The 7th Air Force historian, Howard Halvorsen, wrote an interesting article on Robin Olds, perhaps America’s most famous fighter pilot and eventual commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, heritage of the current wing at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.

This historian is hardly the first to declare Robin Olds as the greatest aerial warrior and leader in American history.

When learning about his life, it is as if our creator was making the perfect Airman. He was a triple ace who had ideas about tactical air power that were as big as his physique. He was a missionary constantly arguing – not always tactfully – for better fighters, better pilot training, new tactics and the like.

Many people — even the historian author of the article — consider Robin Olds to be the consummate, if not the “first,” fighter pilot.  Halvorsen notes, though, that such a lifestyle may have had other effects on Olds’ career:

Olds was promoted to brigadier general but never held a major command…His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking.

Halvorsen may be the first to officially publish the existence of a long-standing fighter pilot tradition in an official Air Force article:

And you wonder where Mustache March comes from? Not everything Air Force comes from Robin Olds, but few will argue with you if you say it does.

The end of the article has an interesting conclusion, saying Olds was ultimately proven right, which teaches us

Do what is right and be ready to fight.

Whether Robin Olds taught the Air Force that is debatable.

As noted previously, Olds had a mixed history, with a record as a good leader but a flawed man.  That he may have enjoyed success — at least in some parts of his life — or that time eventually validated his perspectives on Air Force doctrine does not inherently validate his life as “doing what is right.”

The story of Robin Olds does make for a fascinating study on character, morality, leadership, and success.  Like many men, he has both exemplary traits and flaws.

Read a review of Robin Olds’ Fighter Pilot, which chronicles his life.