Archie J. Old Jr.

Archie J. Old Jr. (August 1, 1906 – March 24, 1984) was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.^[1][2]

Archie J. Old Jr.
Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr.
Born	(1906-08-01)August 1, 1906 Farmersville, Texas
Died	March 24, 1984(1984-03-24) (aged 77) March AFB, California
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1930–1965
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Fifteenth Air Force 5th Air Division 7th Air Division 20th Combat Bombardment Wing 45th Combat Bombardment Wing 530th Air Transport Wing 96th Bomb Group
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross (5) Purple Heart Air Medal (9)

Early life

Old was born in Farmersville, Texas, on August 1, 1906.^[2]

Military career

Far left is Lt. Gen. Archie J. Old at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska

Old flew 43 combat missions against Germany. On October 14, 1943, Old led the second raid on the Schweinfurt ball-bearing factories in the Fertile Myrtle III. Of 291 B-17s that reached the target, 60 were downed by flak or enemy fighters, for a loss rate of 20 percent. On June 21, 1944, Old led the second shuttle bombing run to Russia.^[3][4] The B-17 that Col. Old was in for the first Schweinfurt mission aborted, so Col. Curtis Lemay and BGen. Robert Williams led the first Schweinfurt raid on 17 August; Col. Old and Maj. Thomas F. Kenny led the second Schweinfurt raid on 14 October 1943. On June 21, 1944, Col. Old led the second Shuttle Mission to Russia.^[5]

In July 1948 he was named commander of the Atlantic Division of the Military Air Transport Service.^[2]

In 1951 Old got two of SAC's important overseas jobs of commanding the 7th Air Division in England and the 5th Air Division in French Morocco.^[2] Old retired September 1, 1965. He died March 24, 1984, at the base hospital at March Air Force Base.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Commands held

Other achievements

First round-the-world nonstop flight by a jet airplane.

Old led Operation Power Flite as a Major General. Three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop in that mission. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world.^[13]

Military awards

•    Distinguished Service Cross
•    Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
•    Silver Star with oak leaf cluster
•    Legion of Merit
•    Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters
•    Purple Heart
•    Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters

Foreign decorations

• French Legion of Honor
• Belgian Croix de guerre with Palm
• Soviet Order of Suvorov Second Class^[14]
• French Croix de Guerre with Palm
• British Distinguished Flying Cross
• French Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite

Television appearance

Old appeared, playing himself, in "Massacre", a 1966 episode of the television show Twelve O'Clock High.^[15]

References

• Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts, H. W. Wilson Company, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8242-0958-3
•  This article incorporates public domain material from Biographies: Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-24.