An Airman's Story: Brigadier General Robin Olds

An Airman's Story: Brigadier General Robin Olds

Brigadier General Robin Olds

Born July 14, 1922 - Died June 14, 2007

Brigadier General Robin Olds was born on July 14, 1922, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His family later moved to Hampton, Virginia, where he attended Hampton High School. There, he served as class president and played on the 1937 state championship varsity football team. After graduating in 1939, he turned down scholarships to both the Virginia Military Institute and Dartmouth College to attend West Point’s Millard Preparatory School.

He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in July 1940, where he also played for the Army football team.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, his education was accelerated so he could attend the Spartan School of Aeronautics. His class graduated early, in June 1943, due to the demands of World War II. Upon earning his pilot wings, Olds completed his flight training at Williams Field, Arizona.

Assigned to the 434th Fighter Squadron, he deployed to Europe, where he flew combat missions supporting the Normandy invasion and participated in aerial battles over Germany and Luxembourg.

After the war, General Olds briefly returned to West Point as an assistant football coach. He also earned second place in the prestigious Thompson Trophy Race and completed a record-setting transcontinental “dawn-to-dusk” flight from March Field, California, to Washington, D.C., and back. Later, he commanded a fighter unit as part of the Royal Air Force Exchange Program.

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, General Olds held several command and administrative assignments, though his passion remained with active air units. In 1963, he graduated from the National War College.

In 1966, General Olds took command of the Eighth Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, leading air combat operations during the Vietnam War. The following year, he was appointed Commander of Cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy, a position he held until 1971. He later served as Director of Aerospace Safety at Norton Air Force Base.

Brigadier General Robin Olds retired from the Air Force in 1973 and settled in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he continued to share his experiences as a writer and lecturer.

He passed away on June 14, 2007, and rests at the U.S. Air Force Academy Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia. 

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