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Robin Olds〔 (July 14, 1922 – June 14, 2007) was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was a "triple ace", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Aerial Victory Credits database ) Query "name"="contains"="Olds Robin" NOTE: THE AVC DATA BASE IS CURRENTLY OFF-LINE. (NOV 2013)〕 He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general. The son of Army Maj. Gen. Robert Olds, educated at West Point, and the product of an upbringing in the early years of the U.S. Army Air Corps, Olds epitomized the youthful World War II fighter pilot. He remained in the service as it became the United States Air Force, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Rising to the command of two fighter wings, Olds is regarded among aviation historians, and his peers, as the best wing commander of the Vietnam War, for both his air-fighting skills, and his reputation as a combat leader.〔, 42〕 Olds was promoted to brigadier general after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. The remainder of his career was spent in non-operational positions, as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy and as an official in the Air Force Inspector General's Office. His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking. Olds had a highly publicized career and life, including marriage to Hollywood actress Ella Raines. As a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All American for his play as a lineman in American football. Olds expressed his philosophy regarding fighter pilots in the quote: "There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks."〔(【引用サイトリンク】Great Aviation Quotes: Robin Olds )〕 ==Early life== Olds was born "Robert Oldys, Jr." in Honolulu into an Army family and spent much of his boyhood in Hampton, Virginia, where he attended elementary and high school. His father was Captain (later Major General) Robert Oldys (later Olds),〔Zamzow, Major S.L., USAF, (2008). ''Ambassador of American Airpower: Major General Robert Olds'', Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. SAASS thesis published on-line, 7. The family surname was spelled "Oldys" until 1931, when it was officially changed to "Olds", reverting to the original spelling before Robin's grandfather. Both the spelling change and his birth name sourced by Major Zamzow from AF records.〕 an instructor pilot in France during World War I, former aide to Billy Mitchell from 1922 to 1925, and a leading advocate of strategic bombing in the Air Corps. His mother, Eloise Wichman Nott Olds, died when Robin was four and he was raised by his father.〔 , 20〕 Olds was the eldest of four brothers, followed by Stevan (1924), Sterling (1935), and Frederick (1936). Growing up primarily at Langley Field, Virginia,〔Captain Olds was stationed at Luke Field, Hawaii, when Robin was an infant. From 1927 to 1933, and again from 1935 to 1940, Olds was stationed at Langley.〕 Olds virtually made daily contact with the small group of officers who would lead the US Army Air Forces in World War II (one neighbor was Major Carl Spaatz, destined to become the first Chief of Staff of the USAF), and as a result was imbued with an unusually strong dedication to the air service, and conversely, with a low tolerance for officers who did not exhibit the same. On November 10, 1925, his father appeared as a witness on behalf of Billy Mitchell during Mitchell's court-martial in Washington, D.C.. He brought three-year-old Robin with him to court, dressed in an Air Service uniform, and posed with him for newspaper photographers before testifying.〔Waller, Douglas C. (2004). ''A Question of Loyalty: Gen. Billy Mitchell and the Court-Martial That Gripped the Nation'', Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-050547-9, 176〕 Olds first flew at the age of eight, in an open cockpit biplane operated by his father.〔Olds, Robin. (2010) ''Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds '', St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-0-312-56023-2, p. 6.〕 At the age of 12, Olds made attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point an objective to accomplish his goals of becoming an officer, a military aviator, and playing football. His father was made commander of the pioneer B-17 Flying Fortress 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field on March 1, 1937, and promoted to lieutenant colonel on March 7. Olds attended Hampton High School where he was elected president of his class three successive years, and played varsity high school football on a team that won the state championship of Virginia in 1937. Olds was aggressive, even mean, as a player, and received offers to attend Virginia Military Institute and Dartmouth College on football scholarships.〔 Instead of entering college after graduating in 1939, Olds enrolled at Millard Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., a school established to prepare men for the entrance examinations to the military academies. When Germany invaded Poland, Olds attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force but was thwarted by his father's refusal to approve his enlistment papers. Olds completed Millard Prep and applied for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. After he received a conditional commitment for nomination from Pennsylvania Congressman J. Buell Snyder, Olds moved to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he lived in the YMCA and supported himself working odd jobs. He passed the West Point entrance examination and was accepted into the Class of 1944 on June 1, 1940. He entered the academy a month later but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Olds was sent to the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for flight training. This training ended a year later by Christmas 1942. Olds returned to West Point, hoping to graduate early and see action in the war.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robin Olds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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