Arnold, General of the Army Henry (‘Hap’)

Arnold, General of the Army Henry (‘Hap’) (1886–1950),US Army officer who commanded the Army Air Forces and was a member of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff, committees.

Though only an average student at West Point Military Academy, by 1918 Arnold, who had been taught to fly by the Wright brothers in 1911, was the assistant chief of the US Air Service (US Army Air Corps from 1926) and the youngest colonel in the army. He arrived in Europe too late to fight in the First World War but by September 1938 he was a major-general and chief of the Army Air Corps. In October 1940 he also became a deputy chief of staff under Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, and in June 1941 the corps became the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), an independent organization within the US Army with its own air staff and with Arnold at its head. In December 1941 he was promoted to lt-general and in March 1942 became Commanding General of the USAAF. He received his fourth star a year later and his fifth in December 1944, and after the war he was the US Air Force's first five-star general.

Arnold was the father of the US Army Air Forces. From a strength of 20,000 men and a few hundred old aircraft he built it into the most powerful air force in the world with 2.4 million men and 80,000 modern aircraft. He was a likeable, good-natured man, hence his nickname ‘Hap’ which was short for happy. ‘His leadership, drive, experience and imagination,’ said another USAAF general, Eaker, ‘were the primary factors in the accomplishments of the USAAF during the war, especially in the field of logistics and training.’ He worked a twelve hour day and eventually wore himself out. During the war he had four heart attacks, and the last of several more killed him. See also Grand Alliance.

Bibliography

Arnold, H. , Global Mission (New York, 1949).