[23], In 1942 he was named by Collier's Weekly as its "Lineman of the Year" and by Grantland Rice as "Player of the Year." Sally Field "hates" that her "Mrs. Doubtfire" co-star Robin Williams is not here to "grow old" just like her. Very little attention was paid to strafing, dive-bombing, rocketry, stuff like that. But his greatest moment came on Jan. 2, 1967, when, as a colonel, he created an aerial trap for enemy MIGs. If you ever wanted to fly a P-51 Mustang in combat over Germany or shoot down a MiG over North Vietnam flying your F-4 Phantom, reading this is the closest you can get without actually doing it. Robin Olds was born on the 14th of July, 1922. Here's a nice shot of a sultry looking Raquel Welch lounging around back in 1967. Returning to the United States after the war, Olds was assigned at West Point as an assistant football coach for Red Blaik. Olds and Ella Raines separated in 1975 and divorced in 1976. Olds logged 650hours of flying time during training, including 250hours in the P-38 Lightning, as the 479th built its proficiency as a combat group. Weighing his options, he decided to risk it all and flat planed. He never forgot it. On August 11, Olds conducted a strike on the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi. Husband/ Wife: Under Review: Child/ Kids: Not Available: Total Children . [18] 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 and a military aviator, as well as playing football. He began cleaning house. [69] Discouraged and at odds with the Air Force, in which he was seen as an iconoclast, Olds reportedly was in the process of resigning when he was talked out of it by a mentor, Maj Gen Frederic H. Smith Jr., who brought him to work at Eastern Air Defense Command headquarters at Stewart AFB, New York. In a few weeks, Zemke turned things around and added to Robins already formidable determination to succeed as a shooter and a leader. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general, after 30 years of service. By the time he reached the front office, he reckoned that he knew all he needed to. He is from USA. En route he arranged with the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Wing, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, (where Col. James was now Deputy Commander of Operations) to be checked out in the Phantom, completing the 14-step syllabus in just five days. The MiG losses were the highest suffered in one day by the North Vietnamese during the war. [6][7][8] He had one younger brother, Stevan Meigs (19241988), two younger paternal half-brothers, Sterling Meigs "Dusty" (19351995) and Frederick A. 367K views 7 years ago The USAF F-4 Phantom II, painted up in the colors of triple ace Robin Olds, performs flybys during the Saturday night airshow at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2015. Fogerty, Ronald P. (editor, 1953), USAF Historical Study 91: Millard Preparatory School for West Point, National Museum of the United States Air Force, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Vietnam Air Force Distinguished Service Order, "Eloise Wichman Oldys (1896-1926) - Find A Grave", "MG Robert Olds (1896-1943) - Find A Grave Memorial", Official Register of the Officers and Cadets, United States Military Academy, For the Academic Year Ending June 30, 1943, "USAF Historical Study 85: USAF Credits for Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II", "Airman Exemplars: Gen Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr", "Robin Olds: An Unconventional Man's Fight for Conventional Warfare", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", "Memorial Service for Brigadier General Robin Olds", "Legendary fighter pilot Robin Olds dies", USAF in SEA: Aces and Aerial Victories 19651973 No. [51] Olds shot down an Fw 190 in his new Scat VI on October 6 during a savage battle near Berlin in which he was nearly shot down by his own wingman. [81] The 44-year-old colonel also set the tone for his command stint by immediately placing himself on the flight schedule as a rookie pilot under officers junior to himself, then challenging them to train him properly because he would soon be leading them. [100], The incident with the mustache is given credit as the impetus for a new Air Force tradition, "Mustache March", in which aircrew, aircraft maintainers, and other airmen worldwide show solidarity by a symbolic, albeit good-natured "protest" for one month against Air Force facial hair regulations. After suggesting the idea to Seventh Air Force commander Major General William Momyer, himself a former commander of the 8th TFW, Olds was directed to plan a mission designed to draw the North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s into an aerial trap, and "Operation Bolo" resulted. Olds was promoted tobrigadier generalafter returning from Vietnam and became Commandant of Cadets at theUnited States Air Force Academy. [84] The Olds-James combination became popularly nicknamed "Blackman and Robin". First, he cut loose the deadwood, the ticket punchers and careerists who had sniveled some counters - missions that counted toward completion of a tour when in fact they had not gone north. At 6feet 2inches in height (1.88m) and weighing 205pounds (92kg), he played tackle on both offense and defense, lettering both seasons. He stood before the F-4C Phantom crews and said, Im going to start here by flying Green Sixteen (tail-end Charlie) and you guys are going to teach me how. Receiving his wings from Gen. Henry Hap Arnold, Olds graduated from West Point on June 1, 1943, after completing the academys accelerated wartime curriculum. Olds, then 84years old, appeared as a commentator. Scat XXVII (F-4C-24-MC 64-0829) was retired from operational service and placed on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Olds scored his first kill on August 14, 1944, when he turned a Focke-Wulf 190 into a fiery German-filled inferno, but it was on a particularly balls-out mission 11 days later that Captain Robin Olds truly made a name for himself as a man that needed to have a special flight suit constructed just to contain his ridiculously-oversized steel testicles. Piloting P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs, he shot down 12 planes during World War II. The son of U.S. Army Air Forces Major General 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. Called Operation Bolo, the trap entailed use of radar-jamming devices and other tactics to make faster, more maneuverable F-4s appear to be the slower F-105s used for bombing missions. Five P-51s made a pass on the airdrome that April day. [44] Despite battle damage to his own plane, including loss of a side window of its canopy, Olds shot down two during the dogfight and another on the way home to become the first ace of the 479th FG. He served as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air . A woman named Robyn appeared as a model back in 1997 on the series Just Shoot Me. Under Olds predecessor, who seldom flew combat, the 8th had eked out a meager kill-loss ratio. Olds left the 81st in 1965 after forming an aerial demonstration team without command authorization. [77], Olds formed a demonstration team for the F-101 using pilots of his wing, without command authorization, and performed at an Air Force open house at Bentwaters. Returning to the US, Olds was assigned to West Point to serve as an assistant football coach to Earl Red Blaik. Col Olds had several general assemblies with the support staff and they were always motivational. 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. To protect the F-4s, rules of engagement that allowed the MiG Combat Air Patrol to escort the strike force in and out of the target area were revised in December to restrict MiGCAP penetration to the edge of SAM coverage. This training ended a year later by Christmas 1942. View military histories of over 2 million, If you are a veteran, reconnect with people. In addressing newly commissioned officers he said, The airman swears that he will obey the orders of the officers appointed over him. Recently the ABC anchor revealed that she was "grateful for all of her co-stars" in an Instagram post that showed her receiving a major "honor" from the National Press Foundation. Olds next became commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England, a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo fighter-bomber wing, on September 8, 1963. [107], Olds was briefly a stepbrother of author Gore Vidal after Olds' father married for the fourth time in June 1942, to Nina Gore Auchincloss. [74] From November 1959 to March 1960, his section worked intensely to develop a program reducing the entire structure of the ADC with the purpose of generating $6.5 billion for classified funding to develop the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.reconnaissance aircraft. A stunning success, Operation Bolo effectively eliminated the MiG threat for most of the spring of 1967. [79] Olds rewarded Kirk by granting him a transfer to his command in Thailand in March 1967. [32] Olds received his pilot's wings personally from Gen. Henry H. Arnold on May 30, 1943,[33] and graduated on June 1 as a member of the Class of June 1943, 194th in general merit of 514 graduates. Olds had administrative and staff duty assignments at the Pentagon between 1958 and 1962 as the Deputy Chief, Air Defense Division, Headquarters USAF. Born on July 14, 1922 in Honolulu, Olds was the son of Robert Olds, a fighter pilot in World War I and later an aide to Billy Mitchell. In all, he downed 16 enemy aircraft in the two wars, making him a triple ace. Robin Olds was born in Honolulu. [4], Olds was promoted to brigadier general after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. He had earlier been treated for prostate cancer. He was assigned duties as operations officer of the 434th Fighter squadron. U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Retired Brig. Olds oversaw the creation of policies, standards, and procedures for Air Force accident prevention programs, and dealt with work safety education, workplace accident investigation and analysis, and safety inspections. And when he could not wrangle a combat assignment in the Korean War, he participated in transcontinental jet races and flew with the Air Forces first aerobatic demonstration team. 6/15/2007 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Legendary fighter pilot, retired Brig. Postwar after VE-Day, he returned to the States and reverted to his permanent rank: a 23-year-old Captain. After relinquishing command of the 8th TFW on September 23, 1967, Olds reported for duty to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in December 1967. It was more about people he knew.. Olds was placed on one year probation, and ordered to pay almost $900in fines and costs, attend an alcohol education course, and perform 72hours of community service. Fighter pilots used to say that there was a glass case in the Pentagon building to the precise dimension of then-Colonel Robin Olds, who would be frozen in time and displayed wearing his tank-less flight suit, crashed fore and aft cap, gloves, and torso harness with .38 pistol and survival knife. The iconic actor died in 2014. . Olds' class was given an abridged second class course of study until January 19, 1943, when it began an abridged first class course. Legendary British Singer Robin Gibb was a doting father who dearly wanted to be present in his kids' lives. Table of Contents show. As our way to help you celebrate the New Year, were offering the first book in the Hamfist series FREE! Like so many other pilots and WSOs, he was energized by the new COs press-on attitude. Retiring to Steamboat Springs, CO, he became active in public affairs. Then he began learning the way the Wolfpack did business so he could improve upon it. He was assigned to the European theater, where he flew 107 missions and was credited with destruction of 11 aircraft on the ground another pilot assisted in destroying one of them in addition to the dozen he shot from the sky. The mustache became my silent last word in the verbal battleswith higher headquarters on rules, targets, and fighting the war. The TV anchor said that she and her girlfriend of 23 years would walk down the aisle this year. Just as Olds began firing, both engines of his P-38 quit from fuel exhaustion; in the excitement of the attack he had neglected to switch to his internal fuel tanks. He flew P-38s and P-51 Mustangs with the 434th Fighter Squadron, becoming the first Ace of the 479th Fighter Group in 1944-45. Despite his MiG-killing fame, he was perhaps proudest of the strike against North Vietnams best-defended target: Thai Nguyen steel mill. He really was "larger than life." His father Robert was an aviation pioneer from the WW I era so the boy grew up in the company of airpower greats like Hap Arnold, Billy Mitchell, and Tooey Spaatz. He was not happy. But his report and analysis were not well received, and his recommendations were ignored. General Olds received many medals, including the Air Force Cross, the branchs second-highest decoration. Their son is named after Robin, whose middle name was McLaurin. Robin taught her to drive on the Academy grounds and ride horses at the equestrian center. He continued attacking in "dead-stick mode", hitting his target in the fuselage and shooting off part of its engine cowling. [3] He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general, after 30 years of service. Dressed in a child-size air service uniform, he watched his father testify on Mitchells behalf. Big pieces flew off, flame and smoke poured out, and the airplane rolled off to the right. 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