2. Billy Mitchell

General William “Billy” Mitchell is known as the “Father of the Air Force.”

He was a turn-of-the-20th-century pilot who advocated for a separate, independent Air Force. He argued that airpower would be a revolution in modern warfare, but was dismissed as a radical by his peers.

Mitchell became an Army aviator at a time when he was considered too old to go through pilot training.

He paid for lessons himself and led more than 1,400 planes against the Germans during the World War I Battle of St. Mihiel.

His experience flying planes in combat led to his idea of a separate Air Force, even demonstrating the power of airplanes against naval battleships. When he criticized the War Department for incompetence and negligence, he was sensationally court-martialed.

He resigned his commission instead of accepting a humiliating sentence.