Billy Mitchell was Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, commanded all American air combat units in that country. After the war, he was appointed deputy director of the Air Service and began advocating for increased investment in air power, believing that this would prove vital in future wars. He argued particularly for the ability of bombers to sink battleships and organized a series of bombing runs against stationary ships designed to test the idea.

Mitchell as assistant chief of Air Service in non-regulation uniform Born in Nice, France, to John L. Mitchell, a wealthy Wisconsin senator,and his wife Harriet Danforth (Becker), Mitchell grew up on an estate in North Greenfield, Wisconsin, which is now the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. Mitchell's father served in the American Civil War as a first lieutenant in the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment along with future general Arthur MacArthur (the father of General Douglas MacArthur). The elder Mitchell served as a United States senator from 1883 to 1889