Profile
Robin Olds
U.S. Air Force General
Male
Born
Jul 14, 1922
Hometown
Honolulu
Died
Jun 14, 2007
Death Place
Steamboat Springs...
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.… Read More
News + Updates
Browse recent news and stories about Robin Olds.
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The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif., Chris Smith Column Middle East North Africa Financial NetworkGoogle News - Aug 21, 2011
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Ace Fighter Pilot's Daughter And Biographer Lives Here Now, Can't Wait For The ... Santa Rosa Press DemocratGoogle News - Aug 16, 2011
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Balance In Science Coverage, New Health Funds Scoop.Co.Nz (Press Release)Google News - Jul 22, 2011
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Uc Led Project Receives Major Funding Boost Scoop.Co.Nz (Press Release)Google News - Jul 20, 2011
Timeline
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Robin Olds.
CHILDHOOD
1922
Birth
Olds was born in Honolulu 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.
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1925
2 Years Old
On November 10, 1925, his father appeared as a witness on behalf of Billy Mitchell during his court-martial in Washington, D.C..
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TEENAGE
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.
1939
16 Years Old
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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.
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In 1942 he was named by Collier's Weekly as its "Lineman of the Year" and by Grantland Rice as "Player of the Year."
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TWENTIES
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.
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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.
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Promoted to major on February 9, 1945, Olds claimed his seventh victory southeast of Magdeburg, Germany the same day, downing another Bf 109.
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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 Group 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.
Olds went to England under the U.S. Air Force/Royal Air Force Exchange Program in 1948.
1949
26 Years Old
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.
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THIRTIES
1955
32 Years Old
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.
1959
36 Years Old
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.
FORTIES
1963
40 Years Old
Following his Pentagon assignment, Olds attended the National War College, graduating in 1963.
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1966
43 Years Old
On September 30, 1966, Olds took command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base.
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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.
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 Base, California.
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FIFTIES
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He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general.
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LATE ADULTHOOD
2006
84 Years Old
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.
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2007
85 Years Old
Died on June 14, 2007.
Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Olds.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.