Orvil A. Anderson

A minor figure who nevertheless played a role in some key events in airpower history was Orvil A. Anderson. Entering the Air Service during the First World War, Anderson gained fame as one of the top balloonists in the country. In fact, he achieved an altitude record for balloons in 1935 that lasted for 22 years and which won him both the Harmon and Mackay trophies. After converting to airplanes and flying for several years, Anderson was assigned to the plans division on the Air Staff. In 1943 he moved to England to become the chief planner of the Eighth Air Force; the following year he was promoted to major general and made director of operations for the Eighth. As the war in Europe was drawing to a close, he was chosen as the senior military advisor to the US Strategic Bombing Survey for both the European and Pacific divisions. In this capacity he had a number of heated arguments with the Navy over who played the more important role in the defeat of Japan. In late 1946 he was named the first commandant of the new Air War College at Maxwell Field. He could not control either his temper or his tongue, however, and this problem became apparent in 1950. Soon after the outbreak of the Korean War, Anderson told a newspaper reporter that Russia was clearly behind the invasion of South Korea and that given the order he would be willing to wipe out Russia with atomic strikes within a week. Because inappropriate statements had been made only a few days before by Douglas MacArthur and the secretary of the Navy-earning rebukes from President Truman-Anderson's comments were especially inopportune. Within days he was relieved of his command and pushed into retirement. In the atomic age, loose cannons were most unwelcome. John H. Scrivner's "Pioneer Into Space: A Biography of Major General Orvil Arson Anderson" (PhD dissertation, Oklahoma, 1971), relates the life of this outspoken airman who epitomized the "cold warriors" spawned in the aftermath of World War II. This sympathetic and workmanlike account is of interest in telling the story of a man whose retirement was in some ways more important than his career.