General William "Billy" Mitchell {1879-1936} was a pioneering advocate for the importance of airpower. Posted to the Western Front in 1917, he was responsible for training the first American pilots to serve there. He coordinated air strikes by Allied aircraft, leading highly effective bombing runs over enemy forces. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Mitchell continued to lobby strongly for the creation of an independent air force. He received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor posthumously in 1946.