Archie J. Old Jr.

Archie J. Old Jr. (August 1, 1906 – March 24, 1984) was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.

Early life
Old was born in Farmersville, Texas, on August 1, 1906.

Military career


Old flew 43 combat missions against Germany. On October 14, 1943, Old led the second raid on the Schweinfurt ball-bearing factories in the Fertile Myrtle III. Of 291 B-17s that reached the target, 60 were downed by flak or enemy fighters, for a loss rate of 20 percent. On June 21, 1944, Old led the second shuttle bombing run to Russia. The B-17 that Col. Old was in for the first Schweinfurt mission aborted, so Col. Curtis Lemay and BGen. Robert Williams led the first Schweinfurt raid on 17 August; Col. Old and Maj. Thomas F. Kenny led the second Schweinfurt raid on 14 October 1943. On June 21, 1944, Col. Old led the second Shuttle Mission to Russia.

In July 1948 he was named commander of the Atlantic Division of the Military Air Transport Service.

In 1951 Old got two of SAC's important overseas jobs of commanding the 7th Air Division in England and the 5th Air Division in French Morocco. Old retired September 1, 1965. He died March 24, 1984, at the base hospital at March Air Force Base.

Military awards

 * Distinguished Service Cross ribbon.svg   Distinguished Service Cross
 * Air Force Distinguished Service ribbon.svg   Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
 * Silver Star BAR.svg   Silver Star with oak leaf cluster
 * Legion of Merit ribbon.svg  Legion of Merit
 * Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon.svg  Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters
 * Purple Heart ribbon.svg  Purple Heart
 * Air Medal ribbon.svg   Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters

Foreign decorations

 * French Legion of Honor
 * Belgian Croix de guerre with Palm
 * Russian Order of Suvorov
 * French Croix de Guerre with Palm
 * British Distinguished Flying Cross
 * French Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite

Television appearance
Old appeared, playing himself, in "Massacre", a 1966 episode of the television show Twelve O'Clock High.