Henry H. Arnold

His mother was Anna Louise ("Gangy") Harley (1857–1931), from a "Dunker" farm family and the first female in her family to attend high school.

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

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

When 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.

Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force.

Born June 25, 1886, in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, Arnold was the son of Dr. Herbert Alonzo Arnold (1857–1933), a physician and a member of the prominent political and military Arnold Family.

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

The athletic fields at Lower Merion are named after him.

Arnold had no intention of attending West Point (he was preparing to attend Bucknell University and enter the Baptist ministry) but took the entrance examination after his older brother Thomas defied their father and refused to do so.

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

Arnold entered the United States Military Academy at West Point as a "Juliette" (one month late), having just turned 17.

His cadet career was spent as a "clean sleeve" (cadet private).

At the academy he helped found the "Black Hand", a group of cadet pranksters, and led it during his first class year.

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

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

He 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.

He initially protested the assignment (there was no commissioning requirement for USMA graduates in 1907), but was persuaded to accept a commission in the 29th Infantry, at the time stationed in the Philippines.

Arnold arrived in Manila on December 7, 1907.

Arnold disliked infantry troop duties and volunteered to assist Captain Arthur S. Cowan of the 20th Infantry, who was on temporary assignment in the Philippines mapping the island of Luzon.

Cowan returned to the United States following completion of the cartography detail, transferred to the Signal Corps, and was assigned to recruit two lieutenants to become pilots.

Cowan contacted Arnold, who cabled his interest in also 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, Arnold saw his first airplane in flight, piloted by Louis Blériot.

Arnold's most widely used nickname, "Hap", was short for "Happy", attributed variously to work associates when he moonlighted as a silent film stunt pilot in October 1911, or to his wife, who began using the nickname in her correspondence in 1931 following the death of Arnold's mother.

His family called him Harley during his youth, and his mother and wife called him "Sunny".

His West Point classmates called Arnold "Pewt" or "Benny" and his immediate subordinates and headquarters staff referred to him as "The Chief".

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

While awaiting the results of the required competitive examination, he learned that his interest in aeronautics had not been forgotten.

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. Thomas DeWitt Milling of the 15th Cavalry, to Dayton, Ohio, for a course in flight instruction at the Wright brothers' aviation school at Simms Station, Ohio.

While individually instructed, they were part of the school's May 1911 class that included three civilians and Lieutenant John Rodgers of the United States Navy.

Beginning instruction on May 3 with Arthur L. Welsh, Arnold made his first solo flight May 13 after three hours and forty-eight minutes of flight in 28 lessons.

On May 14, he and Milling completed their instruction.

Arnold received Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) pilot certificate number 29 on July 6, 1911, and Military Aviator Certificate Number 2 a year later.

He also 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.

After several more weeks of solo flying in Dayton to gain experience, Arnold and Milling were sent on June 14 to the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps station established at College Park, Maryland, to be the Army's first flight instructors.

Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), 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 U.S. military services.

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

Instructed in flying by the Wright Brothers, Arnold was one of the first military pilots worldwide, and one of the first three rated pilots in the history of the United States Air Force.

He 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 protégé of General Billy Mitchell.

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.

An advocate of technological research and development, his tenure saw the development of the intercontinental bomber, the jet fighter, the extensive use of radar, global airlift and atomic warfare as mainstays of modern air power.