Background
He was born in Washington, Connecticut, the son of Henry Foulois, a plumber, and Sarah Augusta Williams. After eleven years in public schools, he became an apprentice in his father's shop.
(The collected memoirs of Major General Benjamin D. Fouloi...)
The collected memoirs of Major General Benjamin D. Foulois. Foulois was one of the earliest Army Air Corp pilots. Col. C.V. Glines has organized General Foulois' memoirs along with selected photo's. Foulois piloted the Army's first Wright flyer. The book has an interesting photo of the General with Gus Grisson and Alan Sheppard Americas first two astronauts.
https://www.amazon.com/Wright-brothers-astronauts-memoirs-Benjamin/dp/B0006BUGYS?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0006BUGYS
He was born in Washington, Connecticut, the son of Henry Foulois, a plumber, and Sarah Augusta Williams. After eleven years in public schools, he became an apprentice in his father's shop.
In 1908, while attending the Signal Corps School at Fort Leavenworth, Kans. , Foulois became interested in aeronautics and wrote a graduation thesis entitled "The Tactical and Strategical Value of Dirigible Balloons and Aerodynamical Flying Machines. "
With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he ran away from home and, using his older brother's birth certificate, enlisted in the First United States Volunteer Engineers in July 1898.
Foulois enjoyed military life. Discharged as a sergeant in January 1899, he joined the regular army the following June. His combat leadership during campaigns in the Philippines led to a field commission as second lieutenant of infantry in February 1901.
Ordered to Washington, D. C. , for aviation duty, he gained practical experience as the pilot of the army's first dirigible balloon. His initial flight, Foulois recalled, "sent a surge of joy through my whole body that defied description. " This marked the beginning of a lifetime commitment to aviation.
In January 1910, with less than one hour of instruction, he was given command of Military Aeroplane No. 1 and ordered to San Antonio, Tex.
He was the only army officer on flying status for the next fourteen months, and he learned to operate the Wright biplane by trial and error and through correspondence with the Wright brothers.
Foulois served two years of compulsory ground duty and then returned to aviation and organized the army's first tactical air unit. Between March and August 1916 he commanded the First Aero Squadron in operations in Mexico, where his airmen flew reconnaissance and liaison missions for General John J. Pershing during the fruitless pursuit of Pancho Villa.
Foulois was assigned to Washington, D. C. , in March 1917, shortly before the United States entered World War I. Over the next six months, he was responsible for drawing up and implementing plans for the rapid expansion of the air arm. Foulois considered this work--which laid the foundation for the postwar Air Service--his most significant contribution to military aviation.
In November 1917, Foulois went to France as a temporary brigadier general to serve as chief of the air arm of the American Expeditionary Force.
He immediately clashed with Colonel William ("Billy") Mitchell, who had been in charge of American aviation in France since April 1917 and who viewed Foulois as an interloper. The dispute between the two aviators finally led Pershing in May 1918 to appoint Mason M. Patrick, a nonflyer, as chief of the air arm. Foulois became Patrick's deputy, while Mitchell took charge of combat operations.
Both Foulois and Mitchell emerged from the war as air-power enthusiasts; however, Foulois tried to work through regular army channels, whereas Mitchell became the master of flamboyant gestures. Foulois served in Europe from 1920 to 1924, chiefly as assistant military attache in Berlin.
Foulois commanded Mitchel Field, New York, from 1925 to 1927 and was then promoted to assistant chief of the Air Corps. In 1931 he gained public recognition during the annual Air Corps maneuvers when he led a provisional air division of 670 aircraft in a test of mobility.
The exercise proved a perfect forum for his talents.
Foulois came under criticism in 1934 when the Air Corps attempted to fly the mail after President Franklin D. Roosevelt canceled the Post Office's contracts with commercial airlines. Foulois had assured Roosevelt that the Air Corps could do the job, but a number of fatal accidents raised serious questions about its ability to operate in bad weather.
Although Foulois later claimed that the episode had a positive result in that it led to increased appropriations, he was not so sanguine at the time. Foulois also faced a congressional committee that accused him of violating the law by favoring negotiated contracts over competitive bidding in aircraft procurement.
He argued that he had followed established--and sensible--procedures. An inquiry by the inspector general cleared him of legal improprieties but acknowledged that he had made misleading statements to the committee.
Foulois left his position at the end of 1935 with a bitterness that did not abate with time. The "little general, " as he was known because of his slight stature (he was five feet, five inches tall), lived quietly in retirement.
In 1961, following his wife's death, he moved to the visiting officers' quarters at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. He enjoyed his role as "last of the first" and spoke frequently on the early history of aviation and on air power.
He died at Andrews Air Force Base.
(The collected memoirs of Major General Benjamin D. Fouloi...)
book
Supporting the idea that strategic bombing could achieve decisive results in a war, he consolidated all tactical units into an offensive striking force and, despite severe budgetary limitations, pushed for development of long-range bombers. By 1935 he had won approval for a strategic role for air power and had introduced into service the powerful B-17.
Quotations: "I have no quarrel about Mitchell's championing the need for air power before the American public, " Foulois pointed out. "It was his methods and lack of judgment about what he said that I deplored. "
A member of the Aeronautical Board that evaluated the first airplane accepted by the army, Foulois concluded that the future lay with airplanes rather than with balloons.
Quotes from others about the person
As John F. Shiner has noted, "A 'doer' rather than a great thinker, he performed best when dealing with the real and tangible. "
His marriage to Ella Van Horn ended in divorce in 1921, and he married Elisabeth Shepperd-Grant on April 28, 1923. There were no children by either marriage.