History Of The Arnold Air Society
 

    Arnold Air Society is a professional, honorary, service organization advocating the support of aerospace power.  AAS is formally affiliated with AFROTC and the Air Force Association.  It is a national extracurricular organization available to Air Force ROTC and Academy cadets.
    In 1947, at an AFROTC summer camp, a group of cadets from the University of Cincinnati discussed the possibility of an honorary society.  After taking their idea to members of their cadre, a committee of cadets was formed to write a constitution and to choose a name for their newly founded society.  The name they chose was the "Arnold Society of Air Cadets," in honor of General Henry H. Arnold.
    High morals, physical fitness, and positive mental attitude formed the foundation of the Society.  These characteristics were the basis for the Society's efforts to mold young cadets into future Air Force leaders.
    The United States Air Force officially recognized the Society in April of 1948, and the Air Defense Command sent copies of the Society's constitution to all colleges and universities throughout the nation in hopes of forming similar organizations.  Within the next year, twenty new squadrons were formed.
    National Conclaves were one of the many new ideas that came about in the early 1950's.  The first NATCON was held at the University of Cincinnati in 1950.  This conclave was convened to determine the policies of the Society.  Mrs. Eleanor Arnold was chosen to be the Honorary Commander following the death of General Arnold.  This same year, the organization became officially known as the "Arnold Air Society."
    During the second NATCON, the Society became affiliated with the Fir Force Association.  At the fourth and fifth NATCONs, a reconstruction of the organizational structure of the Society was proposed.  This resulted in the formation of the Executive Board, consisting of AAS national and area leadership.  At following conclaves, more awards and policies were initiated, such as the formation of Angel Flight in 1952.
 

General John Kenneth Cannon
9 March 1892 - 12 January 1955
 

    General John Kenneth Cannon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on 9 March 1892.  He was educated at what was then Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University), and graduated with a bachelor's degree.  He entered military service in 1917 and was commissioned as an officer that same year.  "Uncle Joe," as he was affectionately known, served throughout the world in numerous flying and administrative capacities.  During World War I he won the Distinguished Service Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.
    Generals Nathan F. Twining, the Chief of the Air Force, Hoyt Vandenburg, and Curtis E. LeMay, Commanding general of the Strategic Air Command, were among the hundreds of top military pilots who received their training from "Uncle Joe."
    Prior to World War II, General Cannon, a rated Command Pilot and Command Observer, served as Chief of a military mission to Argentina from June 1938 to October 1941 with the American Army abroad.  For a short time he was Chief of Staff, First Air Force, Mitchell Field.  He then took over as Commanding General of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Forces, a post he held until 1945.
    During World War II, "Uncle Joe" won fame as a Commander of the United States Twelfth Air Force and all of the Allied Air Forces in the European and Mediterranean Theaters during invasion of the French Morocco, North Africa, Sicily, and Southern Italy.
    General Cannon was outstanding as a tactical airman.  He devised "Operation Strangle" which severed Nazi rail transportation to Italy in preparation for the push on Rome.  During this period, he spent much of his time behind the controls of the Air Force's latest and fastest aircraft.  In the assault on Sicily and Italy, he flew frequent missions and once ditched a P-51 Mustang in the Mediterranean Sea.  After recovering from injuries sustained, he was soon back in the air with another Mustang.
    In 1945, General Cannon became Commander in Chief of the United States Air Forces in Europe.  One year later he returned to the United States to head Air Training Command, and then again assume command of the United States Air Forces in Europe in 1948.  He remained there until 1951, when he was recalled to Washington to assume command of the United States Tactical Command.  He attained his four-star rank in October of 1951.  During World War II he earned numerous honors and metals, both from this country and from others including Great Britain, Greece, France, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Yugoslavia, China, and Brazil.
    The famed strategist retired from military service in March 1954 after 37 years of active duty.  In April 1954, he joined Fletcher Aviation Cooperation as Chairman of the Board of Directors, where his fatherly advice was warmly felt.
    General Cannon died in Arcadia, California on 12 January 1955 and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.
 

General of the Air Force
Henry "Hap" Arnold
25 June 1886 - 15 January 1950
 

    During forty-one years of active duty service in the U.S. Army and Air Force, General Arnold Compiled a record unparalleled in military history. Universally acknowledged as the father of the modern American Air Force, he took charge of the Army Air Corps in 1938, when it was a small collection of 20,000 men and a few hundred less-than-battleworthy planes.
    By 1944, under the whip of his compelling, relentless vigor, the Air Corps had grown into an organization of 2.4 million men and women and eighty thousand aircraft.  Never before or since, has a military machine of such size and complexity been created in so short a period.  At the height of World War II, General Arnold commanded the largest Air Force the world has ever seen, consisting of 2,400,000 man and 75,000 aircraft.
    People who knew General Arnold were not surprised that he died virtually penniless - money had little attraction for him - airplanes were his sole obsessions.  The Wright Brothers had taught him to fly in 1911, and he was the holder of the second U.S. Army's Pilot's License.  He spent more than half his life fighting for the development of air power and air transportation.
    Many times throughout General Arnold's active years, it seemed unlikely that he would ever complete an Air Corps career - let alone play such a pivotal role in the development of modern air power.  However, this air power advocate and visionary had the conviction and determination to keep fighting for the Air Force that he dreamed of.  His dream came true on September 18, 1947 when the Air Force became a separate branch of the armed services.  Today, the U.S. Air Force continues the tradition of excellence that was set by it's "father," and the spirit of "Hap" Arnold is kept alive through the many community and corps service projects of the Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings.