JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Frank Maxwell Andrews had to fight to be a flyer, but when he was at the controls, his peers recognized him as a born leader.
The story of how a boy from Tennessee rose to be the first head of a modern Army Air Corps isn't often heard, but on the 70th anniversary of his death, his contributions to the Air Force are celebrated.
Born on Feb. 3, 1884, service and diplomacy were instilled into Andrews by his grandfather, a cavalry soldier who fought in the Civil War, and his mother, who schooled him on manners and discipline.
Andrews was described as an eloquent speaker and an attentive listener. These skills worked well for him at Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy, where he graduated in 1901, and then the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating 1902.
During his early career, Andrews envisioned a flying cavalry that could protect the men in the trenches. In 1914, the Army Signal Corps was using aircraft for reconnaissance, but Andrews saw aircraft as a means to take out enemy balloons (they were used as command posts) and to even drop munitions on enemy trenches, like during the Siege of Venice in 1848.
It wasn't too long before Andrews' vision became a reality. With American entry into World War I, Andrews finally got his wings, but never got the chance to serve in France. Instead, he became a training administrator before becoming the first air officer assigned to the Army General Staff in Washington. After the war, he succeeded Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell as Air Officer of the Army of Occupation in Germany.
Andrews was the first commandant of the advanced flying school at Kelly Field, Texas, when Mitchell was court-martialed for insubordination in 1925. Mitchell had told the media that Army and Navy leaders had shown an "almost treasonable administration of national defense" for their neglect of the flying forces.
In 1931, Andrews was the new Chief of the Army Air Corps and won a powerful supporter who had also once supported Mitchell: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
In 1935, MacArthur and his naval counterpart, Adm. William Pratt, negotiated a series of military aviation roles, including the role that all coastal air defense would be fulfilled by the Army. That March, MacArthur established a centralized air command, General Headquarters Air Force (GHQ-AF) with Andrews in command.
Andrews won recognition for the Air Corps by recruiting not just talent but technology for the flying forces, but gained few allies in his fight. His advocacy of strategic bombing almost derailed his career; When Westover died in September 1938, Andrews was passed over for the position of Chief of the Air Corps.
Undaunted, Andrew became a trusted mentor to Brig. Gen. George C. Marshall, the new deputy Chief of Staff of the Army. With President Franklin Roosevelt calling for an expansion of the Air Corps in November 1938, Andrews hoped to finally succeed in separating Air power from the Army.
It was Marshall who single-handedly stepped in and saved not just Andrews' career, but the future of the Army Air Corps. In 1939, under Marshall's guidance, Andrews was named the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, responsible for preparing America's army for World War II.
When the nation was brought into World War II in December 1941, Andrews was one of the most well-traveled and well-respected generals in the military. In January 1943, he was appointed commander of all U.S. military forces in the European Theater of Operations, replacing Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
But on May 3, 1943, a promising career was cut short when the B-24D Liberator carrying Lt. Gen. Andrews crashed near Kaladarnes, Iceland. Andrews and 13 others died in the crash. News of Andrews' passing stunned the U.S. military leadership because so much of the Combined Bomber Offensive was dependent upon his knowledge of strengths and weaknesses in the battle plan.
It was in honor of the vision and service of Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell Andrews as well as his dedication to the spirit of an independent Air Force that Camp Springs Army Air Field was renamed Andrews Field on Feb. 7, 1945. The Andrews name continues to this day in remembrance.