Archie J. Old Jr.

Old was born in Farmersville, Texas, on August 1, 1906.^[2]

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.^[3][4] 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.^[5]

In July 1948 he was named commander of the Atlantic Division of the Military Air Transport Service.^[2]

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.^[2] Old retired September 1, 1965. He died March 24, 1984, at the base hospital at March Air Force Base.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

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.^[13]

•    Distinguished Service Cross
•    Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
•    Silver Star with oak leaf cluster
•    Legion of Merit
•    Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters
•    Purple Heart
•    Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters

• French Legion of Honor
• Belgian Croix de guerre with Palm
• Soviet Order of Suvorov Second Class^[14]
• French Croix de Guerre with Palm
• British Distinguished Flying Cross
• French Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite

Old appeared, playing himself, in "Massacre", a 1966 episode of the television show Twelve O'Clock High.^[15]

• Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts, H. W. Wilson Company, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8242-0958-3
•  This article incorporates public domain material from Biographies: Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from Lieutenant General Archie J. Old Jr. United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-24.