90 Facts About Hap Arnold

Henry Harley Arnold was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force.

Hap Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps, commanding general of the United States Army Air Forces, the only United States Air Force general to hold five-star rank, and the only officer to hold a five-star rank in two different US military services.

Hap Arnold was the founder of Project RAND, which evolved into one of the world's largest non-profit global policy think tanks, the RAND Corporation, and one of the founders of Pan American World Airways.

Hap Arnold overcame a fear of flying that resulted from his experiences with early flight, supervised the expansion of the Air Service during World War I, and became a protege of General Billy Mitchell.

Hap Arnold rose to command the Army Air Forces immediately prior to the American entry into World War II and directed its hundred-fold expansion from an organization of little more than 20,000 men and 800 first-line combat aircraft into the largest and most powerful air force in the world.

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Hap Arnold's family called him Harley during his youth, and his mother and wife called him "Sunny".

Hap Arnold's mother was Anna Louise Harley, from a "Dunker" farm family and the first female in her family to attend high school.

Hap Arnold was Baptist in religious belief but had strong Mennonite ties through both families.

However, unlike her husband, "Gangy" Hap Arnold was "fun-loving and prone to laughter, " and not rigid in her beliefs.

When Hap Arnold was eleven, his father responded to the Spanish–American War by serving as a surgeon in the Pennsylvania National Guard, of which he remained a member for the next 24 years.

Hap Arnold attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1903.

Hap Arnold had no intention of attending West Point but took the entrance examination after his older brother Thomas defied their father and refused to do so.

Hap Arnold placed second on the list and received a delayed appointment when the nominated cadet confessed to being married, prohibited by academy regulations.

Hap Arnold entered the United States Military Academy at West Point as a "Juliette", having just turned 17.

Hap Arnold played second-team running back for the varsity football team, was a shot putter on the track and field team, and excelled at polo.

Hap Arnold's academic standing varied between the middle and the lower end of his class, with his better scores in mathematics and science.

Hap Arnold wanted assignment to the Cavalry but an inconsistent demerit record and a cumulative general merit class standing of 66th out of 111 cadets resulted in his being commissioned on June 14,1907, as a second lieutenant, Infantry.

Hap Arnold initially protested the assignment, but was persuaded to accept a commission in the 29th Infantry, at the time stationed in the Philippines.

Cowan contacted Hap Arnold, who cabled his interest in transferring to the Signal Corps but heard nothing in reply for two years.

In June 1909, the 29th Infantry relocated to Fort Jay, New York, and en route to his new duty station by way of Paris, France, Hap Arnold saw his first airplane in flight, piloted by Louis Bleriot.

In 1911, Hap Arnold applied for transfer to the United States Army Ordnance Department because it offered an immediate promotion to first lieutenant.

Hap Arnold immediately sent a letter requesting a transfer to the Signal Corps and on April 21,1911, received Special Order 95, detailing him and 2nd Lt.

Hap Arnold received Federation Aeronautique Internationale pilot certificate number 29 on July 6,1911, and Military Aviator Certificate Number 2 a year later.

Hap Arnold was recognized by a general order in 1913 as one of the first 24 rated military aviators, authorized to wear the newly designed Military Aviator badge.

The following month, Hap Arnold moonlighted as a pilot in the filming of two silent movies, doubling for the leads in The Military Air-Scout and The Elopement.

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Hap Arnold immediately grounded himself and applied for a leave of absence.

In January 1916, completing a two-year tour with the 13th Infantry, Hap Arnold was attached to the 3rd Infantry and returned to the United States.

On May 20,1916, Hap Arnold reported to Rockwell Field, California, on flying status but as supply officer at the Signal Corps Aviation School.

Between October and December 1916, encouraged by former associates, Hap Arnold overcame his fear of flying by going up fifteen to twenty minutes a day in a Curtiss JN trainer, a much safer aircraft with a simpler flight control system than the Speed Scout of just four years' before.

Hap Arnold collected the men who would make up his first command, the 7th Aero Squadron, in New York City on February 5,1917, and was ordered to find a suitable location for an airfield in the Panama Canal Zone.

Hap Arnold requested to be sent to France, but his presence in Washington worked against him, since the Aviation Section needed qualified officers for headquarters duty.

Hap Arnold gained experience in aircraft production and procurement, the construction of air schools and airfields, and the recruitment and training of large numbers of personnel; and learned political in-fighting in the Washington environment, all of which would help him as head of the military's air services.

Hap Arnold's third child, William Bruce Hap Arnold, was born July 17,1918.

Shortly after, Hap Arnold arranged to go to France to brief General John Pershing, commanding the American Expeditionary Force, on the Kettering Bug, a weapons development.

Hap Arnold did reach the front on November 11,1918, but the Armistice ended the war on the same day.

Hap Arnold supported Mitchell's highly publicized views, the consequence of which was a mutual dislike with Patrick.

Hap Arnold was sent to Rockwell Field on January 10,1919, as District Supervisor, Western District of the Air Service, to oversee the demobilization of 8,000 airmen and surplus aircraft.

Five months later Hap Arnold became Air Officer of the Western Department in San Francisco and de facto commander of Crissy Field, being developed on a site determined by a board chaired by Hap Arnold.

Hap Arnold experienced several serious illnesses and accidents requiring hospitalization, including recurring stomach ulcers and the amputation of three fingertips on his left hand in 1922.

Hap Arnold's fourth child, John Linton Arnold, born in the summer of 1921, died on June 30,1923, of acute appendicitis.

Hap Arnold gave Arnold the choice of resignation or a general court-martial, but when Arnold chose the latter, Patrick decided to avoid another public fiasco and instead transferred him to Ft.

Hap Arnold received outstanding fitness reports from his commanders at Ft.

Hap Arnold urged a strong combined arms team be developed between the Air Corps and the Cavalry; and by extension, all ground forces.

On February 24,1927, his son David Lee Hap Arnold was born at Ft.

In 1928 Hap Arnold wrote and published six books of juvenile fiction, the "Bill Bruce Series, " whose objective was to interest young people in flying.

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Hap Arnold was slated for assignment to the Air Corps Training Center in San Antonio following graduation, but Brigadier General Lahm, the commander of the ACTC, strongly opposed it, possibly recalling their 1917 dispute.

Hap Arnold's parents were made destitute by the bank collapses in 1929, and on January 18,1931, his mother died of a sudden heart attack.

Hap Arnold struggled emotionally with being absent from his parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration the year before and with the depression afflicting his father after her death.

Hap Arnold took command of March Field, California, where Spaatz had just assumed command of the grandiose-sounding but tiny 1st Wing, on November 27,1931.

Hap Arnold's responsibilities included refurbishing the base into a showcase installation, which required that he resolve strained relations with the community.

Hap Arnold accomplished this by having his officers join local social service organizations and by a series of well-publicized relief efforts.

Hap Arnold organized a high-profile series of aerial reviews that featured visits from Hollywood celebrities and aviation notables.

Hap Arnold's pilots performed well and his own reputation was untouched by the fiasco.

GHQAF commander Major General Frank Andrews tapped Hap Arnold to retain command of its 1st Wing, which now carried with it a temporary promotion to the rank of brigadier general, effective March 2,1935.

In effect Hap Arnold had "switched sides" in the struggle between GHQ Air Force and the Air Corps.

Hap Arnold encouraged research and development efforts, among his projects the B-17 and the concept of Jet-assisted takeoff.

Hap Arnold pushed for jet propulsion, especially after the British shared their plans of Whittle's turbojet during his visit to Britain in April 1941.

In March 1939 Hap Arnold was appointed to head the Air Board by Secretary of War Harry Woodring, to recommend doctrine and organization of Army airpower to the chief of staff.

When Marshall requested a reorganization study from the Air Corps, Hap Arnold submitted a proposal on October 5,1940, that would create an air staff, unify the air arm under one commander, and grant it autonomy with the ground and supply forces.

Hap Arnold experienced two years of difficulties with Morgenthau, who was prone to denigrate the leadership of the War Department and Air Corps.

Hap Arnold's meeting with Roosevelt to report his findings was judged as impressively cogent and optimistic, but the president ruminated on Hap Arnold's future for three weeks before submitting his name and the others to the Senate.

Hap Arnold became Chief of the Army Air Forces and acting "Deputy Chief of Staff for Air" with authority over both the Air Corps and Air Force Combat Command.

The Air Force Combat Command and the Office of the Chief of Air Corps were abolished, and Hap Arnold became AAF Commanding General and an ex officio member of both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff.

Hap Arnold was responsible for approving the Army Air Forces Women's Flying Training Detachment.

However, theater commanders Douglas MacArthur, Chester Nimitz, and Joseph Stilwell all coveted the B-29s for tactical support, to which Hap Arnold was adamantly opposed as a diversion from strategic policy.

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Hap Arnold convinced not only Marshall, but Chief of Naval Operations Ernest J King, that the Twentieth was unique in that its operations cut across the jurisdiction of all three theaters, and thus should report directly to the Joint Chiefs with Arnold acting as their executive agent.

Hap Arnold was distressed at his findings of shortages, and of work failures.

Hap Arnold needed the B-29 to provide the delivery platform for the highly classified atomic bomb, if the Manhattan Project succeeded.

Hap Arnold shut down operations from China, consolidated all the B-29s in the Marianas, and replaced Hansell with LeMay in January 1945 as commander of XXI Bomber Command.

Between 1943 and 1945 Hap Arnold experienced four heart attacks severe enough to require hospitalization.

Hap Arnold's extended trips and inspection tours were to the United Kingdom in April 1941 and again in May 1942; the South Pacific in September 1942, North Africa and China in January–February 1943; the Middle East and Italy in November–December 1943; London and Normandy accompanying Marshall in June 1944; Germany and Italy in April–May 1945; the Western Pacific in June 1945; and Potsdam in July 1945.

Hap Arnold was hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Hospital for several days, then took three weeks leave at the Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel in Florida, which had been converted into a convalescent hospital.

Hap Arnold had not gone into his office for three days, and refused to permit the Air Force's chief flight surgeon to examine him.

Hap Arnold again was allowed to remain in the service, but under conditions that amounted to light duty.

Hap Arnold was returning by C-54 from Italy to Miami for a checkup when he received the news of the German surrender on May 7,1945.

Hap Arnold received honorary doctorates from Pennsylvania Military College and the University of Southern California in 1941, and from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1942.

Hap Arnold received 26 decorations and awards from foreign countries honoring his service in World War II.

In 1945, Hap Arnold directed the founding of Project RAND with $10,000,000 of funding left over from World War II.

Hap Arnold was succeeded by Spaatz, who became first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force when it became a separate service on September 18,1947.

Unlike George S Patton, who enjoyed independent wealth, or colleagues who had taken positions in government, such as Marshall, Arnold had no source of income beyond his retirement pay and allowances, and was not healthy enough to continue service.

Hap Arnold's autobiography was an attempt to provide financial security for his wife after his death, and during the writing of it he suffered his fifth heart attack in January 1948, hospitalizing him for three months.

Hap Arnold is the only person to hold five-star rank in two US military services.

Hap Arnold was given a state funeral in Washington, DC that included rare services held in Arlington Memorial Amphitheater, and he was buried in Section 34, plot number 44-A, of Arlington National Cemetery.

Robert A Lovett, with whom Arnold worked closely during the war in his capacity as Assistant Secretary of War for Air, stated that Arnold had been as much a casualty of war as if he had been injured in the line of duty.

On December 21,1944, Arnold was appointed to the rank of General of the Army, placing him in the company of Dwight D Eisenhower, George Marshall, and Douglas MacArthur, the only four men to achieve the rank in World War II, and along with Omar Bradley, one of only five men to achieve the rank since the August 5,1888 death of Philip Sheridan, and the only five men to hold the rank as a Five-star general.

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Hap Arnold was then the featured honoree of the museum's National Aviation Day celebration of August 20,2011, when Johnson returned the insignia to the museum.

General Hap Arnold was the class exemplar of the United States Air Force Academy Class of 2012.

Hap Arnold appeared in a speaking role as himself in Men of the Sky, a Technicolor propaganda short made by Warner Brothers and released on July 25,1942.

Hap Arnold appears as himself in the first eight minutes of the twenty-minute short, filmed in May 1942 at Merced Army Air Field, California.

Hap Arnold delivers a short address and speaks with each of four pilots as he pins on their wings.