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Archie J. Old Jr.

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Archie J. Old Jr.
Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr.
Born(1906-08-01)August 1, 1906
Farmersville, Texas
DiedMarch 24, 1984(1984-03-24) (aged 77)
March AFB, California
AllegianceUnited States
Service / branchUnited States Air Force
Years of service1930–1965
RankLieutenant General
CommandsFifteenth Air Force
5th Air Division
7th Air Division
20th Combat Bombardment Wing
45th Combat Bombardment Wing
530th Air Transport Wing
96th Bomb Group
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsDistinguished Service Cross
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Silver Star (2)
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross (5)
Purple Heart
Air Medal (9)

Archie J. Old Jr. (August 1, 1906 – March 24, 1984) was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.[1][2]

Early life

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Old was born in Farmersville, Texas, on August 1, 1906.[2]

Military career

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Far left is Lt. Gen. Archie J. Old at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska

Old flew 43 combat missions against Germany. On October 14, 1943, Old led the second raid on the Schweinfurt ball-bearing factories in the Fertile Myrtle III. Of 291 B-17s that reached the target, 60 were downed by flak or enemy fighters, for a loss rate of 20 percent. On June 21, 1944, Old led the second shuttle bombing run to Russia.[3][4] The B-17 that Col. Old was in for the first Schweinfurt mission aborted, so Col. Curtis Lemay and BGen. Robert Williams led the first Schweinfurt raid on 17 August; Col. Old and Maj. Thomas F. Kenny led the second Schweinfurt raid on 14 October 1943. On June 21, 1944, Col. Old led the second Shuttle Mission to Russia.[5]

In July 1948 he was named commander of the Atlantic Division of the Military Air Transport Service.[2]

In 1951 Old got two of SAC's important overseas jobs of commanding the 7th Air Division in England and the 5th Air Division in French Morocco.[2] Old retired September 1, 1965. He died March 24, 1984, at the base hospital at March Air Force Base.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Commands held

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Other achievements

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First round-the-world nonstop flight by a jet airplane.

Old led Operation Power Flite as a Major General. Three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop in that mission. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world.[13]

Military awards

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Foreign decorations

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Television appearance

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Old appeared, playing himself, in "Massacre", a 1966 episode of the television show Twelve O'Clock High.[15]

References

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  • Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts, H. W. Wilson Company, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8242-0958-3
  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Biographies: Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-24.

Notes

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  1. ^ "Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. biography". Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  2. ^ a b c d "Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr". Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  3. ^ Harwood, Jeffrey (2014). World War Two from Above. Minneapolis: Zenith Press. pp. 152–153.
  4. ^ Overy, Richard (2013). The Bombing War. London: Allen Lane. p. 233.
  5. ^ "United States air transport command in Australia during WW2".
  6. ^ Washington Post (March 30, 1984). "Deaths Elsewhere". Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. B–16.
  7. ^ "World News 1956–62". Archived from the original on 2009-10-21.
  8. ^ "Events of 1957". Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  9. ^ Boyne, Walter J. (1998). Beyond the wild blue: A History of the U.S. Air Force, 1947–1997. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-18705-7. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  10. ^ Anzovin, p. 31, item # 1384
  11. ^ "Aviation History Facts". Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  12. ^ "Famous Firsts in Aviation". Archived from the original on 24 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  13. ^ via Associated Press. "3 B-52's Circle Globe Non-Stop in 45 Hours; Earth-Circling Airmen Are Decorated for 'Routine Training Flight'", The New York Times, January 19, 1957. Accessed September 8, 2010.
  14. ^ Empric, Bruce E. (2024), Uncommon Allies: U.S. Army Recipients of Soviet Military Decorations in World War II, Teufelsberg Press see pg. 57 for details concerning Old's Order of Suvorov Second Class award, ISBN 979-8344468075
  15. ^ "Archie Old". IMDb.
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