Two Premier Military Aviators with Ties to Alaska
Contributed by Col Suellyn Wright Novak, Alaska Veterans Museum Founding Executive Director
Did you know that Alaska can boast two top Military Aviators who rewrote the airpower book? Lt (later Brigadier General, US Army Air Corps) airpower advocate, and the father of the US Air Force, came to Alaska in 1903 as a Signal Corps officer to build the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS). He did his section from Eagle to Valdez in record time and in budget; then he built the system toward Fairbanks. The Signal Corps later was assigned airplanes (the Aviation Section) to carry dispatches, do observation of enemy formations, and reconnaissance. “Billy” Mitchell was hooked! He became first an observer, then an aviator, serving in France in World War I. He collaborated with British and French air leaders, studying their strategies and aircraft (much more advanced the US, which lagged behind in spite of the Wright Brothers being Americans). On April 24, he made the first flight by an American Officer over German Lines. Before long, he had gained enough experience to begin preparations for American air operations. In September 1918, he planned and led nearly 1,500 British, French, and Italian aircraft in the air phase of the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, one of the first coordinated air-ground offensives in history. By the war’s end, commanded all American air combat units in France.
After WW I, he became Assistant Chief of Air Services and planned the 1920 New York to Nome Alaskan Flying Expedition (commonly called the Black Wolf Squadron for the insignia on the planes), using four DH-4 de Havilland open cockpit biplanes (referred to by airmen as “Flaming Coffins” as being wood with doped fabric they caught fire easily when hit). Powered by 400-hoursepower, liquid-cooled Liberty engines, the planes flew from Fort Mitchell in New York, to Fort Davis in Nome, and back again, completing the 9,000-mile journey in 112 air-hours, but spread over a long three months. BG Mitchell was there to greet the fliers and stated “He Who Controls Alaska, Controls the world, as travel from Alaska is quicker than anywhere on earth – remember this was in 1920!
Another aviation pioneer was raised in Nome, Jimmy Doolittle. His family had com seeking gold, but they were of hardy pioneer stock and stayed. Jimmy was a tough brawler and packed a mean punch in spite of his diminutive size. He remained in Alaska until 1908 when he moved to the “Outside” with his mother. He became a flying cadet, then military aviator, and flight instructor. Jimmy participated in many aviation daredevil feats to show off airpower. He held many aviation records. He completed a Master’s and a Doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT. He was the first to complete an “outside loop” maneuver in 1927. He used his unique skill set to advance aviation knowledge and safety. In 1929 he successfully performed the world’s first “blind” flight, using only instruments inside his covered cockpit.
These firsts are most noteworthy, but Jimmy Doolittle’s greatest accomplishments were yet to come. Who but this forward thinker could conceive of launching 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers from a pitching carrier deck? Training was extensive and lightening the bombers necessary. The plan was to take off from the USS HORNET, bomb Tokyo, continue west to China, where they would (hopefully) land at friendly fields and hook up with Chinese forces. While still 200 miles away from the launching point, a radio picket ship sighted them and radioed a warning to Japan. Now, or never off they went! Of the 16 crews, 4 returned to the US or reached the safety of American forces, but one man was killed bailing out. Eight men were captured by Japanese forces in eastern China (the other two crewmen drowned in the sea), and three were later executed by the Japanese. All but one of the B-25s were destroyed in crashes, while a lone plane landed in the Soviet Union where the crew interned, as required by International Law, as the Soviets were not officially at war with Japan. For this raid, Doolittle received the Medal of Honor. He later commanded the 12th Air Force on North Africa, and the 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean Theater, then the 8th Air Force in Europe and the Pacific. Not a bad run for a hometown boy!!