Henry H . Arnold Henry Harley " Hap " Arnold ( June 25 , 1886 – January 15 , 1950 ) was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force . Arnold was an aviation pioneer , Chief of the Air Corps ( 1938 – 1941 ) , Commanding General of the U . S . Army Air Forces during World War II , the only Air Force general to hold five - star rank , and the only person 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 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 pilot s 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 Gen . Billy Mitchell . Arnold rose to command the Army Air Forces immediately prior to U . S . entry into World War II and directed its expansion 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 . Arnold ' s most widely - used nickname , " Hap , " was short for " Happy , " attributed variously to work associates when he moonlighted as a stunt pilot or to his wife , who began using the nickname in her correspondence in 1931 following the death of Arnold ' s mother . He was called Harley by his family during his youth , and " Sunny " by both his mother and wife . Arnold was known to his West Point classmates as " Pewt " or " Benny " . By his immediate subordinates and headquarters staff he was referred to as " The Chief . " Early life and career . Born June 25 , 1886 , in Gladwyne , Pennsylvania , Arnold was the son of Dr . Herbert Alonzo Arnold ( 1857 – 1933 ) , a strong - willed physician and a member of the prominent political and military Arnold Family . 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 . 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 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 Capt . 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 was relocated to Fort Jay , New York , and en route to his new duty station by way of Paris , France , Arnold saw his first airplane in flight , piloted by Louis Blériot . In 1911 , Arnold applied for transfer to the 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 . Military aviation pioneer . 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 Lt . John Rodgers of the United States Navy . Beginning instruction on May 3 , Arnold made his first solo flight May 13 after three hours and forty - eight minutes of flying lessons ( Milling had already soloed on May 8 with two hours of flight time ) , instructed by Arthur L . Welsh . On May 14 , he and Milling completed their instruction . Arnold received Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ( FAI ) pilot certificate No . 29 on July 6 , 1911 , and Military Aviator Certificate No . 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 . There Arnold set an altitude record of on July 7 and thrice broke it ( August 18 , 1911 , to ; January 25 , 1912 , to ; and June 1 , 1912 , ) . In August 1911 , he experienced his first crash , trying to take off from a farm field after getting lost . In September Arnold became the first U . S . pilot to carry mail , flying a bundle of letters five miles ( 8 km ) on Long Island , New York , and he is credited as the first pilot to fly over the U . S . Capitol and the first to carry a United States Congressman as a passenger . The flight school moved in November 1911 to a farm leased near Augusta , Georgia , hoping to continue flying there during the winter . Training was limited by rain and flooding , and they returned to Maryland in May 1912 . Arnold began to develop a phobia about flying , intensified by Al Welsh ' s fatal crash at College Park on June 12 . Arnold accepted delivery on June 26 of a Burgess Model H , a seaplane and the Army ' s first tractor airplane ( front - mounted propeller and engine ) , but following acceptance tests crashed August 12 with 1st Lt . Roy C . Kirtland into the bay off Plymouth , Massachusetts during a takeoff . Arnold suffered a lacerated chin during the mishap but the aircraft was salvaged and repaired . Another crash at College Park on September 18 killed 2nd Lt . Lewis Rockwell , an academy classmate of Arnold ' s . In October , Arnold and Milling were ordered to enter the competition for the first MacKay Trophy for " the most outstanding military flight of the year . " Arnold won when he located a company of cavalry from the air and returned safely , despite high turbulence . As a result , he and Milling were sent to Fort Riley , Kansas , to experiment with radio and other communications from the air with the field artillery . Arnold ' s flight on November 2 in Wright C Speed Scout S . C . No . 10 , with 1st Lt . Follett Bradley as his wireless operator , successfully sent the first radio telegraph message , at a distance of , from an aircraft to a receiver on the ground , manned by 1st Lt . Joseph O . Mauborgne of the Signal Corps . Three days later , Arnold flew on an artillery spotting exercise with 1st Lt . Alfred L . P . Sands of the 6th Field Artillery as an observer . Spiraling down to land in S . C . No . 10 , the plane stalled , went into a spin , and they narrowly avoided a fatal crash . He immediately grounded himself and applied for a leave of absence . Flying was considered so dangerous that no stigma was attached for refusing to fly , and his request was granted ( five of the Army ' s 14 aviators transferred out during 1913 ) . During his leave of absence he renewed an acquaintance with Eleanor " Bee " Pool , the daughter of a banker , and one of his father ' s patients . On December 1 , Arnold took a staff assignment as assistant to the new head of the Aeronautical Division in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer in Washington , D . C . In the spring he was assigned the task of closing the flying school at College Park . Although promoted to 1st lieutenant on April 10 , 1913 , Arnold was unhappy and requested a transfer to the Philippines . While awaiting a response , he received orders to the 9th Infantry on July 10 . In August , still awaiting transfer , he testified before the House Military Affairs Committee against HR5304 , a bill to remove aviation from the Signal Corps and make it a semi - autonomous " Air Corps . " Arnold , like fellow flyer Capt . Benjamin Foulois , argued that the action was premature , and like his Signal Corps boss , Major Edgar Russel ( a non - flyer ) , that the Signal Corps was doing all that could be done to develop military use of the airplane . He was assigned to a company at Fort Thomas , Kentucky , on September 1 , where he was stationed until transferred to the 13th Infantry on November 1 . Marriage and return to aviation . On September 10 , 1913 , he and Bee married , with Milling acting as his best man . Sent back to the Philippines in January 1914 , he was quartered near 1st Lt . George C . Marshall , who became his mentor , friend and patron . Soon after their arrival she miscarried , but on January 17 , 1915 , their first child , Lois Elizabeth Arnold , was born at Fort William McKinley in Manila . After eight months of troop duty , Arnold became battalion adjutant . In January 1916 , completing a two - year tour with the 13th Infantry , Arnold was attached to the 3rd Infantry and returned to the United States . En route to Madison Barracks , New York , he exchanged telegrams from Hawaii with an assistant executive of the Aviation Section , Signal Corps , Major William " Billy " Mitchell , who alerted him that he was being detailed to the Signal Corps again , as a first lieutenant if he chose non - flying status . However , if he volunteered to requalify for a rating of " Junior Military Aviator " , a temporary promotion to captain was mandated by law . On May 20 , 1916 , Arnold reported to Rockwell Field , California , on flying status but as supply officer at the Signal Corps Aviation School . He received a permanent establishment promotion to captain , Infantry , on September 23 . Between October and December 1916 , encouraged by former associates , Arnold overcame his fear of flying by going up fifteen to twenty minutes a day . On November 26 , he flew solo , and on December 16 qualified again for his JMA . Before he could be reassigned to flying duties , however , he was involved as a witness in a controversial service dispute . The Secretary of the Aviation School , Capt . Frank P . Lahm , authorized an excursion flight for a non - aviator on January 10 that resulted in the loss of the airplane in Mexico and the disappearance of the crew for nine days . After testifying to army investigators on January 27 , confirming that Lahm had authorized the flight , Arnold was transferred to Panama on January 30 , 1917 , one day after the birth of his second child , Henry H . Arnold , Jr . Arnold collected the men who would make up his first command , the 7th Aero Squadron , in New York City on February 5 , 1917 , and was ordered to find a suitable location for an airfield in the Panama Canal Zone . When the military in Panama could not agree on a site , Arnold was ordered back to Washington D . C . to resolve the dispute and was en route by ship when the United States declared war on Germany . Arnold requested to be sent to France , but his presence in Washington worked against him , since the Aviation Section needed qualified officers for headquarters duty . Beginning May 1 , 1917 , he received a series of assignments , as officer in charge of the Information Division , with a promotion to major on June 27 , as assistant executive officer of the Aeronautical Division , and then as executive officer after it became the Air Division on October 1 . On August 5 , 1917 , he was promoted again , becoming the youngest full colonel in the Army . Arnold gained significant experience in aircraft production and procurement , the construction of air schools and airfields , and the recruitment and training of large numbers of personnel , as well as learning political in - fighting in the Washington environment , all of which helped him significantly 25 years later . When the Division of Military Aeronautics superseded the Air Division in April 1918 , Arnold continued as executive assistant to its director , Maj . Gen . William Kenly , and advanced to Assistant Director when the DMA was removed from the Signal Corps in May 1918 . Arnold ' s third child , William Bruce Arnold , was born July 17 , 1918 . Shortly after , Arnold arranged to go to France to brief General John Pershing , commanding the American Expeditionary Force , on the Kettering Bug , a weapons development . Aboard a ship to France in late October he developed Spanish influenza and was hospitalized on his arrival in England . He did reach the front on November 11 , 1918 , but the Armistice ended the war on the same day . Between the wars . Acolyte of Billy Mitchell . The Air Service separated from the Signal Corps on May 20 , 1918 . However control of aviation remained with the land forces when its post - war director was a field artillery general , Maj . Gen . Charles T . Menoher , who epitomized the view of the War Department General Staff that " military aviation can never be anything other than simply an arm of the ( Army ) " . Menoher was followed in 1921 by another non - aviator , Maj . Gen . Mason M . Patrick . Patrick , however , obtained a rating of Junior Airplane Pilot despite being 59 years old and became both an airpower advocate and a proponent of an independent air force . Both Menoher and Patrick clashed often with Assistant Chief of Air Service Billy Mitchell , who had become radical in his desire for a single unified Air Force to control and develop all military airpower . Arnold supported Mitchell ' s highly publicized views . Arnold was sent to Rockwell Field on January 10 , 1919 , as District Supervisor , Western District of the Air Service , to oversee the demobilization of 8 , 000 airmen and surplus aircraft . There he first established relationships with the men who became his main aides , executive officer Capt . Carl A . Spaatz and adjutant 1st Lt . Ira C . Eaker . Five months later Arnold became Air Officer of the Western Department ( after June 1920 the Ninth Corps Area ) in San Francisco and " de facto " commander of Crissy Field , being developed on a site determined by a board chaired by Arnold . Arnold ' s promotion to colonel expired June 30 , 1920 , and he reverted to his permanent establishment rank of captain . Even though he received an automatic promotion to major because of his Military Aviator rating , he became junior to officers serving under him , including Spaatz , whose promotion received while in France was not rescinded . On August 11 , 1920 , Arnold was one of 21 Infantry majors formally transferred to the Air Service by War Department Special Orders No . 188 - 0 . Of Arnold , the National Park Service history of Crissy Field wrote : " During his tour of duty , Arnold had been instrumental both in bringing Crissy Field into existence , and establishing the pattern of its operations . " In October 1922 he was sent back to Rockwell , now a service depot , as base commander and there encouraged an aerial refueling , the first in history , that took place eight months later . Arnold experienced several serious illnesses and accidents requiring hospitalization , including recurring stomach ulcers and the amputation of three fingertips on his left hand in 1922 . His wife and sons also experienced serious health problems , including a near fatal case of scarlet fever for son Bruce . His fourth child , John Linton Arnold , born in the summer of 1921 , died on June 30 , 1923 , of acute appendicitis . Both Arnold and wife Bee needed almost a year to recover psychologically from the loss . In August 1924 , Arnold was unexpectedly assigned to attend a five - month course of study at the Army Industrial College . After completing the course he was hand - picked by Patrick , despite a mutual dislike , to head the Air Service ' s Information Division , working closely with Mitchell . When Mitchell was court - martial ed , Arnold , Spaatz , and Eaker were all warned that they were jeopardizing their careers by vocally supporting Mitchell , but they testified on his behalf anyway . After Mitchell was convicted on December 17 , 1925 , Arnold and other officers continued to use the Information Division to mail pro - Mitchell material to airpower - friendly congressmen and Air Service reservists . In February , Secretary of War Dwight F . Davis ordered Patrick to find and discipline the culprits . Patrick was already aware of the activity and chose Arnold to set an example . He gave Arnold the choice of resignation or a general court - martial , but when Arnold chose the latter , Patrick decided to avoid another public fiasco and instead transferred him to Ft . Riley , far from the aviation mainstream , taking command of the 16th Observation Squadron on March 22 , 1926 . Patrick ' s press release on the investigation stated that Arnold was also reprimanded for violating Army General Order No . 20 by attempting " to influence legislation in an improper manner . " Despite this setback , which included a fitness report that stated " in an emergency he is liable to lose his head " , Arnold made a commitment to remain in the service , turning down an offer of the presidency of the soon - to - be operating Pan American Airways , which he had helped bring into being . Arnold made the best of his exile and in May 1927 , his participation in war games at Fort Sam Houston , Texas , impressed Maj . Gen . James E . Fechet , successor to Patrick as Chief of the U . S . Army Air Corps . He also received superlative fitness reports from his commanders at Ft . Riley , Brig . Gen . Ewing E . Booth ( who had been a member of the Mitchell court ) and his successor , Brig . Gen . Charles J . Symmonds . Repairs to Arnold ' s service reputation may also have been aided by a professional article he wrote for the " Cavalry Journal " in January 1928 , showing the influence of his association with the Cavalry School at Fort Riley . Arnold urged a strong combined arms team be developed between the Air Corps and the Cavalry — and by extension , all ground forces . This opportunity for development of the concept in both theory and practice was lost , however , by the effects of cultural differences between the two service branches and the dominance of American isolationism , and did not develop until the United States was engaged in World War II . On February 24 , 1927 , his son David Lee Arnold was born at Ft . Riley . In 1928 Arnold wrote and published six books of juvenile fiction , the " Bill Bruce Series , " whose objective was to interest young people in flying . Air Corps mid - career . Fechet intervened with Army Chief of Staff Gen . Charles P . Summerall to have Arnold ' s exile ended by assigning him in August 1928 to the Army ' s Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth . The year - long course was unpleasant for Arnold because of doctrinal differences with the school ' s commandant , Maj Gen . Edward L . King , but Arnold graduated with high marks in June 1929 . Arnold was slated for assignment to the Air Corps Training Center in San Antonio following graduation , but Brig . Gen . Lahm , the commander of the ACTC , strongly opposed it , possibly recalling their 1917 dispute . Instead Arnold commanded the Fairfield Air Service Depot , Ohio . In 1930 he also became Chief of the Field Service Section , Air Corps Materiel Division , and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 1 , 1931 . Arnold ' s parents were made destitute by the bank collapses in 1929 , and on January 18 , 1931 , his mother died of a sudden heart attack . Arnold struggled emotionally with being absent from his parent ' s 50th wedding anniversary celebration the year before and with the depression afflicting his father after her death . A contemporary biographer of Arnold notes that not until after his mother ' s funeral did Bee begin use of the sobriquet " Hap " in place of " Sunny " when addressing him , apparently to avoid the " constant reminder " of his mother that the latter name might bring . Arnold himself eschewed the use of " Sunny " in his personal correspondence after May 1931 , signing himself as " Hap " Arnold from that point forward . He took command of March Field , California , where Spaatz had just assumed command of the grandiose - sounding but tiny 1st Wing , on November 27 , 1931 . Arnold ' s responsibilities included refurbishing the base into a showcase installation , which required that he resolve strained relations with the community . He accomplished this by having his officers join local social service organizations and by a series of well - publicized relief efforts . Arnold took command of the 1st Wing himself on January 4 , 1933 , which flew food - drops during blizzards in the winter of 1932 - 33 , assisted in relief work during the Long Beach earthquake of March 10 , 1933 , and established camps for 3 , 000 boys of the Civilian Conservation Corps . He organized a high - profile series of aerial reviews that featured visits from Hollywood celebrities and aviation notables . In August 1932 , Arnold began acquisition of portions of Rogers Dry Lake as a bombing and gunnery range for his units , a site that later became Edwards Air Force Base . In 1934 , Chief of Air Corps Benjamin D . Foulois named Arnold to command one of the three military zones of the controversial Army Air Corps Mail Operation , with a temporary headquarters in Salt Lake City , Utah . Arnold ' s pilots performed well and his own reputation was untouched by the fiasco . Later that same year he won his second Mackay Trophy , when he led ten Martin B - 10B bombers on an flight from Bolling Field to Fairbanks , Alaska , and back . Overly credited with its success , he nonetheless lobbied for recognition of the other airmen who took part , but the Deputy Chief of Staff ignored his recommendations . His reputation among some of his peers was tarnished by resentment when he was belatedly awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the flight in 1937 . On March 1 , 1935 , General Headquarters Air Force was activated to control all combat aviation units of the Air Corps based in the United States , although it was not subordinate to the Chief of Air Corps . While a significant step towards an independent air force , this dual authority created serious problems of unity of command for the next six years . GHQAF commander Maj . Gen . Frank Andrews tapped Arnold to retain command its 1st Wing , which now carried with it a temporary promotion to the rank of brigadier general , effective March 2 , 1935 . On December 23 , 1935 , new Army Chief of Staff Gen . Malin Craig summoned Arnold to Washington . He and Arnold had become personal friends and golfing partners during Craig ' s command of the Ninth Corps Area in 1933 . Foulois had retired under fire in the wake of the Air Mail scandal and allegations of corruption in Air Corps procurement , and the new Chief , Major General Oscar Westover , had asked Craig for Arnold to fill the vacant assistant chief position . Over Arnold ' s protests , and despite a left - handed recommendation by Secretary of War George Dern , who recalled Arnold ' s close association with Billy Mitchell , Craig made him Assistant Chief of Air Corps , responsible for procurement and supply , to deal with the political struggles over them from the Foulois years . In effect , however , Arnold had " switched sides " in the struggle between GHQ Air Force and the Air Corps . Chief of Air Corps . Westover was killed in an air crash at Burbank , California on September 21 , 1938 . Prior vacancies in the office had been filled by an incumbent assistant chief , and Arnold ' s appointment to succeed Westover seemed automatic since he was well - qualified . Yet the appointment was delayed when a faction developed supporting the appointment of Andrews that included two members of the White House staff , press secretary Stephen Early and military adviser Col . Edwin M . Watson . A rumor circulated through the White House that Arnold was a " drunkard " . In his memoirs , Arnold recorded that he enlisted the help of Harry Hopkins to attack the drinking rumors , but more recent research asserts that Craig threatened to resign as Army chief of staff if Arnold was not appointed . President Franklin D . Roosevelt appointed Arnold as Chief of Air Corps on September 29 , which carried with it the rank of Major General . To repair his relationship with the Andrews faction , most of whom were part of GHQ Air Force , he selected its chief of staff , Col . Walter G . Kilner , to fill the assistant chief vacancy . Arnold encouraged research and development efforts , among his projects the B - 17 and the concept of Jet - assisted takeoff . To encourage the use of civilian expertise , the California Institute of Technology became a beneficiary of Air Corps funding and Theodore von Kármán of its Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory developed a good working relationship with Arnold that led to the creation of the Scientific Advisory Group in 1944 . Arnold characterized his wartime philosophy of research and development as : " Sacrifice some quality to get sufficient quantity to supply all fighting units . Never follow the mirage , looking for the perfect airplane , to a point where fighting squadrons are deficient in numbers of fighting planes . " To that end he concentrated on rapid returns from R & D investments , exploiting proven technologies to provide operational solutions to counter the rising threat of the Axis Powers . Arnold also pushed for jet propulsion , especially after the British shared their plans of Whittle ' s turbojet during his visit to Britain in April 1941 . The proposal was immediately opposed by the General Staff in all respects . He and Eaker collaborated on three books promoting airpower : " This Flying Game " ( 1936 , reprinted 1943 ) , " Winged Victory " ( 1941 ) , and " Army Flyer " ( 1942 ) . In March 1939 Arnold was appointed to head the Air Board by Secretary of War Harry Woodring , to recommend doctrine and organization of Army airpower to the Chief of Staff . While the board ' s report concluded that airpower was indispensable to the defense of the hemisphere , stressed the need for long - range bombers , and became the basis for the first Air Corps field manual , it was a " considerable attenuation " of the doctrine being developed at the Air Corps Tactical School . Arnold submitted the findings to George C . Marshall , newly appointed as Chief of Staff , on September 1 , 1939 , the day Nazi Germany invaded Poland . When Marshall requested a reorganization study from the Air Corps , Arnold submitted a proposal on October 5 , 1940 , that would create an air staff , unify the air arm under one commander , and grant it autonomy with the ground and supply forces . Congress repealed the Neutrality Act in November 1939 to permit the selling of aircraft to the belligerents , causing Arnold concern that shipments of planes to the Allies would slow delivery to the Air Corps , particularly since control of the allotment of aircraft production had been given to the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department in December 1938 , and by extension , to Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau , Jr . , a White House favorite . Arnold experienced two years of difficulties with Morgenthau , who was prone to denigrate the leadership of the War Department and Air Corps . Their conflict peaked on March 12 , 1940 , when Arnold ' s public complaint about increases in shipments brought a personal warning from Roosevelt that " there were places to which officers who did not ' play ball ' might be sent , such as Guam , " and got him banished from the White House for eight months . The disfavor shown Arnold by Roosevelt reached a turning point in March 1941 when new Secretary of War Henry L . Stimson , a supporter of Arnold , submitted his name with two others for promotion to the permanent rank of major general . Roosevelt refused to send the list to the Senate for confirmation because of Arnold ' s nomination , and his forced retirement from the service seemed imminent to both Stimson and Marshall . Stimson and Harry Hopkins arranged for Arnold , accompanied by Maj . Elwood " Pete " Quesada , to travel to England for three weeks in April to evaluate British aircraft production needs and to provide an up - to - date strategic analysis . His meeting with Roosevelt to report his findings was judged as impressively cogent and optimistic , but the president ruminated on Arnold ' s future for three weeks before submitting his name and the others to the Senate . From that point on , however , Arnold ' s " position in the White House was secure . " His importance to Roosevelt in setting an airpower agenda was demonstrated when Arnold was invited to the Atlantic Conference in Newfoundland in August , the first of seven such summits that he , not Morgenthau , would attend . World War II . Reorganization , autonomy , and strategic plans . The division of authority between the Air Corps and GHQ Air Force was removed with promulgation of Army Regulation 95 - 5 , creating the United States Army Air Forces on June 20 , 1941 , only two days before Germany ' s invasion of the Soviet Union . Arnold became Chief of the Army Air Forces and acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air with authority over both the Air Corps and Air Force Combat Command ( successor to GHQAF ) . While this provided the air arm with a staff of its own and brought the entire organization under the command of one general , it failed to grant the degree of autonomy sought . By consensus between Marshall and Arnold , debate on separation of the Air Force into a service co - equal with the Army and Navy was postponed until after the war . In July 1941 , Roosevelt asked for production requirements to defeat potential enemies , and Arnold endorsed a request by his new Air War Plans Division to submit an air war plan . The assessment , designated AWPD / 1 , defined four tasks for the AAF : defense of the Western Hemisphere , an initial defensive strategy against Japan , a strategic air offensive against Germany , and a later strategic air offensive against Japan in prelude of invasion . It also planned for an expansion of the AAF to 60 , 000 aircraft and 2 . 1 million men . AWPD / 1 called for 24 groups ( approximately 750 airplanes ) of very long range B - 29 bombers to be based in Northern Ireland and Egypt for use against Nazi Germany , and for production of sufficient Consolidated B - 36 s for intercontinental bombing missions of Germany . Soon after U . S . entry in the war , Arnold was promoted to lieutenant general on December 15 , 1941 . On March 9 , 1942 , after the creation of the AAF failed to define clear channels of authority for the air forces , the Army adopted the functional reorganization that Arnold had advocated in October 1940 . Acting on an executive order from Roosevelt , the War Department granted the AAF full autonomy , equal to and entirely separate from the Army Ground Forces and Services of Supply . The Office of the Chief of Air Corps and the Air Forces Combat Command were abolished , and Arnold became AAF Commanding General and an " ex officio " member of both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff . In response to an August 1942 directive , Arnold had the AWPD revise its estimates . AWPD / 42 resulted , calling for 75 , 000 aircraft and 2 . 7 million men , and increased the production of aircraft for use by other allies . AWPD / 42 reaffirmed earlier strategic priorities , but increased the list of industrial targets from 23 to 177 , ranking the German Luftwaffe first and its submarine force second in importance of destruction . It also directed that the B - 29 bomber not be employed in Europe because of problems in its development , but instead that the B - 29 program ' s deployment be concentrated in the Far East to destroy the Japanese military power . Strategic bombing in Europe . Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor Arnold began to carry out AWPD / 1 . The primary strategic bombing force against Nazi Germany would be the Eighth Air Force , and he named Spaatz to command it and Eaker to head its Bomber Command . Other Arnold protégés eventually filled key positions in the strategic bombing forces , including Haywood S . Hansell , Laurence S . Kuter , and James H . Doolittle . Despite protecting his strategic bombing force from demands of other services and allies , Arnold was forced to divert resources from the Eighth to support operations in North Africa , crippling the Eighth in its infancy and nearly killing it . Eaker ( now Eighth Air Force commander ) found from experience that the pre - war doctrine of daylight precision bombing , developed at the Air Corps Tactical School as a foundation for separating the Air Force from the Army , was mistaken in its tenet that heavily - armed bombers could reach any target without the support of long - range escort fighters . Early in 1943 he began requesting more fighters and jettisonable fuel tanks to increase their range , in addition to repeated requests to increase the size of his small bombing force . Heavy losses in the summer and fall of 1943 on deep penetration missions increased Eaker ' s requests . Arnold , under pressure and impatient for results , ignored Eaker ' s findings and placed the blame on a lack of aggressiveness by bomber commanders . This came at a time when Gen . Dwight D . Eisenhower was putting together his command group for the invasion of Europe , and Arnold approved Eisenhower ' s request to replace Eaker with his own commanders , Spaatz and Doolittle . Ironically , the very items Eaker requested — a larger bomber force , drop tanks , and P - 51 fighters — accompanied the change of command and made the Eighth Air Force decisive in defeating Germany using the daylight bombing doctrine . The change in command at Eighth Air Force , particularly involving the relief of a friend or protogé , was just one of many that exemplified a ruthlessness Arnold developed to get results . In 1942 , Brig . Gen . Walter R . Weaver , acting chief of the Air Corps , had his job eliminated and was relegated to a technical training command . George C . Kenney relieved Jacob E . Fickel in command of Fourth Air Force and later that same year replaced former Chief of the Air Corps George H . Brett as Southwest Pacific air commander . In the B - 29 campaign , Curtis E . LeMay relieved Kenneth B . Wolfe in India in July 1944 , then Hansell on Guam in January 1945 . VLR operations against Japan . With the strategic bombing crisis resolved in Europe , Arnold placed full emphasis on completion of the development and deployment of the B - 29 Very Long Range ( VLR ) bomber to attack Japan . As early as 1942 , Arnold planned to make himself commanding general of the Twentieth Air Force . This unique command arrangement may also have contributed to his health problems ( see below ) , but after the negative experience of building an effective bombing force against Germany , and realizing the consequences of failure against Japan , Arnold concluded that , absent any unity of command in the Pacific theaters , administrative decisions regarding VLR operations could best be handled personally . However , theater commanders Douglas MacArthur , Chester Nimitz , and Joseph Stillwell all coveted the B - 29s for tactical support , to which Arnold was adamantly opposed as a diversion from strategic policy . He convinced not only Marshall , but also Chief of Naval Operations Ernest J . King , that the Twentieth was unique in that its operations cut across the jurisdiction of all three theaters , and thus should report directly to the Joint Chiefs with Arnold acting as their executive agent . In February 1944 President Roosevelt agreed and approved the arrangement . The VLR program had been plagued with a seemingly unending series of development problems , subjecting it and Arnold to much criticism in the press and from skeptical field commanders . The B - 29 was the key component of the AAF ' s fourth strategic priority , since no other land - based bomber was capable of reaching the Japanese homeland , but by February 1944 , the XX Bomber Command , slated to begin Operation Matterhorn on June 1 , had virtually no flight time yet above an altitude of . With a designated overseas deployment date of April 15 , 1944 , Arnold intervened in the situation personally by flying to Kansas on March 8 . For three days he toured training bases involved in the modification program , distressed at his findings of shortages and work failures , and on the spot made Maj . Gen . Bennett E . Meyers , a military procurement officer accompanying him , the coordinator of the program . Meyers succeeded in the " " : despite labor problems and blizzard weather a complete bomb group was ready for deployment by April 9 . The mechanical problems of the B - 29 , however , had not been resolved , and combat operations identified many new ones . Arnold felt the pressure of not only achieving the goals of AWPD / 1 , but of justifying by results a very expensive technological project in the B - 29 , and providing the delivery platform for the highly - classified atomic bomb if the Manhattan Project succeeded . VLR operations against Japanese targets in China and Southeast Asia began in June 1944 , and from the outset produced far less positive results than expected . The difficulties of the Twentieth Air Force ' s campaign against Japan mirrored those of the Eighth Air Force ' s against Germany . With characteristic impatience , Arnold quickly relieved Wolfe , the B - 29 commander in China , after less than a month of operations , and replaced him with LeMay . A second B - 29 command began operations from bases in the Mariana Islands in November . Brig . Gen . Haywood S . Hansell , one of the architects of AWPD / 1 and AWPD / 42 , encountered even more command problems than had Wolfe or LeMay . After two months of ostensibly poor results , and because he resisted the campaign of firebombing attacks against Japanese population centers favored by Arnold and his chief of staff , Lauris Norstad , Arnold decided he too needed replacing . He shut down operations from China , consolidated all the B - 29s in the Marianas , and replaced Hansell with LeMay in January 1945 as commander of XXI Bomber Command . Final years . Health problems . Between 1943 and 1945 Arnold experienced four heart attacks severe enough to require hospitalization . In addition to being by nature intensely impatient , Arnold considered that his personal presence was required wherever a crisis might be , and as a result he traveled extensively and for long hours under great stress during the war , aggravating what may have been a pre - existing coronary condition . His extended trips and inspection tours were to the United Kingdom in April 1941 and again in May 1942 ; the South Pacific in September 1942 , North Africa and China in January – February 1943 ; the Middle East and Italy ( where his party came under artillery fire ) in November – December 1943 ; London and Normandy accompanying Marshall in June 1944 ; Germany and Italy in April – May 1945 ; the Western Pacific in June 1945 ; and Potsdam in July 1945 . A lesser but more frequent factor may have been his difficulty in handling inter - service politics , particularly with the Navy , which steadfastly refused to recognize him as a Chief of Staff or his subordinate staff as equals . On Guam , with knowledge of the approaching atomic bomb decision , he was compelled to negotiate with Nimitz over what seemed petty Navy objections to the basing there of the headquarters of the strategic air forces . Arnold ' s first heart attack occurred February 28 , 1943 , just after his return from the Casablanca Conference and China . During that trip , " Argonaut " , the B - 17 bomber transporting his party , became lost for several hours over Japanese - held territory trying to " fly the Hump " at night . He was hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Hospital for several days , then took three weeks leave at the Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel in Florida , which had been converted into a convalescent hospital . U . S . Army regulations then required that he leave the service , but President Roosevelt waived the requirement in April after he demonstrated his recovery , and on the condition that the President be provided with monthly updates on Arnold ' s health . Arnold ' s second heart attack occurred just a month later , on May 10 , 1943 , and resulted in a 10 - day stay in Walter Reed . Against the wishes of Marshall , he gave the commencement address for the Class of June 1943 at West Point , where his son Bruce was graduating . His third heart attack , less severe than the first two , occurred exactly a year after the second , on May 10 , 1944 , under the strain of the B - 29 problems . Arnold took a month ' s leave , returning to duty by flying with Marshall to London on June 7 for a conference and an inspection of Omaha Beach . Arnold ' s last wartime heart attack came on January 17 , 1945 , just days after he replaced Hansell with LeMay . Arnold had not gone into his office for three days , and he refused to admit the Air Force ' s chief flight surgeon to his quarters to be examined . The flight surgeon enlisted a general and personal friend of Arnold ' s to inquire on his condition , after which Arnold was again flown to Coral Gables , Florida , and placed under 24 - hour care for nine days . Arnold again was allowed to remain in the service , but under conditions that amounted to light duty . He continued to tour air bases in both theaters . Arnold was returning by C - 54 from Italy to Miami for a checkup when he received the news of the German surrender on May 7 , 1945 . On July 16 he relinquished command of the Twentieth Air Force to LeMay . Promotion and retirement . Arnold received honorary doctorates from Pennsylvania Military College and the University of Southern California in 1941 , and from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1942 . On March 19 , 1943 , Arnold was promoted ( wartime ) to full General , and on December 21 , 1944 , appointed a five - star General of the Army under Public Law 282 - 78 , placing him fourth in Army rank seniority behind Marshall , MacArthur , and Eisenhower . In 1945 , Arnold directed the founding of Project RAND ( which became the RAND Corporation , a non - profit think tank ) with $ 10 , 000 , 000 of funding left over from World War II . Initially tasked " to connect military planning with research and development decisions , " RAND widely expanded in its scope beyond its original mission . After a trip to South America in January 1946 , in which he developed a heart arrhythmia severe enough to cancel the remainder of the trip , Arnold left active duty in the AAF on February 28 , 1946 , ( his official date of retirement was June 30 , 1946 ) . On March 23 , 1946 , Public Law 333 - 79 made the promotion to General of the Army permanent for all those holding it , and awarded full pay and allowances for those on the retired list . He was succeeded by Spaatz , who also became first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force when it became a separate service on September 18 , 1947 . Arnold retired to a ranch near Sonoma , California , and signed a contract with Harper & Brothers to write his memoirs , " Global Mission " . Unlike George S . Patton , who enjoyed independent wealth , or colleagues who had taken positions in government , such as Marshall ( appointed Secretary of State ) , Arnold had no source of income beyond his retirement pay and allowances , and was not healthy enough to continue service . His autobiography was an attempt to provide financial security for his wife after his death , and during the writing of it he suffered his fifth heart attack in January 1948 , hospitalizing him for three months . On May 7 , 1949 , Public Law 58 - 81 changed the designation of Arnold ' s final rank and grade to that of General of the Air Force , and he remains the only person to have held the rank . He is also the only person to hold five - star rank in two U . S . military services . He died on January 15 , 1950 , at his home in Sonoma . He was given a state funeral in Washington , D . C . that included rare services held in Arlington Memorial Amphitheater , and he was buried in Section 34 of Arlington National Cemetery . Robert A . Lovett , with whom Arnold worked closely during the war in his capacity as Assistant Secretary of War for Air , stated that Arnold had been as much a casualty of war as if he had been injured in the line of duty . All three of Arnold ' s surviving sons were graduates of West Point ( Henry Harley Jr . , 1939 ; Willam Bruce , June 1943 ; and David Lee , 1949 ) and reached the grade of colonel . The two youngest served in the United States Air Force and are interred near their father ' s burial site at Arlington National Cemetery . Legacy . Arnold Air Force Base , Tennessee , and the Arnold Engineering Development Center are named for Arnold . The Air Force Research Laboratory generally recognizes Arnold as the visionary who first articulated that superior research and development capabilities are essential to deterring and winning wars . Arnold ' s ideas underpin the Laboratory ' s modern - day role within the Air Force . The cadet social center at the United States Air Force Academy , Arnold Hall , and the Arnold Hall Community Center at Lackland Air Force Base , Texas , are both named for Arnold . The Air Force Association recognizes the " most significant contribution by a military member for national defense " with its H . H . Arnold Award . The top honorary organization in Air Force ROTC , the Arnold Air Society , is named for him , and The George C . Marshall Foundation awards the George C . Marshall / Henry " Hap " Arnold ROTC Award annually to the top senior cadet at each college or university with an AFROTC program . The Air Force Aid Society awards a college scholarship in his name to the dependents of Air Force members or retirees . On May 18 , 2006 , the Department of the Air Force introduced prototypes of two new service dress uniforms , one resembling those worn by Air Service officers prior to 1926 , called the " Billy Mitchell heritage coat , " and another , resembling the U . S . Army Air Forces ' Uniform of World War II and named the " Hap Arnold heritage coat " . In 2007 , the Air Force decided in favor of the " Hap Arnold " prototype , but in 2009 the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force directed that " no further effort be made on the Hap Arnold Heritage Coat " and the uniform change was suspended indefinitely . During the last mission of the Space Shuttle " Endeavor " , STS - 134 , a five - star insignia of Arnold ' s preserved in the National Museum of the United States Air Force was carried into space by shuttle pilot Gregory H . Johnson as a commemorative gesture to Arnold ' s legacy . Arnold was then the featured honoree of the museum ' s National Aviation Day celebration of August 20 , 2011 , when Johnson returned the insignia to the museum . The United States Department of Defense high school at the former Wiesbaden Air Base in Wiesbaden , Germany , was named General H . H . Arnold High School in 1949 . The school was renamed Wiesbaden High School in 2006 after the installation was transferred to the United States Army . On November 7 , 1988 , the United States Postal Service released the H . H . " Hap " Arnold 65 cent postage stamp bearing the likeness of Arnold , in his honor , as part of the Great Americans series . Arnold Drive , a main arterial road running through Sonoma Valley near his ranch , was named in his honor . In a rare depiction of him on film , Arnold was sympathetically portrayed in the 1954 film " The Glenn Miller Story " , played by Barton MacLane . General Arnold is the class exemplar of the United States Air Force Academy Class of 2012 .