MITCHELL, Billy (1879-1936).  One of the most accurate military
 prophets of the 20th century, Gen. Billy Mitchell predicted as early
 as 1921 that air supremacy would win the next war.  In 1925 he was
 court-martialed for insubordination.  But World War II confirmed
 Mitchell's theories on air power. In 1942, six years after his death,
 Congress voted to restore his name to the Army rolls with the rank
 of major general.
     William Mitchell was born on Dec. 29, 1879, in Nice, France.
 When he was 3 years old his parents returned to their family home
 near Milwaukee, Wis. His father, John Mitchell, later became a United
 States senator.
     When the United States declared war on Spain, Mitchell enlisted
 in the Army as a private. He quickly advanced to the rank of second
 lieutenant in the Signal Corps. Mitchell became interested in flying
 when he witnessed Orville and Wilbur Wright's first demonstration of
 a military plane at Fort Myer, Va., in 1908. Six years later Orville
 Wright taught Mitchell to fly. In 1917, during World War I, Mitchell
 organized and later was given command of the United States Air Force
 in France.  At that time the Air Force was a branch of the Signal
 Corps. Mitchell was made a brigadier general.
     Following the armistice, Mitchell became assistant chief of the
 Air Service. In 1921 he proved that bombers could sink even the
 largest naval vessels of the time. He constantly criticized the
 military high command for not developing American air power. As a
 result he was reduced to the rank of colonel. When a Navy dirigible
 was lost in 1925, Mitchell charged high officers with "criminal
 negligence." His court-martial for insubordination followed. Rather
 than accept a five-year suspension from the Army, Mitchell resigned.
 As a private citizen he continued his appeal for adequate air power.
 He died in New York City on Feb. 19, 1936.
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 Excerpted from Comptons Interactive Encyclopedia
 Copyright - 1993, 1994 Comptons NewMedia, Inc.
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