foster march october commissioned army aviator graduate joined shortly aviator sat boards review service infancy members condemned planes favor served general set records endurance flying world war assigned aviation officer later replaced colonel reassigned pilot receive world war promoted colonel august end war appointed chief staff material mitchell posted fort sam houston san_antonio completion war reverted pre war rank captain commander field virginia returning home war competed endurance flight competitions contest crashed died years death army airfield named honor biography born march née illinois attended graduated degree charter members married children won trophy died air crash military career pre world war september commissioned second lieutenant transferred aviation section fully qualified military aviator general order dated listed original military february established non stop duration flight record flying miles hours minutes aircraft model promoted rank lieutenant ordered join 1st squadron texas march june squadron transferred known participated flight experiments sat boards establish training requirements aircraft specifications qualified military aviator december experienced fatal accidents involving wright model airplane board including convened investigate safety concerns recommendations captain walter condemned aircraft unsafe february remaining army inventory ordered immediately grounded following month board drew specifications tractor training airplane involved aftermath major incident known commanding officer 1st squadron san_diego seriously injured demonstration accident november flying new aircraft stalled required competitive slow speed test martin corrected throttle went described suffered nearly severed nose broken legs opened skull fracture severe knee drive shaft review crashes school commandant dismissed pilots assisted 1st attempt prefer charges collecting flight pay certified fly flying duty charges dismissed laid went 1st galveston incident following promotion captain observer won annual contest aviation trophy descended trip hours minutes contest trophy involved serial reconnaissance troops maneuvering vicinity san_diego reports numbers disposition accidents eliminated machines theirs trophy awarded year provided comprehensive accurate report composition location troops march appointed pilot 1st squadron general positioned mexican border pilot airplane observer captain reconnaissance flight mexico march rest march early april fly deep mexico observe troop movements fly dispatches bases completion work mexico remained 1st squadron promoted major world war serving gained experience appointed staff position aviation officer raised overseas service world war sailing france sent assistant new_york instructions round qualified candidates aviation staff applicants auto race car driver promptly enlisted sergeant class arrival europe late appointed lieutenant colonel aviation officer job understand allies needs requirements recommendations spent days london spoke colonel british officials submitted report june recommendation needed term memo chief staff june term appeared july tables detailing staff organization duties formally created september general order published remained superseded aviation officer colonel mitchell replaced june position renamed chief duties changed rewritten known named colonel head mission commission sent europe behalf assigned mission replaced aviation officer assignment evaluate aircraft use specifically reconnaissance purposes evaluated french aircraft favored adopting reconnaissance work eventually purchased saw line service graduates winter field officers course given temporary wartime promotion colonel command general named director artillery officer executive officer san_diego outbreak war instructed mitchell mitchell promoted appointed role director administer zone line communications sic later called proved interim commander november replaced brig arrived france large staff non resulted considerable resentment mitchell smaller established staff including immediately displaced mitchell resented replaced non leaving theater operations continued ways distinguished service medal service world war pilot receive distinguished service medal citation reads president united_states_of_america authorized act congress july takes pleasure presenting medal colonel exceptionally distinguished services government united_states duty great responsibility world war colonel organized successfully conducted negotiations purchase allied governments use later served distinction chief technical advisor information officer chief post war service having promoted rank colonel august end war appointed chief staff material brigadier general posted fort sam houston san_antonio served chief assistant chief supply army completion war reverted pre war rank captain commander field virginia death legacy commander field killed air crash crash occurred october philadelphia new_york los_angeles air race station named nation dedicated military airfield airfield located current boundaries fort sam houston san_antonio texas includes area bounded north west south road east fort sam boundary designated general order number prior deployment europe world war served station commander 3rd squadron stationed buried arlington national cemetery simple located plot section site lot active flight operations terminated october official date closure field aviation facility determined notes
Townsend F. Dodd