Who is billy mitchell

In , Mitchell proved his point when the captured battleship Ostfriesland was sunk with aerial bombs. Eventually, the forceful promotion of his ideas led to a clash with high ranking officers. As opposition grew, he became more outspoken. In , he charged the administration with neglecting the national defense and almost treasonable conduct. He was court-martialed and found guilty of insubordination.

He resigned from the Army in , but continued his influence and leadership until his untimely death in at the age of 56 years. Although broken and defeated in his later years, he was a gallant man. He could have enjoyed a life of luxury, wealth and power.

Memories of Billy Mitchell seem to be growing dim just at a time when his spirit is needed more than ever.

The reason, of course, is the relative lack of film coverage on this great leader in a time when most of the public is so readily reached through television. Precious little film footage remains of a man who did much for aviation and the modern U. Air Force. For the most part, we see him striding around the bombing planes getting ready to attack the battleships, and we see him standing proudly outside the shabby temporary buildings where his brilliant military career would end in a court-martial.

About 16 miles from Cape Hatteras, they were sunk by friendly fire in a deliberate attempt to prove the potency of air power.

Their fate and how the oddly named Billy Mitchell Airport five miles east of Hatteras Village in Frisco came to be a part of the Outer Banks are bits of the same story. Years before anyone was advocating for air power, or even considered aircraft as potentially decisive on the battlefield, Mitchell was a lone voice in the wilderness. The Navy brass and military leaders, in general, were skeptical. The ship was sunk off the Virginia coast.

The demonstration was—and actually still is—somewhat controversial. Military leaders wanted Mitchell to bomb the ship in a series of attacks, allowing experts to examine damage between attacks. When he was told not to climb the family greenhouse, Mitchell attempted to scale it on an almost daily basis.

He also enjoyed guns and horses. Mitchell's father was elected to Congress in and to the Senate in Important guests were often invited to the Mitchell home and, as Davis noted, "There was an air of freedom in the household which encouraged the young Mitchells to grow up in their own way.

Davis added that Mitchell "was allowed at the dinner table with important guests, and always found a way to intrude into the conversation. He eventually completed his degree after World War I in Mitchell served in Cuba and the Philippines, and quickly became a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps of the U.

He advanced to first lieutenant in and captain by His personal life changed as well. In , he married Caroline Stoddard. In , he began another tour of the Far East, returning to the Philippines, and proceeding to Japan and China. In , he received a prestigious appointment to the U. Army General Staff, which introduced him to aeronautics, an emerging segment of the Signal Corps.

Becoming restless and seeking a more active role, Mitchell left the General Staff in to direct army aviation until the commander could take charge. Internal fighting and the outbreak of World War I provided new opportunities in aeronautics for officers like Mitchell.

He was promoted to major and, once the commander arrived, assumed the position of deputy. Told by the army that he was too old to fly, Mitchell spent his personal time and money taking lessons at a civilian flying school.

He became a rapid advocate of military air power. Mitchell did not have a good relationship with his commander and decided to go to France as an observer in He reached Paris four days after the U. Once in France, Mitchell tried unsuccessfully to take charge of American aeronautical planning in Europe. Not easily deterred, he became qualified as a U. Army pilot and studied the use of aviation on the western front. Davis noted that he also "bombarded the War Department with suggestions he gleaned from his French friends.

Mitchell continued to learn as much as he could. Biographer Davis wrote of Mitchell's flight with a French pilot in order to gain a different perspective.

Mitchell commented, "One flight over the lines gave me a much clearer impression of how the armies were laid out than any amount of traveling on the ground.