21 Facts About Oliver Haywood

Oliver Haywood transferred to the United States Air Force in 1947.

Oliver Haywood entered the United States Military Academy at West Point on 1 July 1932, and graduated top of the class of 1936 on 12 June 1936.

On 25 September 1938, Oliver Haywood entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a student officer.

Oliver Haywood received his Master of Science degree from Harvard on 20 June 1940, and his Doctor of Science degree from MIT on 15 August.

Oliver Haywood assumed command of Company C, 27th Engineer Battalion in Puerto Rico on 13 September 1940.

Oliver Haywood then commanded the 130th Engineer Battalion there from 16 April 1941 until 31 December 1941.

Oliver Haywood was promoted to major in the wartime Army of the United States on 1 February 1942.

Oliver Haywood attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from November 1942 to February 1943, before returning to Puerto Rico for duty on the staff of the Antilles Department.

Oliver Haywood was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 14 February 1943.

In October 1943, Oliver Haywood was assigned to the G-1 Division of the War Department General Staff in Washington, DC For his services in this role, he was promoted to colonel on 28 September 1944, and was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Oliver Haywood was transferred to the headquarters of the Manhattan Project on 12 April 1946.

Oliver Haywood was one of a number West Point graduates from the top ten percent of their classes who were transferred to the Manhattan Project at this time by the Secretary of War, Robert P Patterson, at the request of the Manhattan Project's commander, Major General Leslie R Groves, Jr.

Oliver Haywood participated in Operation Crossroads, observing the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.

At this point, Oliver Haywood was seconded to the AEC's Directorate of Research.

Oliver Haywood elected to transfer to the newly created United States Air Force on 10 December 1947.

Oliver Haywood became a lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1948, and was assigned to the Air Plans Division on 29 August 1948, where he was involved in drawing up nuclear war plans.

Oliver Haywood was seconded to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico from February 1950 to October 1951, at a time when the first thermonuclear weapons were being developed.

Oliver Haywood remained with the Air Force Reserve, retiring with the rank of brigadier general in 1967.

Oliver Haywood was chairman and acting president of the Hudson Institute in Indianapolis.

Oliver Haywood died in Vero Beach, Florida, on 25 May 2002.

Oliver Haywood was survived by his daughters, Barbara and Betty, and sons, Richard and Robert.