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The Billy Mitchell Court-Martial By John T. Correll

62 AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012 In the Army’s view, the issue was The Billy Mitchell insubordination, not the val­idity of Court-Martial Mitchell’s claims.

y 1925, Billy Mitchell had grade of . It was an important alienated almost everybody job in a significant command, but in the War Department and Mitchell felt he had been demoted and Navy Department, to say sent to the boondocks. The airmen in nothing of President Calvin still called him “General.” Coolidge.B Strident in his advocacy of Two Navy aircraft mishaps soon airpower, Mitchell did not hesitate to caused Mitchell’s temper to boil over lash out when he disagreed with his in even more spectacular fashion than superiors, which was often. “The Gen- usual. The worst of the accidents was eral Staff knows as much about the air the breakup of the Navy dirigible as a hog does about skating,” he said. Shenandoah over Ava, Ohio, Sept. William Mitchell (no middle name) 3. The airship was on a publicity came to fame as the combat leader junket, due to pass over 27 cities at of American air forces in France in times announced in advance to please . He was promoted to the politicians and their constituents. Over temporary grade of brigadier general Ohio, Shenandoah ran into a line squall and kept his star after the war because of intense thunderstorms but did not of his assignment as assistant chief of divert around it, remaining on course the Army Air Service. for a state fair the next day. When Mitchell’s sank Gripped by the storm, the airship the surplus German Ost- pitched up to 6,300 feet, plunged to friesland in a July 1921 demonstration, 3,200 feet, and was thrown back up it was a strong blow for airpower. It to 6,200 feet. The keel broke and the was also a huge embarrassment for airship was torn into three parts. The the Navy, which had said he couldn’t front section fell a mile to the ground, do it. Mitchell’s traditionalist boss, killing the skipper, Lt. Cmdr. Zach- Army Chief Gen. John J. Pershing, ary Lansdowne, and 13 other crew sided with the Navy in dismissing members. Part of the ship was able to the significance of the demonstration. maneuver as a free balloon and landed, Mitchell continued his all-out public saving 27 lives. campaign for airpower. He said the The Shenandoah tragedy followed world stood on the threshold of an the news that a Navy PN-9 seaplane “aeronautical era” and that military on a demonstration flight to Hawaii airpower, independent of ground and had gone down in the Pacific because sea forces, should be the first line of of engine failure. Another aircraft on defense. the flight was forced to land in the He was popular with the public and water 200 miles short of Hawaii when the press and had some supporters in it ran out of fuel. Congress. He had a strong following among younger officers, and even a Rocket From few moles in the Navy. The generals What enraged Mitchell as much as and admirals wanted to be rid of him. anything was the public reaction of Thus when his term as assistant air Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur, chief expired in March 1925, he was who said the accidents illustrated limi- not reappointed. He was assigned to tations of airpower. “Some people,” in San Antonio as said Wilbur, “make extravagant claims aviation for the Army’s Eighth for aviation. Great things have been Area, reverting to his permanent achieved. From our experience, how-

Billy Mitchell (standing) and his wife (to his left, seated) react during a tense mo- ment during the six-week-long trial.

AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012 63 the public mind for the purpose of forcing government action through the pressure of public opinion is an exceedingly dangerous undertaking and precedent,” Coolidge said. “It is for the civil authority to determine what Photo via appropriations shall be granted, what appointments shall be made, and what rules shall be adopted for the conduct of its armed forces. ... Whenever the military power starts dictating to the civil authority by whatever means adopted, the liberties of the country are beginning to end.” Mitchell was charged under the 96th Article of War, the catch-all general article that covered “disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline [and] all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service.” Mitchell ridiculed Article 96, saying, “Officers are tried under it for kicking a horse.” The Army held Mitchell’s statements Mitchell (standing left) listens as the charges against him are read. The prosecution opened and closed its case in one day, but it wouldn’t be a short trial after all. were prejudicial to good order and discipline, insubordinate, “contemptu- ous and disrespectful,” and intended ever, I am convinced that the Atlantic does not like the statement I made, let to discredit the War Department and and the Pacific are still the greatest them take disciplinary action as they Navy Department. With the Sept. 5 bulwarks against any air invasion of see fit, according to their judgment, and 9 statements counted separately, the .” Wilbur said the court-martial or no court-martial. ... it added up to eight specifications to PN-9 incident showed how difficult The investigation that is needed is the charge. it was to cross 2,100 miles of ocean of the War and Navy Departments Coolidge, hoping to tamp down the without carrying bombs, much less to and their conduct in the disgraceful controversy and divert attention from cross with 1,000-pound bombs. administration of aviation.” the Mitchell court-martial, appointed In San Antonio Sept. 5, Mitchell Summoned to Washington to explain a board, headed by New York banker called in the press and gave them a himself, Mitchell was greeted at the Dwight W. Morrow, to look into the 5,000-word statement. “These ac- train station by cheering supporters military aviation issue. cidents are the direct result of the and an fife and incompetency, criminal negligence, drum corps. Curtain Up and almost treasonable administration The court-martial began Oct. 28 in of the national defense by the Navy Orders From Coolidge the Emery Building, an old red brick and War Departments,” he said. President Coolidge was Mitchell’s warehouse, at the foot of Capitol Hill “All aviation policies, schemes, and direct opposite in personality. A dour in downtown Washington. Five hun- systems are dictated by nonflying of- man of few words, he was satisfied to dred people, including 40 reporters ficers of the Army or Navy who know be known as “Silent Cal.” He made his and newsreel cameramen, lined the practically nothing about it,” he said. national reputation by putting down a streets to see Colonel Mitchell and “The lives of the airmen are being police strike in Boston in 1919 when Mrs. Mitchell arrive. used merely as pawns in their hands. he was governor of Massachusetts. Twelve senior generals, handpicked ... Officers and agents sent by the War The War Department inspector gen- by the Army and the War Department, and Navy Departments to Congress eral recommended that Mitchell be were appointed to the court. One of have almost always given incomplete, tried by court-martial. The charges them, destined for greater things, misleading, or false information about were not made by Mitchell’s military was Mitchell’s boyhood friend from aeronautics.” superior but rather by the Secretary of , Douglas MacArthur. In Mitchell said Shenandoah, over- War at the direction of the President. addition, there was a “law member” weight in its structure and with low Coolidge did not accuse Mitchell of the court, Col. Blanton C. Winship, reserve buoyancy, had been sent on a directly in public. That might have a legal officer assigned to assist and propaganda mission without adequate been seen as prejudicing the outcome rule on legal questions. safeguards. He then moved on to of the trial. However, there was no Mitchell promptly challenged three general criticism of Army and Navy doubt who Coolidge was talking about of the generals off the court, including aviation programs. when he spoke to the American Legion Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall, a He wasn’t finished. convention in early October. future Army Chief of Staff who was to Four days later, he called the report- “Any organization of men in the have been president of the court. The ers back and said, “If the department military service bent on inflaming ousted generals were not replaced, as 64 AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012 only six members were required for a doah commander. She testified the ecutors in the Army. The attack on trial. Maj. Gen. Robert L. Howze took Navy tried to influence her statement Mitchell and the defense witnesses over as president. to the board of inquiry, wanting her sharpened as Gullion took on a big Mitchell’s defense team was led by to say that her husband had been share of the questioning. Rep. Frank R. Reid (R-Ill.), a first rate willing and ready to make the flight. The trial reached its dramatic peak lawyer who met Mitchell at House She told the inquiry and the Mitchell in late November when Gullion cross- Aircraft Committee hearings. He called court that her husband had regarded examined Mitchell. He elicited ac- members of the court “you men” and the flight as political and had flown knowledgments from Mitchell that “you people,” but the generals took it it under protest, believing the timing a considerable part of his statements in stride. The prosecutor was the trial was dangerous because of the weather were opinion rather than fact and that judge advocate, Col. Sherman More- risk. She produced a copy of a letter he relied on the newspapers for some land, fully competent but no match from Lansdowne to the Chief of Naval of his information, especially about the for Reid in flash and dash. Operations asking for a delay until Navy. Gullion tried to force Mitchell to Photos from the trial show members thunderstorm season had passed. admit that he had accused officers of of the court with old-style high military Among those testifying for Mitchell long and honorable standing of treason collars. Mitchell wore his collar folded were World War I ace Eddie Ricken- and criminal actions. Mitchell said his down in the more modern fashion backer and Congressman Fiorello La words had been directed at a system favored by airmen, who claimed that Guardia. “Billy Mitchell is not being rather than against an individual or high collars chafed their necks while judged by his peers,” La Guardia said. individuals, but Gullion had scored flying. “He is being judged by nine dog robbers his point with the senior officers on The prosecution introduced its evi- of the general staff.” Two little-known the court. dence the morning of Nov. 2 and rested majors, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold and The prosecution called a succession its case that afternoon. Moreland called Carl A. Spaatz, appeared for Mitchell of rebuttal witnesses. Mitchell debunk- witnesses who established that Mitch- as well. Even the court was momen- ers were not difficult to find. As the ell made the two statements and gave tarily star struck when famed humorist trial ground on, the Morrow Board them to the press. In the Army’s view, , a friend of Mitchell’s, made its report, basically accepting this was prima facie breach of good attended a session of the trial. the arguments of the traditionalists order and discipline and sufficient for Mitchell was the runaway favorite of over those of the airmen. No radical conviction. the public, but the weeks of airpower changes were necessary. The nation It wasn’t nearly over, though. Next testimony made less of an impression was safe from air attack. The Army day, Reid announced that he wanted to on the members of the court, who un- and Navy air arms should stay where call 73 witnesses for the defense and derstood better than the civilians did they were. asked for thousands of Army documents. the meaning of an Article 96 charge. Summing up for the prosecution on He intended to argue the validity of what To shore up the prosecution, Maj. the last day of the court-martial, Gul- Mitchell had said. Moreland objected. Allen W. Gullion was added as an as- lion pulled out all the stops. All that mattered was Mitchell had made sistant trial judge advocate Nov. 17. “It is sufficient if the record shows the statements. The substance of what A West Pointer and a former infantry that the conduct is to the prejudice he said counted only for mitigation and officer, Gullion was regarded as one and of a nature to discredit,” he said. extenuation, if that. of the best and most aggressive pros- “The statements of Sept. 5 and 9 speak However, the court did not rule against the evidence Reid wanted to present. Under the glare of public and press attention, Mitchell was given leeway that he would not have gotten under other circumstances. Reid and

Mitchell had effectively converted the Photo via Library of Congress court-martial into a public debate about airpower. The trial would continue for six more weeks.

Gullion Evens the Odds Reid introduced a parade of witnesses who gave evidence about equipment, training, misleading military assess- ments to Congress, Army disregard of advice from air officers, and endanger- ment of pilots from orders by nonflying superiors. He established that in the past seven years, Mitchell had made 163 recommendations to improve the air service, nearly all of them ignored or disapproved. Margaret Lansdowne, widow of the skipper of Shenandoah, told the court the Navy A surprise witness was Margaret tried to influence her testimony. The generals seated at the table are (l-r): Ewing Lansdowne, widow of the Shenan- Booth, Frank McCoy, Benjamin Poore, and Douglas MacArthur. AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012 65 for themselves in that regard. But can positions of authority, he was openly there be any doubt that the discipline acknowledged as an Air Force hero. of our Army will be ruined if the ac- When the cused, in the expressive vernacular was formed in 1946, Mitchell be- of the doughboy, is allowed to get came AFA’s hero, too. And when the away with it? Every trooper in Fort Air Force gained its independence Huachuca, as he smokes his cigarette from the Army in 1947, the cover of with his bunkie after mess, is talking the association’s journal, Air Force about this case. If the accused is not Magazine, proclaimed it “The Day dismissed, the good trooper will be Billy Mitchell Dreamed Of.” dismayed and the malcontent and Mitchell was celebrated in 1955 in sorehead will be encouraged in his a Warner Brothers movie, “The Court- own insubordination.” Martial of Billy Mitchell,” which was (A fascinating footnote to the story longer on enthusiasm than on historical is that one of Gullion’s grandsons, Gen. accuracy. Only Hollywood would have Thomas S. Moorman Jr., became vice chosen , an actor noted chief of staff of the Air Force from for not talking much, to play Mitchell. 1994 to 1997.) Rod Steiger was cast as Gullion. In 1956, William Mitchell Jr., with Mitchell Leaves the Army AFA acting as his agent, petitioned After deliberating for three hours Allen Gullion (pictured as a general) the Air Force Board for Correction on the afternoon of Dec. 17, the court was a fierce and relentless prosecutor. of Military Records to overturn the found Mitchell guilty on the charge verdict of the court-martial. The board and all specifications. It suspended him not get by on half pay. The net effect heard the case in 1957, but the results from rank, command, and duty, with was to force Mitchell to resign from the were not disclosed until the final re- the forfeiture of all pay and allowances Army, which he did on Feb. 1. view in 1958. for five years. Pershing, now retired, observed, By a vote of four-to-one, the board The votes were never revealed but “There seems to be a Bolshevik bug recommended the findings and sen- Howze, the president of the court, said in the air.” With Mitchell gone, the tence of the court-martial be declared it was a split decision. It was widely Army cracked down on dissent. Arnold, null and void. “The conclusion is believed that MacArthur had voted to an activist on Mitchell’s behalf, was inescapable in the board’s opinion acquit, but according to most historical exiled to Fort Riley, Kan., a cavalry that Mitchell was tried for his views sources, that was never confirmed. In post, where he became commander of rather than a violation of Article 96,” his memoirs, MacArthur was cryptic an observation squadron. the proceedings report said. on the subject, saying, “I did what I Some airmen concurred in Mitch- Secretary of the Air Force James H. could in his behalf.” ell’s conviction. Benjamin D. Foulois, Douglas Jr. could not agree. He recog- In November 1945, Sen. Alexander who had despised Mitchell since their nized that many of Mitchell’s beliefs Wiley (R-Wis.)—who was trying to time in France in World War I, said, had been vindicated by history but get Mitchell promoted posthumously “A civilian could say things like that that “while on active duty and subject to major general—wrote to MacArthur, but not an officer on active duty who to the discipline of military service, saying, “It was my understanding that had obligated himself by his commis- he characterized the administration yours was the one vote against the court- sioning oath to an unswerving course of the War and Navy Departments as martial’s verdict which cashiered Billy of loyalty to his civilian and military incompetent, criminally negligent, and Mitchell.” MacArthur replied, “Your superiors.” almost treasonable.” Mitchell’s state- recollection of my part in his trial is In his memoirs, Arnold acknowl- ments in September 1925 substantiated entirely correct. It was fully known to edged as much. “No matter what was the charges against him. “Subsequent him, and he never ceased to express said about ‘Airpower being on trial’—as confirmation of the correctness of cer- his gratitude for my attitude. ... He it was, at times even in the eyes of tain views he expressed cannot affect was a rare genius in his profession and the prosecution—the thing for which the propriety or impropriety under the contributed much to aviation history.” Mitchell was really being tried he 96th Article of expressions which he Coolidge approved the conviction was guilty of, and except for Billy, employed.” The verdict stood. Jan. 25, 1926, saying that Mitchell everybody knew it,” Arnold said. “We The Mitchell issue was supposedly “employed expressions which cannot be all knew there was no other way—in settled, but popped up again in a different construed otherwise than as breathing accordance with the Army code, Billy form in 2004. The Fiscal 2005 Defense defiance toward his military superiors.” had it coming.” Authorization bill authorized the promo- However, Coolidge recognized that tion of Billy Mitchell to major general, the sentence left Mitchell in an impos- Reconsiderations effective as of the date of his death in sible situation. It kept him in service, Mitchell continued to speak, write, 1936. Neither the Pentagon nor the White which prevented him from obtaining and advocate for airpower. He died House took any action as a result of the employment, but took away his in 1936, but as his disciples, includ- authorization, and the matter is again at pay, so he had no means of support. ing Arnold and Spaatz, moved into rest—at least, so far. n Coolidge reduced the punishment to forfeiture of half of Mitchell’s monthly John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a pay. The free-spending Mitchell could contributor. His most recent article, “The Moon Squadrons,” appeared in the July issue. 66 AIR FORCE Magazine / August 2012