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Robert Lee Scott Jr.
Robert Lee Scott Jr. (12 Apr. 1908 - 27 Feb. 2006) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force and author of about a dozen military books.
Born in Waynesboro, near Augu...view moreRobert Lee Scott Jr. (12 Apr. 1908 - 27 Feb. 2006) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force and author of about a dozen military books.
Born in Waynesboro, near Augusta, GA, upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1932, completed pilot training at Kelly Field, TX.
He joined Task Force Aquila in February 1942 to fly a group of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers to the China Burma India Theater. He became executive and operations officer of the Assam-Burma-China (Ferry) Command, forerunner of the famous Air Transport Command.
He began flying missions with the Flying Tigers, piloting a P-40 as a single ship escort for the transports and on ground attack missions. In July 1942 he was named commander of the 23rd Fighter Group. Colonel Scott flew 388 combat missions in 925 hours from July 1942 - October 1943, shooting down 13 Japanese aircraft to become one of America’s earliest flying aces of the war.
He was ordered back to the U.S. to become deputy for operations at the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base, FL. He returned to China in 1944 to fly fighter aircraft and then Okinawa to direct similar strikes against enemy shipping as WWII ended.
He returned to the U.S. for staff duty in Washington, D.C. and other stations until 1947, when he was given command of the Jet Fighter School at Williams Air Force Base, AZ. In 1951, he was reassigned to West Germany as commander of the 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base.
He graduated from the National War College in 1954 and became Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans at HQ U.S. Air Force, and then Director of Information under the Secretary of the Air Force. In 1956, he was assigned to Luke Air Force Base, AZ, as base commander.
He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general in 1957 and remained in Arizona until the 1980s. He then lived in Warner Robins, GA, until his death in 2006.view less