Pittsburgh Airport
, Pennsylvania, and as a result missed service in the Korean War
, despite repeated applications for a combat assignment. Discouraged and at odds with the Air Force, in which he was seen as an iconoclast, Olds reportedly was in the process of resigning when he was talked out of it by a mentor, Maj Gen Frederic H. Smith, Jr.
, who brought him to work at Eastern Air Defense Command headquarters at Stewart AFB.
Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
on February 20, 1951, and Colonel
April 15, 1953, Olds served unenthusiastically in several staff assignments until returning to flying in 1955. At first on the command staff of the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing
at Landstuhl Air Base
, Germany, Olds then commanded its Sabre-equipped 86th Fighter-Interceptor Group from October 8, 1955, to August 10, 1956. He then was made chief of the Weapons Proficiency Center at Wheelus Air Base
, Libya
, in charge of all fighter weapons training for the United States Air Forces Europe until July 1958.
Olds had administrative and staff duty assignments at the Pentagon
between 1958 and 1962 as the Deputy Chief, Air Defense Division, Headquarters USAF. In this assignment he prepared a number of papers, iconoclastic at the time, which soon became prophetic, including identifying the need for upgraded conventional munitions (foretelling the "bomb shortage" of the Vietnam War), and the dearth of any serious tactical air training in conventional warfare. From November 1959 to March 1960, his section worked intensely to develop a program reducing the entire structure of the ADC with the purpose of generating $6.5 billion for classified funding to develop the SR-71 Blackbird
. Following his Pentagon assignment, Olds attended the National War College
, graduating in 1963.
Olds next became commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters
, England, an F-101 Voodoo
fighter-bomber wing, on September 8, 1963. The 81st TFW was a major combat unit in United States Air Forces Europe, having both a tactical nuclear and conventional bombing role supporting NATO. Olds commanded the wing until July 26, 1965. As his Deputy Commander of Operations Olds brought with him Colonel Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr., whom he had met during his Pentagon assignment and who would go on to become the first African-American 4-star Air Force general. James and Olds worked closely together for a year as a command team and developed both a professional and social relationship which was later renewed in combat.
Olds formed a demonstration team for the F-101 using pilots of his wing, without command authorization, and performed at an Air Force open house at Bentwaters. He asserted that his superior at Third Air Force
attempted to have him court-martialed, but the commander of USAFE, General Gabriel P. Disosway
, instead authorized his removal from command of the 81st TFW, cancellation of a recommended Legion of Merit
award, and transfer to the headquarters of the Ninth Air Force
at Shaw Air Force Base
, South Carolina
.
In September 1966, Olds was tapped to command an F-4C Phantom
wing in Southeast Asia. En route he arranged with the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Wing, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
, Arizona
, (where Col. James was now Deputy Commander of Operations) to be checked out in the Phantom, completing the 14-step syllabus in just five days. His instructor was Major William L. Kirk
, the 4453rd CCTW's Standardization and Evaluation officer, who had been one of Olds' pilots at RAF Bentwaters, and who later commanded the United States Air Forces Europe as a full general. Kirk accompanied Olds for practice firing of AIM-7 Sparrow
and AIM-9 Sidewinder
missiles on the Point Mugu missile range
while Olds was en route to Travis Air Force Base
for his charter flight overseas. Olds rewarded Kirk by granting him a transfer to his command in Thailand in March 1967.
. A lack of aggressiveness and sense of purpose in the wing had led to the change in command (Olds' predecessor had flown only 12 missions during the 10 months the wing had been in combat). The 44-year-old colonel also set the tone for his command stint by immediately placing himself on the flight schedule as a rookie pilot under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. In December Olds was re-united with James, and they again became an effective command team (popularly nicknamed "Blackman and Robin"). Olds took to the air war over North Vietnam in an F-4C Phantom he nicknamed, in keeping with his previous aircraft, Scat XXVII.
commander Major General William Momyer, himself a former commander of the 8th TFW, Olds was directed to plan a mission designed to draw the North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
s into an aerial trap, and "Operation Bolo
" resulted.
In October 1966, strike force F-105 Thunderchief
s were equipped with QRC-160 radar jamming pods whose effectiveness virtually ended their losses to surface-to-air missile
s. As a result, SAM attacks shifted to the Phantoms, unprotected because of a shortage of pods. To protect the F-4s, rules of engagement
that allowed the MiGCAP
to escort the strike force in and out of the target area were revised in December to restrict MiGCAP penetration to the edge of SAM coverage. MiG interceptions increased as a result, primarily by MiG-21s using high speed hit-and-run tactics against bomb-laden F-105 formations, and although only two bombers had been lost, the threat to the force was perceived as serious.
The Bolo plan reasoned that by equipping F-4s with jamming pods, using the call signs and communications codewords of the F-105 wings, and flying their flight profiles through northwest Vietnam, the F-4s could effectively simulate an F-105 bombing mission and entice the MiG-21s into intercepting not bomb-laden Thunderchiefs, but Phantoms configured for air-to-air combat.
After an intensive planning, maintenance, and briefing period, the mission was scheduled for January 1, 1967. Poor weather caused a 24-hour delay, but even then, a solid overcast covered the North Vietnamese airbases at Phuc Yen, Gia Lam
, Kep, and Cat Bai when the bogus strike force began arriving over the target area, five minute intervals separating the flights of F-4s. Leading the first flight, Olds overflew the primary MiG-21 base at Phuc Yen and was on a second pass when MiGs finally began popping up through the cloud base. Although at first seemingly random in nature, it quickly became apparent that the MiGs were ground-controlled intercepts designed to place the supposed F-105s in a vise between enemies to their front and rear.
The F-4s and their crews, however, proved equal to the situation and claimed seven MiG-21s destroyed, almost half of the 16 then in service with the VPAF without loss to USAF aircraft. Olds himself shot down one of the seven. Follow-up interceptions over the next two days by MiGs against RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft led to a similar mission on a smaller scale on January 6, with another two MiG-21s shot down. VPAF fighter activity diminished to almost nothing for 10 weeks afterwards, thereby accomplishing the main goal of Operation Bolo: to eliminate or diminish the threat of MiGs to the strike formations.
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On May 4, Olds destroyed another MiG-21 over Phuc Yen. Two weeks later, he destroyed two MiG-17s, bringing his total to 16 confirmed kills (12 in World War II and four in Vietnam), making him a triple ace. Olds states that following the shoot down of his fourth MiG, he intentionally avoided shooting down a fifth, even during at least ten opportunities to do so, because he had learned that Seventh Air Force, on orders from Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown
, would immediately relieve him of command as a publicity asset. He was awarded a third Silver Star
for leading a low-level bombing strike on March 30, 1967, and the Air Force Cross
for an attack on the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi
on August 11, one of five awarded to Air Force pilots for that mission. He flew his final combat mission over North Vietnam on September 23, 1967.
His 259 total combat missions included 107 in World War II and 152 in Southeast Asia, 105 of those over North Vietnam. Scat XXVII was retired from operational service and placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio.
he sported in Vietnam. It was a common superstition among airmen to grow a "bulletproof mustache", but Olds also used his as "a gesture of defiance. The kids on base loved it. Most everybody grew a mustache." Returning home, however, marked the end of this flamboyance. When he reported to his first interview with Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. McConnell
, McConnell walked up to him, stuck a finger under his nose and said, "Take it off." Olds replied, "Yes, sir."
For his part, Olds was not upset with the order, recalling:
The incident with the mustache is given credit as the impetus for a new Air Force tradition, "Mustache March
", in which aircrew, aircraft maintainers, and other Airmen worldwide show solidarity by a symbolic, albeit good-natured "protest" for one month against Air Force facial hair regulations.
The History Channel
, in its series Dogfights, recreated Operation Bolo using a computer animation for an episode entitled "Air Ambush", first telecast on November 10, 2006. Olds, then 84 years old, appeared as a commentator, and as background, dogfight
s he experienced as a P-38 pilot were also recreated.
After relinquishing command of the 8th TFW on September 23, 1967, Olds reported for duty to the United States Air Force Academy
in Colorado Springs, Colorado
, in December 1967. He served as Commandant of Cadets for three years and sought to restore morale in the wake of a major cheating scandal. Olds was promoted to brigadier general
on June 1, 1968, with seniority dating from May 28.
, California. Olds oversaw the creation of policies, standards, and procedures for Air Force accident prevention programs, and dealt with work safety education, workplace accident investigation and analysis, and safety inspections.
, sent Olds to Southeast Asia in the autumn of 1971 to determine the state of readiness of Air Force pilots. Olds toured USAF bases in Thailand (flying several unauthorized combat missions in the process) and brought back a blunt assessment. Air Force pilots, he reported to Air Force Chief of Staff John D. Ryan
(a former SAC
general and bomber pilot often at odds with the tactical fighter community), "couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag" because of a systemic lack of interest by the USAF in air-to-air combat training. He warned that losses would be severe in any resumption of aerial combat. Olds recalled that Ryan expressed surprise at this assessment and reflected his disagreement.
When Operation Linebacker
began in May 1972, American fighter jets returned to the offense in the skies over North Vietnam for the first time in nearly four years. Navy
and Marine Corps fighters, reaping the benefits of their TOPGUN program
, immediately enjoyed considerable success. In contrast by June, as Olds had predicted, the Air Force's fighter community was struggling with a nearly 1:1 kill-loss ratio. To the new Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Ernest C. Hardin, Jr., Olds offered to take a voluntary reduction in rank
to colonel so he could return to operational command and straighten out the situation. Olds decided to leave the Air Force when the offer was refused (he was offered another inspection tour instead) and he retired on June 1, 1973.
From top, and from left to right: Command pilot.
after Olds' father married for the fourth time in June 1942, to Nina Gore Auchinloss. His father died of pneumonia
on April 28, 1943, after hospitalization for constrictive pericarditis
and Libman-Sacks endocarditis
, at the age of 46, just prior to Olds' graduation from West Point.
In 1946, while based at March Field, Olds met Hollywood actress (and "pin-up girl
") Ella Raines
on a blind date in Palm Springs
. They married in Beverly Hills on February 6, 1947, and had two daughters, Christina and Susan, and a son, Robert Ernest, who was stillborn
in 1958. Most of their 29-year marriage, marked by frequent extended separations and difficult homecomings, was turbulent because of a clash of lifestyles, particularly her refusal to ever live in government housing on base. Robin Olds and Ella Raines separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976. Robin married Abigail Morgan Sellers Barnett in January 1978, and they divorced after fifteen years of marriage.
In his retirement at Steamboat Springs
, Colorado
, Olds pursued his love of skiing
and served on the city's planning commission. He was active in public speaking, making 21 events as late in his life as 2005 and 13 in 2006.
Olds' fondness for alcohol was well-known. John Darrell Sherwood, in his book Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience, posits that Olds' heavy drinking hurt his post-Vietnam career. On July 12, 2001, Olds was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest
near his home in Steamboat Springs. Olds, briefly hospitalized during the incident for facial cuts, plead guilty in return for charges of weaving and felony vehicular eluding being dropped. Olds was placed on one year probation
, and ordered to pay almost $900 in fines and costs, attend an alcohol education course, and perform 72 hours of community service
.
Days later, on July 21, 2001, Olds was enshrined at Dayton, Ohio
, in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
class of 2001, along with test pilot
Joseph H. Engle, Marine Corps
ace Marion E. Carl
, and Albert Lee Ueltschi. He became the only person enshrined in both the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
In March 2007 Olds was hospitalized in Colorado for complications of Stage 4 prostate cancer
. On the evening of June 14, 2007, General Olds died from congestive heart failure
in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Olds was honored with a flyover and services at the United States Air Force Academy
on June 30, where his ashes will be kept. General Olds will also be remembered as the Class Exemplar of the Academy Class of 2011, which had begun Basic Cadet Training, the first step towards becoming Air Force officers, two days before Olds' funeral.
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
and general officer in the U.S. Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. He was a "triple ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
.
The son of regular Army
Regular Army
The Regular Army of the United States was and is the successor to the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional military establishment. Even in modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army...
Maj. Gen. Robert Olds
Robert Olds
Robert Olds was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces, theorist of strategic air power, and proponent of an independent United States Air Force. Olds is best known today as the father of Brig. Gen...
, educated at West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
, and the product of an upbringing in the early years of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Olds epitomized the youthful World War II fighter pilot. He remained in the service as it became the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Rising to command of two fighter wings, Olds is regarded among aviation historians and his peers as the best wing commander of the Vietnam War, both for his air-fighting skills and his reputation as a combat leader.
Olds was promoted to brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. The remainder of his career was spent in non-operational positions, as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
and as an official in the Air Force Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
's Office. His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking.
Olds had a highly-publicized career and life, including marriage to Hollywood actress Ella Raines
Ella Raines
Ella Wallace Raines was an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Born Ella Wallace Raubes near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by Howard Hawks...
. As a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All American for his play as a lineman in American football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
. Olds expressed his philosophy regarding fighter pilots in the quote: "There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks."
Early life
Olds was born in HonoluluHonolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
into an Army family and spent much of his boyhood in Hampton, Virginia
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, where he attended elementary and high school. His father was Captain (later Major General) Robert Olds
Robert Olds
Robert Olds was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces, theorist of strategic air power, and proponent of an independent United States Air Force. Olds is best known today as the father of Brig. Gen...
, an instructor pilot in France during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, former aide to Billy Mitchell from 1922 to 1925, and a leading advocate of strategic bombing in the Air Corps. His mother, Eloise Wichman Nott Olds, died when Robin was four and he was raised by his father. Olds was the eldest of four brothers, followed by Stevan (1924), Sterling (1935), and Frederick (1936).
Growing up primarily at Langley Field, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Olds came in almost daily contact with the small group of officers who would lead the US Army Air Forces in World War II (one neighbor was Major Carl Spaatz
Carl Spaatz
Carl Andrew "Tooey" Spaatz GBE was an American World War II general and the first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He was of German descent.-Early life:...
, destined to become the first Chief of Staff of the USAF), and as a result was imbued with an unusually strong dedication to the air service, and conversely, with a low tolerance for officers who did not exhibit the same. On November 10, 1925, his father appeared as a witness on behalf of Billy Mitchell during his court-martial in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. He brought three-year-old Robin with him to court, dressed in an Air Service uniform, and posed with him for newspaper photographers before testifying.
Olds first flew at the age of eight, in an open cockpit biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
operated by his father. At the age of 12, Olds made attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
an objective to accomplish his goals of becoming an officer, a military aviator, and playing football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
.
His father was made commander of the pioneer B-17 Flying Fortress 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field on March 1, 1937, and promoted to lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
on March 7. Olds attended Hampton High School
Hampton High School (Hampton, Virginia)
Hampton High School is a public secondary school located in Hampton, Virginia. It is the oldest standing high school in Hampton Public Schools. It contains an International Baccalaureate World School with the Diploma Programme.Hampton high is the first high school in the Hampton city high school...
where he was elected president of his class three successive years, and played varsity high school football on a team that won the state championship of Virginia in 1937. Olds was aggressive, even mean, as a player, and received offers to attend Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
and Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
on football scholarships
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
.
Instead of entering college after graduating in 1939, Olds enrolled at Millard Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, a school established to prepare men for the entrance examinations to the military academies. When Germany invaded Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Olds attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
but was thwarted by his father's refusal to approve his enlistment papers. Olds completed Millard Prep and applied for admission to West Point. After he received a conditional commitment for nomination from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
Congressman J. Buell Snyder
J. Buell Snyder
John Buell Snyder was a Democratic Party member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.J. Buell Snyder was born on a farm in Upper Turkeyfoot Township, Pennsylvania. He attended summer sessions of Harvard University, and Columbia University in New York City...
, Olds moved to Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Uniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. Population in 1900, 7,344; in 1910, 13,344; in 1920, 15,692; and in 1940, 21,819. The population was 10,372 at the 2010 census...
, where he lived in the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
and supported himself working odd jobs. He also took and passed the entrance examination. Olds was accepted into the Class of 1944 on June 1, 1940, and entered the academy a month later.
West Point and football
As a plebe, Olds played football on a freshmanFreshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
squad that began the season with three losses but finished 3-4-1 while the varsity won only one game in its second consecutive losing season. As a result, the new academy superintendent
Superintendents of the United States Military Academy
The commanding officer of the United States Military Academy is its Superintendent. This position is roughly equivalent to the chancellor or president of an American civilian university. The officer appointed is by tradition a graduate of the United States Military Academy, commonly known as "West...
, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger
Robert L. Eichelberger
Robert Lawrence Eichelberger was a general in the United States Army, who commanded the US Eighth Army in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. His Army was among the very first to engage the Japanese in the Pacific Theater of Operations.-Pre-World War II service:Eichelberger was born...
, replaced the head coach (an Army officer) with Earl "Red" Blaik
Earl Blaik
Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college...
, a 1920 graduate and head coach at Dartmouth, who had recruited Olds in 1939.
Olds played on the varsity college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
team in both 1941 and 1942. At 6 foot 2 inches in height and weighing 205 pounds, he played tackle on both offense and defense, lettering both seasons. Army's record in 1941 was 5-3-1, with wins over The Citadel, VMI
Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...
, Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and West Virginia
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
, a scoreless tie with Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, and losses to Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Penn
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and Navy. The loss to the midshipmen was followed eight days later by the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
.
In 1942 he was named by Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
as its "Lineman of the Year" and by Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
as "Player of the Year." Olds was also selected as an All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
as the cadets compiled a 6-3 record, beating Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
, Cornell
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Columbia, Harvard, VMI, and Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and falling to Notre Dame, Penn, and Navy. In the Army–Navy Game of 1942, which was played at Annapolis instead of Philadelphia, Olds had both upper front teeth knocked out when he received a forearm blow to the mouth while making a tackle. Olds returned to the game and reportedly was cheered by the Navy Third and Fourth Classes, which were assigned as the Army cheering section when wartime travel restrictions prevented the Corps of Cadets from attending. In 1985 Olds was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
.
Olds developed ambivalent feelings about West Point, admiring its dedication to "Duty, Honor, Country", but disturbed by the tendency of many tactical officers to distort the purpose of its Honor Code
Honor code
An honour code or honour system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. The use of an honor code depends on the idea that people can be trusted to act honorably...
. In March 1943, Olds was braced by an officer upon returning from leave in New York City, and compelled on penalty of an honor violation to admit he had consumed alcohol. The infraction reduced him in rank from cadet captain to cadet private, characterized by Olds in his memoirs as "only the second cadet in the history of West Point to earn that dubious honor." He walked punishment tours until the day of his graduation in June. The incident left its mark on Olds such that when he became Commandant of Cadets at the Air Force Academy, use of the Honor Code as an instrument for integrity rather than as a tool for petty enforcement of discipline became a point of emphasis in his administration. During his Academy years Olds also acquired a strong contempt for alumni networking
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
, commonly called "ring knocking", to the degree that he went out of his way to conceal his West Point background.
By an act of Congress on October 1, 1942, during Olds' Second Class year, the academy began a three-year curriculum for the duration of the war for cadets entering after July 1939. Cadets applying to the Air Corps were classified as Air Cadets, with a modified curriculum that provided flying training but eliminated Military Topography and Graphics required for Ground Cadets. Olds' class was given an abridged second class course of study until January 19, 1943, when it began an abridged first class course.
Olds completed primary training in the summer of 1942 at the Spartan School of Aviation in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, and basic and advanced training at Stewart Field
Stewart International Airport
Stewart International Airport is located in the southern Hudson Valley, west of Newburgh, New York and over north of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The airport is located in the Town of Newburgh and the Town of New Windsor."." U.S. Census Bureau...
, New York. 208 cadets including Olds completed the course, while five classmates died in accidents. Olds received his pilot's wings personally from Gen. Henry H. Arnold
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps , Commanding General of the U.S...
on May 30, 1943, and graduated on June 1 as a member of the Class of June 1943, 194th in general merit of 514 graduates.
P-38 Lightning missions
Lieutenant Olds completed fighter pilot training with the 329th Fighter Group, based at Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
. His initial twin-engine training at Williams Field, Arizona
Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base, located in Mesa, and about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona.It was active as a training base for both the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the USAF from 1941 until its closure in 1993...
, was in the Curtiss AT-9
Curtiss AT-9
-Related content:Related development:Comparable aircraft:Beech C-45 Expeditor-Bibliography:* Bowers, Peter M. Curtiss Aircraft, 1907-1947. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-10029-8....
, followed by transition training to the P-38 in its P-322 variant. After gunnery training at Matagorda, Texas
Matagorda, Texas
Matagorda is an unincorporated community in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. It had a population of approximately 710 in 2000. Matagorda is at the end of State Highway 60 and beginning of Farm to Market Road 2031, which runs over the Intracoastal Waterway and south to the Gulf of Mexico...
in the first half of August 1943, he was assigned to P-38 phase training at Muroc Army Air Field
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
, California.
In early 1944 he became part of the cadre assigned to build up the newly activated 434th Fighter Squadron and its parent 479th Fighter Group
479th Flying Training Group
The 479th Flying Training Group is a United States Air Force unit, stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola . A component of Air Education and Training Command , the 479 FTG was activated on 2 October 2009.-Overview:...
, based at Lomita, California
Lomita, California
Lomita is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 20,256 at the 2010 census, up from 20,046 at the 2000 census...
. Olds logged 650 hours of flying time during training, including 250 hours in the P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
, as the 479th built its proficiency as a combat group. It departed the Los Angeles area on April 15 for Camp Kilmer
Camp Kilmer
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and shipped aboard the USS Argentina
SS Argentina (1929)
One of a trio of American-built passenger liners on the US-South America route, the Argentina was owned and operated by Moore-McCormack Steamship Lines and sailed this route until she was laid up in 1958.-The Pennsylvania:...
for Europe on May 3. The 479th arrived in Scotland on May 14, 1944, and entrained for RAF Wattisham
RAF Wattisham
RAF Wattisham was a Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front-line air force base...
, England, where it arrived the next day.
The 479th began combat on May 26, flying bomber escort missions and attacking transportation targets in occupied France in advance of the invasion of Normandy. Olds flew a new P-38J Lightning that he nicknamed Scat II. Olds' crew chief, T/Sgt. Glen A. Wold, said that he showed an immediate interest in aircraft maintenance and learned emergency servicing under Wold. He also insisted his aircraft be waxed to reduce air resistance and helped his maintenance crew carry out their tasks. On July 24 Olds was promoted to captain
Captain (USA)
In the uniformed services of the United States, captain is a federal commissioned officer rank.-U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps:...
and became a flight and later squadron leader. Following a low-level bridge-bombing mission to Montmirail, France
Montmirail, Sarthe
Montmirail is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France....
, on August 14, Olds shot down his first German aircraft, a pair of Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
s.
On an escort mission to Wismar
Wismar
Wismar , is a small port and Hanseatic League town in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,about 45 km due east of Lübeck, and 30 km due north of Schwerin. Its natural harbour, located in the Bay of Wismar is well-protected by a promontory. The...
on August 25, his flight was on the far left of the group's line abreast formation and encountered 40-50 Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
s near Wittenberge
Wittenberge
Wittenberge is a town of twenty thousand people on the lower Elbe in the district of Prignitz , Brandenburg, Germany.-History:...
, flying north at the same 28000 ft (8,534.4 m) altitude in a loose formation of three large vees. Olds turned his flight left and began a ten-minute pursuit in which they climbed to altitude above and behind the Germans. Over Bützow
Bützow
Bützow is a town in the district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in Germany, with a population of 8,122 .The town was first mentioned in 1171....
, undetected by the Germans, Olds and his wingman jettisoned their fuel drop tanks and attacked, although the second element of the flight had been unable to keep up during the climb. Just as Olds began firing, both engines of his P-38 quit from fuel exhaustion; in the excitement of the attack he had neglected to switch to his internal fuel tanks. He continued attacking in "dead-stick mode", hitting his target in the fuselage and shooting off part of its engine cowling. After fatally damaged the Bf 109 he dived away and restarted his engines. Despite battle damage to his own plane, including loss of a side window of its canopy, Olds shot down two during the dogfight and another on the way home to become the first ace of the 479th FG. His combat report for that date concluded:
Still in a shallow dive, I observed another P-38 and an Me 109 going round and round. It seemed that the 38 needed help so I started down. At about 4000 ft (1,219.2 m), the Jerry, still way out of my range, turned under me and slightly to the right. I rolled over on my back, following him and gave him an ineffective burst at long range. By this time I was traveling in excess of 500 mph (223.5 m/s). My left window blew out, scaring the hell out of me. I thought I had been hit by some of the ground fire I had observed in the vicinity. I regained control of the aircraft and pulled out above a wheat field. I tried to contact the flight to get myself recognized, but observed an Me 109 making a pass at me from about seven o'clock high. I broke left as well as my plane could and the Jerry overshot. I straightened out and gave him a burst. He chandelleChandelleThe chandelle is an aircraft control maneuver where the pilot combines a 180° turn with a climb.It is now required for attaining a commercial flight certificate in many countries...
d steeply to the left and I shot some more. He passed right over me and I slipped over in an Immelman. As I straightened out at the top, I saw the pilot bail out.
He made eight claims while flying the P-38 (five of which are sustained by the Air Force Historical Research Agency) and was originally credited as the top-scoring P-38 pilot of the European Theater of Operations.
P-51 Mustang pilot
The 479th FG converted to the P-51 MustangP-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
in mid-September. On his second transition flight, at the point of touchdown during landing, Olds learned a lesson in "false confidence" when the powerful torque of the single-engined fighter forced him to ground loop
Ground loop (aviation)
In aviation, a ground loop is a rapid rotation of a fixed-wing aircraft in the horizontal plane while on the ground. Aerodynamic forces may cause the advancing wing to rise, which may then cause the other wingtip to touch the ground...
after the Mustang veered off the runway. Olds shot down an Fw 190 in his new Scat IV on October 6 during a savage battle near Berlin in which he was nearly shot down by his own wingman. He completed his first combat tour on November 9, 1944, accruing 270 hours of combat time and six kills.
After returning to the United States for a two-month leave, Olds began a full second tour at Wattisham on January 15, 1945. He was assigned duties as operations officer of the 434th Fighter squadron. Promoted to major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
on February 9, 1945, Olds claimed his seventh victory southeast of Magdeburg, Germany the same day, downing another Bf 109. On February 14, he claimed three victories, two Bf 109s and an Fw 190, but the latter was later changed to a "probable".
His final WWII aerial kill occurred on April 7, 1945, when Olds in Scat VI led the 479th Fighter Group on a mission escorting B-24s bombing an ammunition dump in Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, Germany. The engagement marked the only combat appearance of Sonderkommando Elbe, a German Air Force Squadron formed to ram Allied bombers. South of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Olds noticed contrail
Contrail
Contrails or vapour trails are artificial clouds that are the visible trails of condensed water vapour made by the exhaust of aircraft engines...
s popping up above a bank of cirrus cloud
Cirrus cloud
Cirrus clouds are atmospheric clouds generally characterized by thin, wispy strands, giving them their name from the Latin word cirrus meaning a ringlet or curling lock of hair...
s, of aircraft flying above and to the left of the bombers. For five minutes these bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
s paralleled the bomber stream while the 479th held station. Turning to investigate, Olds saw pairs of Me 262s turn towards and dive on the Liberators. After damaging one of the jets in a chase meant to lure the fighter escort away from the bombers, the Mustangs returned to the bomber stream. Olds observed an Me 109 of Sonderkommando Elbe attack the bombers and shoot down a B-24. Olds pursued the Me 109 through the formation, and shot it down.
Olds achieved the bulk of his strafing credits the following week in attacks on Lübeck Blankensee
Lübeck Airport
Lübeck Blankensee Airport , marketed by some airlines as Hamburg Lübeck Airport, is an airport in Germany located south of Lübeck city centre and northeast of Hamburg. The airport serves the Hamburg Metropolitan Area and is second after Hamburg Airport....
and Tarnewitz
Nordwestmecklenburg
Nordwestmecklenburg is a Kreis in the north-western part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea and borders on Schleswig-Holstein to the west...
airdromes on April 13, and Reichersburg
Ried im Innkreis (district)
Bezirk Ried im Innkreis is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small...
airfield in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
on April 16, when he destroyed six German planes on the ground. He later reflected on the hazards of such missions:
I was hit by flak as I was pulling out of a dive-strafing pass on an airfield called Tarnewitz, up on the BalticBaltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. Five P-51s made a pass on the airdrome that April day. I was the only one to return home...When I tested the stallStall (flight)In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
characteristics of my wounded bird over our home airfield, I found it quit flying at a little over 175 mph (78.2 m/s) indicatedIndicated airspeedIndicated airspeed is the airspeed read directly from the airspeed indicator on an aircraft, driven by the pitot-static system. IAS is directly related to calibrated airspeed , which is the IAS corrected for instrument and installation errors....
and rolled violently into the dead wing (note: the right flapFlap (aircraft)Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
had been blown away and two large holes knocked in the same wing). What to do? Bailout seemed the logical response, but here's where sentiment got in the way of reason. That airplane (note: "Scat VI") had taken me through a lot and I was damned if I was going to give up on her...why the bird and I survived the careening, bouncing and juttering ride down the length of the field, I guess I'll never know.
Olds had not only risen in rank to field grade but was given command of his squadron on March 25, less than two years out of West Point and at only 22 years of age. By the end of his combat service he was officially credited with 12 German planes shot down and 11.5 others destroyed on the ground.
Career highlights and assignments
Returning to the United States after the war, Olds was assigned at West Point as an assistant football coach for Red Blaik. Apparently resented by many on the staff for his rapid rise in rank and plethora of combat decorations, Olds transferred in February 1946 to the 412th Fighter Group412th Test Wing
The 412th Test Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California.-Overview:...
at March Field, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, to fly the P-80 Shooting Star
P-80 Shooting Star
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces. Designed in 1943 as a response to the German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter, and delivered in just 143 days from the start of the design process, production models were flying but...
, which began a career-long professional struggle with superiors he viewed as more promotion- than warrior-minded.
In April 1946, he and Lieutenant Colonel John C. "Pappy" Herbst
John C. "Pappy" Herbst
John C. "Pappy" Herbst was an American flying ace who was officially the second highest-scoring fighter pilot in the China Burma India Theater with 18 confirmed victories made during 7 months with the 23d Fighter Group...
formed what may have been the Air Force's first jet aerobatic demonstration team
Aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...
. In late May, the 412th was ordered to undertake PROJECT COMET, a nine-city transcontinental mass formation flight. Olds and Herbst performed a two-ship acro routine that thrilled the crowds at every stop, the highlight being a three-day layover in Washington, D.C. In June, Olds was one of four pilots who participated in the first one-day, dawn-to-dusk, transcontinental round trip jet flight from March Field to Washington, D.C. The jet demonstration performances with Herbst ended tragically on July 4, 1946, when Herbst crashed at the Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan: "Where The Turf Meets The Surf." It was built by a partnership...
after his aircraft stalled during an encore of their routine finale in which the P-80s did a loop while configured to land. Later that same year Olds took second place in the Thompson Trophy Race
Thompson trophy
The Thompson Trophy race was one of the National Air Races of the heyday of early airplane racing in the 1930s. Established in 1929, the last race was held in 1961. The race was long with pylons marking the turns, and emphasized low altitude flying and maneuverability at high speeds...
(Jet Division) of the Cleveland National Air Races at Brook Park, Ohio
Brook Park, Ohio
-External links:*...
over the Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend. In this first "closed course" jet race, six P-80s competed against each other on a three pylon course 30 miles in length.
Olds went to England under the U.S. Air Force/Royal Air Force Exchange Program in 1948. Flying the Gloster Meteor
Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. It first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force...
jet fighter, he commanded No. 1 Squadron
No. 1 Squadron RAF
No. 1 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It operated the Harrier GR9 from RAF Cottesmore until 28 January 2011.The squadron motto is In omnibus princeps , appropriate for the RAF's oldest squadron and one that has been involved in almost every major British military operation since...
at Royal Air Force Station Tangmere between October 20, 1948 and September 25, 1949, the first foreigner to command an RAF unit in peacetime. Following his exchange assignment, Olds returned to March AFB to become operations officer of the 94th Fighter Squadron
94th Fighter Squadron
The 94th Fighter Squadron ' is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 1st Operations Group and stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia....
of the 1st Fighter Group
1st Operations Group
The 1st Operations Group is the flying component of the 1st Fighter Wing, assigned to the USAF Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The 1st Operations Group is the oldest major air combat unit in the United States Air Force, being a successor organization...
, flying F-86A Sabres
F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
, on November 15, 1949.
Olds was assigned to command the 71st Fighter Squadron
71st Fighter Squadron
The 71st Fighter Squadron was a squadron of the United States Air Force, currently part of the 1st Operations Group of the 1st Fighter Wing, and stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. The squadron is equipped with the F-15C Eagle, the last squadron of the 1st Fighter Wing to fly the...
, then an Air Defense Command unit stationed at Greater Pittsburgh Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Greater Pittsburgh International Airport and commonly referred to as Pittsburgh International, is a joint civil–military international airport located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Findlay Township, approximately west of...
, Pennsylvania, and as a result missed service in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, despite repeated applications for a combat assignment. Discouraged and at odds with the Air Force, in which he was seen as an iconoclast, Olds reportedly was in the process of resigning when he was talked out of it by a mentor, Maj Gen Frederic H. Smith, Jr.
Frederic H. Smith, Jr.
Frederic Harrison Smith, Jr. was a United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe from 1959 to 1961; and Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1962.Smith was born at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1908...
, who brought him to work at Eastern Air Defense Command headquarters at Stewart AFB.
Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
on February 20, 1951, and Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
April 15, 1953, Olds served unenthusiastically in several staff assignments until returning to flying in 1955. At first on the command staff of the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing
86th Operations Group
The 86th Operations Group is the flying operational component of the 86th Airlift Wing. The group is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
at Landstuhl Air Base
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
, Germany, Olds then commanded its Sabre-equipped 86th Fighter-Interceptor Group from October 8, 1955, to August 10, 1956. He then was made chief of the Weapons Proficiency Center at Wheelus Air Base
Wheelus Air Base
-See also:*List of airports in Libya-External links:*****...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, in charge of all fighter weapons training for the United States Air Forces Europe until July 1958.
Olds had administrative and staff duty assignments at the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
between 1958 and 1962 as the Deputy Chief, Air Defense Division, Headquarters USAF. In this assignment he prepared a number of papers, iconoclastic at the time, which soon became prophetic, including identifying the need for upgraded conventional munitions (foretelling the "bomb shortage" of the Vietnam War), and the dearth of any serious tactical air training in conventional warfare. From November 1959 to March 1960, his section worked intensely to develop a program reducing the entire structure of the ADC with the purpose of generating $6.5 billion for classified funding to develop the SR-71 Blackbird
SR-71 Blackbird
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by the Lockheed Skunk Works. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the...
. Following his Pentagon assignment, Olds attended the National War College
National War College
The National War College of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. It was officially established on July 1, 1946, as an upgraded replacement for the...
, graduating in 1963.
Olds next became commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters
RAF Bentwaters
RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about 80 miles NE of London, 10 miles ENE of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England...
, England, an F-101 Voodoo
F-101 Voodoo
The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic military jet fighter which served the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force...
fighter-bomber wing, on September 8, 1963. The 81st TFW was a major combat unit in United States Air Forces Europe, having both a tactical nuclear and conventional bombing role supporting NATO. Olds commanded the wing until July 26, 1965. As his Deputy Commander of Operations Olds brought with him Colonel Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr., whom he had met during his Pentagon assignment and who would go on to become the first African-American 4-star Air Force general. James and Olds worked closely together for a year as a command team and developed both a professional and social relationship which was later renewed in combat.
Olds formed a demonstration team for the F-101 using pilots of his wing, without command authorization, and performed at an Air Force open house at Bentwaters. He asserted that his superior at Third Air Force
Third Air Force
The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
attempted to have him court-martialed, but the commander of USAFE, General Gabriel P. Disosway
Gabriel P. Disosway
General Gabriel Poillon Disosway was a noted United States Air Force four star general and served as commander of the Tactical Air Command....
, instead authorized his removal from command of the 81st TFW, cancellation of a recommended Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
award, and transfer to the headquarters of the Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
at Shaw Air Force Base
Shaw Air Force Base
Shaw Air Force Base is a United States Military facility located approximately west-northwest of Sumter, South Carolina. It is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
In September 1966, Olds was tapped to command an F-4C Phantom
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
wing in Southeast Asia. En route he arranged with the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Wing, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located within the city limits, and approximately south-southeast of downtown, Tucson, Arizona....
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, (where Col. James was now Deputy Commander of Operations) to be checked out in the Phantom, completing the 14-step syllabus in just five days. His instructor was Major William L. Kirk
William L. Kirk
William L. Kirk is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe/Commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe from 1987 to 1989....
, the 4453rd CCTW's Standardization and Evaluation officer, who had been one of Olds' pilots at RAF Bentwaters, and who later commanded the United States Air Forces Europe as a full general. Kirk accompanied Olds for practice firing of AIM-7 Sparrow
AIM-7 Sparrow
The AIM-7 Sparrow is an American, medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, as well as various allied air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were the West's principal beyond visual...
and AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
missiles on the Point Mugu missile range
Pacific Missile Test Center
Pacific Missile Test Center is the former name of the current Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division. The name of the center was the Naval Air Missile Test Center prior to PMTC. It is located at Naval Base Ventura County/Naval Air Station Point Mugu in Ventura County, California...
while Olds was en route to Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force air base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command , located three miles east of the central business district of Fairfield, in Solano County, California, United States. The base is named for Brigadier General Robert F...
for his charter flight overseas. Olds rewarded Kirk by granting him a transfer to his command in Thailand in March 1967.
Vietnam
On September 30, 1966, Olds took command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force BaseUbon Royal Thai Air Force Base
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force facility and is the home of Wing 21 of the RTAF 2nd Air Division. It is located in East-Central Thailand, near the city of Ubon Ratchathani, in the Ubon Ratchathani Province. It is approximately 305 miles North-East of Bangkok...
. A lack of aggressiveness and sense of purpose in the wing had led to the change in command (Olds' predecessor had flown only 12 missions during the 10 months the wing had been in combat). The 44-year-old colonel also set the tone for his command stint by immediately placing himself on the flight schedule as a rookie pilot under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. In December Olds was re-united with James, and they again became an effective command team (popularly nicknamed "Blackman and Robin"). Olds took to the air war over North Vietnam in an F-4C Phantom he nicknamed, in keeping with his previous aircraft, Scat XXVII.
MiG killer
After suggesting the idea to Seventh Air ForceSeventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
commander Major General William Momyer, himself a former commander of the 8th TFW, Olds was directed to plan a mission designed to draw the North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish pilots due to...
s into an aerial trap, and "Operation Bolo
Operation Bolo
Operation Bolo was a deception programme during the Vietnam War, to lure Không Quân Nhân Dân Việt Nam - Vietnam People's Air Force fighters into battle where the odds were stacked against the defenders; devised to reverse alarming loss rates among United States Air Force fighter bombers flying...
" resulted.
F-105 Thunderchief
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it has the dubious distinction of being the only US aircraft to have been...
s were equipped with QRC-160 radar jamming pods whose effectiveness virtually ended their losses to surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
s. As a result, SAM attacks shifted to the Phantoms, unprotected because of a shortage of pods. To protect the F-4s, rules of engagement
Rules of engagement
Rules of Engagement refers to those responses that are permitted in the employment of military personnel during operations or in the course of their duties. These rules of engagement are determined by the legal framework within which these duties are being carried out...
that allowed the MiGCAP
Combat air patrol
Combat air patrol is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft.A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile...
to escort the strike force in and out of the target area were revised in December to restrict MiGCAP penetration to the edge of SAM coverage. MiG interceptions increased as a result, primarily by MiG-21s using high speed hit-and-run tactics against bomb-laden F-105 formations, and although only two bombers had been lost, the threat to the force was perceived as serious.
The Bolo plan reasoned that by equipping F-4s with jamming pods, using the call signs and communications codewords of the F-105 wings, and flying their flight profiles through northwest Vietnam, the F-4s could effectively simulate an F-105 bombing mission and entice the MiG-21s into intercepting not bomb-laden Thunderchiefs, but Phantoms configured for air-to-air combat.
After an intensive planning, maintenance, and briefing period, the mission was scheduled for January 1, 1967. Poor weather caused a 24-hour delay, but even then, a solid overcast covered the North Vietnamese airbases at Phuc Yen, Gia Lam
Gia Lam
Gia Lâm is a district of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Gia Lam Airport is located in the district. At one time Vietnam Airlines's headquarters were on the airport property....
, Kep, and Cat Bai when the bogus strike force began arriving over the target area, five minute intervals separating the flights of F-4s. Leading the first flight, Olds overflew the primary MiG-21 base at Phuc Yen and was on a second pass when MiGs finally began popping up through the cloud base. Although at first seemingly random in nature, it quickly became apparent that the MiGs were ground-controlled intercepts designed to place the supposed F-105s in a vise between enemies to their front and rear.
The F-4s and their crews, however, proved equal to the situation and claimed seven MiG-21s destroyed, almost half of the 16 then in service with the VPAF without loss to USAF aircraft. Olds himself shot down one of the seven. Follow-up interceptions over the next two days by MiGs against RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft led to a similar mission on a smaller scale on January 6, with another two MiG-21s shot down. VPAF fighter activity diminished to almost nothing for 10 weeks afterwards, thereby accomplishing the main goal of Operation Bolo: to eliminate or diminish the threat of MiGs to the strike formations.
Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense)
Harold Brown , American scientist, was U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981 in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter. He had previously served in the Lyndon Johnson administration as Director of Defense Research and Engineering and Secretary of the Air Force.While Secretary of Defense, he...
, would immediately relieve him of command as a publicity asset. He was awarded a third Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
for leading a low-level bombing strike on March 30, 1967, and the Air Force Cross
Air Force Cross (United States)
The Air Force Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Air Force. The Air Force Cross is the Air Force decoration equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross .The Air Force Cross is awarded for extraordinary heroism...
for an attack on the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
on August 11, one of five awarded to Air Force pilots for that mission. He flew his final combat mission over North Vietnam on September 23, 1967.
His 259 total combat missions included 107 in World War II and 152 in Southeast Asia, 105 of those over North Vietnam. Scat XXVII was retired from operational service and placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...
, Ohio.
Olds' mustache
Olds was known for the extravagantly waxed (and decidedly non-regulation) handlebar moustacheHandlebar moustache
A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy, upward curved, extremities. It is named for its resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle. It is also known as a "spaghetti moustache", because of its stereotypical association with Italian men...
he sported in Vietnam. It was a common superstition among airmen to grow a "bulletproof mustache", but Olds also used his as "a gesture of defiance. The kids on base loved it. Most everybody grew a mustache." Returning home, however, marked the end of this flamboyance. When he reported to his first interview with Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. McConnell
John P. McConnell
General John Paul McConnell was the sixth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. As chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, General McConnell served in a dual capacity...
, McConnell walked up to him, stuck a finger under his nose and said, "Take it off." Olds replied, "Yes, sir."
For his part, Olds was not upset with the order, recalling:
To tell the truth, I wasn't all that fond of the damned thing by then, but it had become a symbol for the men of the 8th Wing. I knew McConnell understood. During his visits to Ubon over the past year he had never referred to my breach of military standards, just seemed rather amused at the variety of 'staches sported by many of the troops. (It) was the most direct order I had received in twenty-four years of service.
The incident with the mustache is given credit as the impetus for a new Air Force tradition, "Mustache March
Mustache March
Mustache March is annual event occurring in the month of March, where young men in the United States grow mustaches for amusement and to raise money for charity. The idea stems from an early Air Force tradition in which members of the U.S. Air Force would grow mustaches in good-natured protest...
", in which aircrew, aircraft maintainers, and other Airmen worldwide show solidarity by a symbolic, albeit good-natured "protest" for one month against Air Force facial hair regulations.
Dogfighting advocate
Olds was a strong advocate of the importance of tactical air power and maintaining conventional warfare proficiency during the Cold War, in an era when the Air Force's priority doctrine was on nuclear warfare. In 1962 he was ordered to stop writing a paper on the importance of conventional and tactical air power by his commander."We weren't allowed to dogfightDogfightA dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
. Very little attention was paid to strafing, dive-bombing, rocketry, stuff like that. It was thought to be unnecessary. Yet every confrontation America faced in the Cold War years was a 'bombs and bullets' situation, raging under an uneasy nuclear standoff." The Vietnam War "proved the need to teach tactical warfare and have fighter pilots. It caught us unprepared because we weren't allowed to learn it or practice it in training."
The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
, in its series Dogfights, recreated Operation Bolo using a computer animation for an episode entitled "Air Ambush", first telecast on November 10, 2006. Olds, then 84 years old, appeared as a commentator, and as background, dogfight
Dogfight
A dogfight, or dog fight, is a form of aerial combat between fighter aircraft; in particular, combat of maneuver at short range, where each side is aware of the other's presence. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane...
s he experienced as a P-38 pilot were also recreated.
Air Force Academy 1967-71
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
, in December 1967. He served as Commandant of Cadets for three years and sought to restore morale in the wake of a major cheating scandal. Olds was promoted to brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
on June 1, 1968, with seniority dating from May 28.
Director of Aerospace Safety
In February 1971 he began his last duty assignment as director of aerospace safety in the Office of the Inspector General, Headquarters USAF, and after December 1971 as part of the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center, a newly-activated separate operating agency located at Norton Air Force BaseNorton Air Force Base
Norton Air Force Base is a former front-line United States Air Force facility located east of downtown San Bernardino, California in San Bernardino County.-Overview:...
, California. Olds oversaw the creation of policies, standards, and procedures for Air Force accident prevention programs, and dealt with work safety education, workplace accident investigation and analysis, and safety inspections.
1971 inspection tour and retirement
Air Force Inspector General and West Point classmate Lt. Gen. Louis L. Wilson Jr.Louis L. Wilson Jr.
Louis Locke Wilson Jr. is a former General in the United States Air Force and the former commander in chief of the Pacific Air Forces-Early life:...
, sent Olds to Southeast Asia in the autumn of 1971 to determine the state of readiness of Air Force pilots. Olds toured USAF bases in Thailand (flying several unauthorized combat missions in the process) and brought back a blunt assessment. Air Force pilots, he reported to Air Force Chief of Staff John D. Ryan
John Dale Ryan
General John Dale Ryan was the seventh Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. As chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, General Ryan served in a dual capacity...
(a former SAC
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
general and bomber pilot often at odds with the tactical fighter community), "couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag" because of a systemic lack of interest by the USAF in air-to-air combat training. He warned that losses would be severe in any resumption of aerial combat. Olds recalled that Ryan expressed surprise at this assessment and reflected his disagreement.
When Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker was the title of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War....
began in May 1972, American fighter jets returned to the offense in the skies over North Vietnam for the first time in nearly four years. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and Marine Corps fighters, reaping the benefits of their TOPGUN program
United States Navy Fighter Weapons School
The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program , more popularly known as TOPGUN, is the modern-day evolution of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School which was originally established on March 3, 1969 at the former Naval Air Station Miramar in California...
, immediately enjoyed considerable success. In contrast by June, as Olds had predicted, the Air Force's fighter community was struggling with a nearly 1:1 kill-loss ratio. To the new Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Ernest C. Hardin, Jr., Olds offered to take a voluntary reduction in rank
Reduction in rank
Reduction in rank may refer to two separate concepts:*In military law, a reduction in rank is a demotion in military rank as punishment for a crime or wrongdoing, imposed by a court-martial or other authority...
to colonel so he could return to operational command and straighten out the situation. Olds decided to leave the Air Force when the offer was refused (he was offered another inspection tour instead) and he retired on June 1, 1973.
Awards and decorations
Robin Olds' ribbons as they appeared at retirement. |
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From top, and from left to right: Command pilot.
- Row 1: Air Force CrossAir Force Cross (United States)The Air Force Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Air Force. The Air Force Cross is the Air Force decoration equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross .The Air Force Cross is awarded for extraordinary heroism...
; Air Force Distinguished Service MedalAir Force Distinguished Service MedalThe Air Force Distinguished Service Medal was created by an act of the United States Congress on July 6, 1960. The medal was intended as a new decoration of the United States Air Force to replace the policy of awarding the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Air Force personnel.The Air Force...
. - Row 2: Silver StarSilver StarThe Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
, three oak leaf clusterOak leaf clusterAn oak leaf cluster is a common device which is placed on U.S. Army and Air Force awards and decorations to denote those who have received more than one bestowal of a particular decoration. The number of oak leaf clusters typically indicates the number of subsequent awards of the decoration...
s; Legion of MeritLegion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
; Distinguished Flying CrossDistinguished Flying Cross (United States)The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
, five oak leaf clusters. - Row 3: Air MedalAir MedalThe Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
, with 39 oak leaf clusters. - Row 4: Air Force Commendation Medal; Presidential Unit Citation, with oak leaf cluster; Outstanding Unit AwardOutstanding Unit AwardThe Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is an award of the United States Air Force which was first created in 1954. The award is presented as a ribbon to any command of the U.S...
, with two oak leaf clusters; American Defense Service MedalAmerican Defense Service MedalThe American Defense Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military, recognizing service before America’s entry into the Second World War but during the initial years of the European conflict.-Criteria:...
. - Row 5: American Campaign MedalAmerican Campaign MedalThe American Campaign Medal was a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign MedalEuropean-African-Middle Eastern Campaign MedalThe European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal is a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
with six campaign stars; World War II Victory MedalWorld War II Victory MedalThe World War II Victory Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created by an act of Congress in July 1945. The decoration commemorates military service during World War II and is awarded to any member of the United States military, including members of the armed forces of...
; National Defense Service MedalNational Defense Service MedalThe National Defense Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
, with third award star. - Row 6: Vietnam Service MedalVietnam Service MedalThe Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during...
; Air Force Longevity Service AwardAir Force Longevity Service AwardThe Air Force Longevity Service Award is a military award of the United States Air Force which was first issued in 1957 by order of General Thomas D. White, Air Force Chief of Staff...
, with six oak leaf clusters; Small Arms Expert Marksmanship MedalMarksmanship RibbonA Marksmanship Ribbon is an award of the United States Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard that is issued to service members who pass a weapons qualification course and achieve an above-average score.-Navy:...
; Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. - Row 7: Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
; Croix de GuerreCroix de guerreThe Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
(France), with star; Vietnam Air Gallantry Medal with Gold Wings; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Air Force Cross citation
- Colonel Robin Olds
- U.S. Air Force
- Date Of Action: August 11, 1967
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Cross to Colonel Robin Olds (AFSN: 0-26046), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force while serving as Strike Mission Commander in the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, against the Paul Doumer Bridge, a major north-south transportation link on Hanoi's Red River in North Vietnam, on 11 August 1967. On that date, Colonel Olds led his strike force of eight F-4C aircraft against a key railroad and highway bridge in North Vietnam. Despite intense, accurately directed fire, multiple surface-to-air missile attacks on his force, and continuous harassment by MiG fighters defending the target, Colonel Olds, with undaunted determination, indomitable courage, and professional skill, led his force through to help destroy this significant bridge. As a result the flow of war materials into this area was appreciably reduced. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Colonel Olds reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Personal
Olds was briefly a stepbrother of author Gore VidalGore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
after Olds' father married for the fourth time in June 1942, to Nina Gore Auchinloss. His father died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
on April 28, 1943, after hospitalization for constrictive pericarditis
Constrictive pericarditis
In many cases, constrictive pericarditis is a late sequela, in other words a condition that is the consequence of a previous disease, of an inflammatory condition of the pericardium...
and Libman-Sacks endocarditis
Libman-Sacks endocarditis
Libman-Sacks endocarditis is a form of nonbacterial endocarditis that is seen in systemic lupus erythematosus. It is one of the most common cardiac manifestations of lupus ....
, at the age of 46, just prior to Olds' graduation from West Point.
In 1946, while based at March Field, Olds met Hollywood actress (and "pin-up girl
Pin-up girl
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall...
") Ella Raines
Ella Raines
Ella Wallace Raines was an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Born Ella Wallace Raubes near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in a play there when she was seen by Howard Hawks...
on a blind date in Palm Springs
Palm Springs
Palm Springs is a desert city in CaliforniaPalm Springs may also refer to:* Palm Springs, Florida* Palm Springs, Hong Kong, a residential development in Yuen Long, Hong Kong* Coachella Valley, also known as the Palm Springs area...
. They married in Beverly Hills on February 6, 1947, and had two daughters, Christina and Susan, and a son, Robert Ernest, who was stillborn
Stillbirth
A stillbirth occurs when a fetus has died in the uterus. The Australian definition specifies that fetal death is termed a stillbirth after 20 weeks gestation or the fetus weighs more than . Once the fetus has died the mother still has contractions and remains undelivered. The term is often used in...
in 1958. Most of their 29-year marriage, marked by frequent extended separations and difficult homecomings, was turbulent because of a clash of lifestyles, particularly her refusal to ever live in government housing on base. Robin Olds and Ella Raines separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976. Robin married Abigail Morgan Sellers Barnett in January 1978, and they divorced after fifteen years of marriage.
In his retirement at Steamboat Springs
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
The city of Steamboat Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Routt County, Colorado, United States. The city is also known as "Steamboat," "The Boat," or "Ski Town USA". As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,088.The city is an...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Olds pursued his love of skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and served on the city's planning commission. He was active in public speaking, making 21 events as late in his life as 2005 and 13 in 2006.
Olds' fondness for alcohol was well-known. John Darrell Sherwood, in his book Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience, posits that Olds' heavy drinking hurt his post-Vietnam career. On July 12, 2001, Olds was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest
Resisting arrest
Resisting arrest is a term used to describe a criminal charge against an individual who has committed, depending on the jurisdiction, at least one of the following acts:* threatening a police officer with physical violence while being arrested...
near his home in Steamboat Springs. Olds, briefly hospitalized during the incident for facial cuts, plead guilty in return for charges of weaving and felony vehicular eluding being dropped. Olds was placed on one year probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
, and ordered to pay almost $900 in fines and costs, attend an alcohol education course, and perform 72 hours of community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
.
Days later, on July 21, 2001, Olds was enshrined at Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
National Aviation Hall of Fame
The American National Aviation Hall of Fame is located at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, east Dayton, Ohio...
class of 2001, along with test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
Joseph H. Engle, Marine Corps
Marine corps
A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...
ace Marion E. Carl
Marion E. Carl
Major General Marion Eugene Carl, USMC, was a World War II fighter ace, record setting test pilot, and a notable naval aviator. He was the first Marine Corps ace in World War II.-Early years:...
, and Albert Lee Ueltschi. He became the only person enshrined in both the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
In March 2007 Olds was hospitalized in Colorado for complications of Stage 4 prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. On the evening of June 14, 2007, General Olds died from congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Olds was honored with a flyover and services at the United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
on June 30, where his ashes will be kept. General Olds will also be remembered as the Class Exemplar of the Academy Class of 2011, which had begun Basic Cadet Training, the first step towards becoming Air Force officers, two days before Olds' funeral.
External links
- Photostatic copy of Olds' victory claim report of 14 Feb 45 with links to other reports
- Olds´ P-38J-15 43-28431 Scat II, August 1944
- Profile image of Scat VI P-51K
- "The Old Man and the Migs", TIME Magazine June 6, 1967
- Ace Pilots.com - Col. Robin Olds - Operation Bolo
- Ace Pilots.com - Maj. Robin Olds - WW2
- The History Channel - Dogfights - "Air Ambush" premiered 10-Nov-2006
- 8th Tactical Fighter Wing Vietnam Era Website
- Memorial Service for Brigadier General Robin Olds @ U.S. Air Force Academy, 30 June 2007
- Air Force Times obituary
- 8TFW.com Photo Gallery tribute
