"Hap" Arnold.(Arnold, Henry H.)

Gen Henry H. "Hap" Arnold is an icon rising above all others in the development of American airpower. Although in his 42-year career he never took part in aerial combat himself, Arnold presided over the expansion of the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) from an underequipped, second-rate organization to the largest and most powerful air arm in the world.

Born in 1886 in Pennsylvania, Arnold graduated from West Point in 1907 as an infantry officer. He acquired the nickname "Hap" (for "happy") from his contemporaries because he always looked like he was smiling. Arnold managed a transfer to the aeronautical division of the Signal Corps in 1911 and learned to fly at the Wright …