American Airpower Comes of Age

HAP AT MIDPOINT
As was the case with other senior staff officers, this was not
a permanent assignment. Council members were rotated to
other duties, often outside the Pentagon and to combat or
positions of increased responsibility. Changing membership
brought fresh perspective to the Council, and the colonels
were encouraged to think broadly—beyond the minutiae and
limited purview of any specific AAF staff section. They regularly
shared the results of their thinking with the general and
drafted papers for his consideration. On several occasions, a
Council member accompanied Hap on his travels abroad. The
Council’s changing membership included some of the brightest
and most successful colonels of the day. Among the group
at various times during the war were Lauris Norstad, Jacob
Smart, Laurence Kuter, C. P. “Pre” Cabell, and Emmett “Rosie”
O’Donnell, all but one of whom became generals during the
war and advanced to four-star rank in the postwar period. The
exception to wartime advancement had been shot down during
the war and became a prisoner of war after his stint on the
Advisory Council.
Arnold’s disappointment in not getting to combat in France
25 years earlier prompted him to rotate many promising senior
officers (generally of colonel rank and above), as well as
those on the Advisory Council, between Washington staff
assignments and combat commands or duty in overseas theaters.
The major criterion appeared to be Arnold’s assessment
of the officer’s performance in the Pentagon and the anticipated
enhanced utility of the officer elsewhere. If he succeeded
in his new assignment, the vast expansion of the AAF afforded
ample opportunity for increased responsibility as well as promotion.
Among the many examples of rapid advancement during
the course of the war were aviators Elwood R. Quesada,
who progressed from major to lieutenant general; Carl A.
Spaatz, from colonel to four-star general; Ira C. Eaker, from
lieutenant colonel to lieutenant general; George C. Kenney,
from colonel to four-star general; Archie J. Olds, from captain
to brigadier general; Frederick W. Castle, from captain to
colonel in 12 months; and James H. Doolittle, from major to
major general in 12 months. On the other hand, perceived lack
of accomplishment could and did result in relief from an
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