Henry Harley Arnold (1886-1950) was one of America's first military aviators. He became chief of staff of the Army Air Forces in World War II and was instrumental in the creation of the U.S. Air Force.

Henry Arnold was born on June 25, 1886, in Gladwyne, Pa. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1907 and joined the infantry. Early in 1911 he went to Dayton, Ohio, to take flying lessons from Orville and Wilbur Wright and later that year earned the twenty-ninth pilot's license issued in the United States. In 1916 he joined the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps and during World War I served as commander of the 7th Aero Squadron in Panama. Between the wars he was a vigorous advocate of air power and an active supporter of Billy Mitchell's attempt to create an independent air force.

The Army, however, retained control of the Army...