Robin Olds (July 14, 1922 in Honolulu – June 14, 2007 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado) was an American fighter pilot and general in the US Air Force. He is a flying ace with a total of 17 victories.
Career
Son of a USAAF Major-General, he graduated from West Point Academy in 1943. He scored 13 aerial victories over the Luftwaffe during World War II in a hundred combat missions aboard a P -38 and he is credited with the destruction on the ground of 11.5 other German aircraft from August 14, 1944, the date of his first victory.
During the Vietnam War, he took command of the 8th Fighter Wing between 1966 and 1968 stationed at Ubon Ratchathani Air Base. Upon his arrival, the climate is gloomy, the unit having lost a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II shortly before taking command. He will strongly contribute to raise the morale of his men and to regain the initiative in the USAF, organizing to make a trap which will allow to shoot down 7 MiG 21 without loss, during Operation Bolo, January 2, 1967 .
He shoots down aboard a two-seater McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II 2 MiG-21 and 2 MiG-17 air-to-air missiles over North Vietnam.
After his tour of duty, Olds was promoted to Brigadier General on May 28, 1968, and became commandant of the United States Air Force Academy. In 1972, he made an inspection tour of Thai bases, carrying out several unofficial combat missions. He will request authorization to be demoted to the rank of colonel in exchange for active participation in operations and, faced with the refusal of his superiors, he retires from the USAF on June 1, 1973.
In March 2007, Robin Olds was hospitalized for prostate cancer and died of heart failure on June 14, 2007.