Robin Olds was born on July 14, 1922 in Hawaii to a military family. His father was Army Air Corps Captain (later Major General) Robert Olds, who served in France during World War I and after the war became an aide to Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, a pioneer in strategic bombing. Robin Olds graduated from U.S. Military Academy, West Point. 2nd / Lt Olds completed fighter training on the P-38 Lightning with the 329th Fighter Group in August 1943. On December 1, 1943 he was promoted to the rank of 1st / Lt and in early 1944 he was assigned to the 479th FG. The unit arrived in Europe in May 1944 and launched combat operations from the Wattisham base with its P-38J Lightning just before the invasion of the continent.
Capt Olds achieved his first victory on August 14, 1944. In mid-September 1944, the 479th FG rearmed to a new type of P-51 Mustang. By the end of the war, Robin Olds had completed 107 operational flights and achieved a total of 13 aerial victories (5 of them on the P-38) and another 11 aircraft destroyed on the ground.
In February 1946, Robin Olds was assigned to the 412th FG based at March Field in California. The unit was equipped with P-80 Shooting Star jets. Robin became a co-founder of the first USAAF acrobatic team flying on jets. In October 1948, Robin Olds went on a one-year exchange program to England, where he flew Gloster Meteor aircraft with No.1 Squadron RAF in Tangmere. In April 1953, Robin Olds was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
On September 8, 1963, Olds was appointed commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, which was based with its McDonnell F-101 Voodoo at RAF Bentwaters in England. The 81st TFW was the main combat unit of the United States Air Forces Europe, which was to provide NATO air support by both conventional and nuclear bombing.
However, Robin Olds gained the greatest fame during his tenure as commander of the 8th TFW at Ubon base in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Col Olds made the last operational flight over North Vietnam on September 23, 1967. During 152 operational sorties in Southeast Asia (105 of them over North Vietnam), he officially achieved 4 victories (2 x MiG-17 and 2x MiG-21). Robin Olds named all his planes SCAT (supplemented by a Roman numeral). It was a promise Robin made to his West Point roommate Lawton "Scat" Davis, who had been dropped from pilot training due to color blindness.
The special character of this exceptional pilot is also evidenced by the following incident, which occurred after the return of Robin Olds from the Vietnam War. In December 1967, Olds became a commandant of cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. At one of the first social events, there was an unpleasant, robust lady among the guests, who harassed everyone present with her stories from wildlife hunting in Africa. Sensing Robin's bored bemusement, she asked him with venomous sarcasm, "You DO shoot, don't you?" Robin ended the conversation with, " Only people, ma'am, only people."

Text: ing. Pavel Türk