Spaatz, Carl (1891–1974)

U.S. Air Force General

A longtime advocate of air power, Carl Andrew Spaatz supervised the American strategic bombing campaigns during World War II. When the U.S. Air Force became an independent service branch in 1947, he served as its first chief of staff.

Born in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, on July 28, 1891, Spaatz attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he got the nickname “Tooey.” Spaatz was an average student, indifferent to military discipline but always neat in appearance. He graduated in 1914.

Spaatz decided that he wanted to become a pilot when he saw aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss fly past the Academy in 1910. His first assignment after being commissioned, however, was to an infantry regiment. A year later, he transferred to the Army Air Service and attended flight school in San Diego. Upon earning his wings he was posted to the squadron supporting the 1916 Punitive Expedition sent to Mexico in response to raids in American territory by Mexican guerrillas. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Spaatz was given command of the flight school at Issoudon, France. During his 11-month tenure, he improved the school's appalling safety record and restructured its curriculum to emulate European programs. In the last month of the war, he was assigned to a fighter squadron and claimed three air-to-air victories.

After the war, Spaatz commanded a series of fighter and bomber units and airbases. In the course of his duties, he came into regular contact with Gen. William Mitchell, the Army's most outspoken advocate of air power. At Mitchell's court-martial for insubordination in 1925, Spaatz served as a defense witness. Having recently attended the Air Corps Tactical School, where Mitchell's theories were being discussed and refined, Spaatz argued eloquently that the Air Service should be independent of the Army, as Mitchell had long maintained. Although Mitchell was ultimately found guilty, Spaatz became a press favorite, helping to bring issues of air power, strategic bombardment, and Air Service autonomy to public attention.

Spaatz also promoted air power through demonstration flights. In 1929 he set an endurance record. His Fokker trimotor, called the Question Mark, remained aloft for 151 straight hours (over six days), landing only when the engine malfunctioned. Fuel, oil, water, food, and messages were transferred manually from another aircraft. More than just a publicity stunt, the flight was an early step in the development of inflight refueling, which has been an integral part of American military air operations since the 1950s.

Spaatz attended the Command and General Staff School in 1935. Because he opposed the established Army doctrine that subordinated aircraft to ground forces, the [Page 795]instructors nearly failed him and recommended that he never be given a staff assignment. However, his superiors in the Air Corps, sharing his opinions of air power, ignored the suggestion. Spaatz held several staff positions in the next five years.

Spaatz received his first star in 1940, after conducting an observation tour in England during the battle of Britain. Once the United States had entered World War II, he was assigned to a series of command positions of ever increasing responsibility in the European and Mediterranean theaters, culminating in his assignment as commander of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe in 1944. Committed to daylight precision bombing, he helped persuade the British to coordinate their nocturnal bombing campaign with American daytime raids. He also gave his fighter pilots permission to hunt down enemy interceptors rather than remain close to the bombers and wait for them to be attacked. His most trying duty as commander was prioritizing targets. Assessments of the relative values of various target systems changed frequently, and his superiors occasionally imposed their own target lists on him.

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