Archie J. Old Jr.

Template:Short description Template:Template other Archie J. Old Jr. (August 1, 1906 – March 24, 1984) was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.

Early life

Old was born in Farmersville, Texas, on August 1, 1906.

Military career

File:Sac hist 005 x.jpg

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. 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.

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

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. Old retired September 1, 1965. He died March 24, 1984, at the base hospital at March Air Force Base.

Other achievements

File:Sac hist 008 x.jpg

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.

Military awards

• File:Distinguished Service Cross ribbon.svg    Distinguished Service Cross
• File:Air Force Distinguished Service ribbon.svg    Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
• File:Silver Star BAR.svg    Silver Star with oak leaf cluster
• File:Legion of Merit ribbon.svg   Legion of Merit
• File:Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon.svg   Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters
• File:Purple Heart ribbon.svg   Purple Heart
• File:Air Medal ribbon.svg    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
• 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.

References

• Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts, H. W. Wilson Company, New York 2000, Template:ISBN
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