United States Military Figure. He was a pioneer balloonist in the United States Army. Leaving his studies at Brigham Young University, he joined the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on August 13, 1917. An Army clerical error changed his name from "Orvil Orson Anderson" to "Orvil Arson Anderson." He graduated from the Army Balloon School in 1918 becoming a 2nd Lieutenant, ascending through the ranks readily. He became an early pioneer of balloon and airship flight, serving as pilot. He was the navigator in September of 1922 of the Virginia-to-California first trans-continental airship flight made by the nonrigid C-2 Army blimp. Three years later, he commanded the 8th Airship Company. He participated in the Explorer I and Explorer II Stratosphere Balloon Flights sponsored by the National Geographic Society with cooperation from the U. S. Army Air Corps. On July 29, 1934, he and two other officers, Major William E. Kepner and Captain Albert W. Stevens, took the balloon aircraft, Explorer I Gondola, up but after reaching an altitude of 60,613 feet, the balloon ruptured sending the gondola plunging to earth. All three officers parachuted to earth with no harm. On November 11, 1935, he and Stevens set a new altitude record of 72,395 feet inside the Explorer II Gondola. This record stood for 20 years. For these achievements, he received twice the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1935 he and Anderson received the Hubbard Medal awarded by the National Geographic Society. He was twice recipient of the United States Air Force's MacKay Trophy and the recipient of the Harmon Trophy. He attended the Air Corps Tactical School in 1936 to 1937 and the Command and General Staff School in 1937 to 1938. After the Tactical School, he was as­signed briefly to the Air Corps Board at Maxwell Field in August of 1938, where he wrote the first field manual for air-ground operations on which many World War II tactics were based. His next duty was at the Penta­gon in the office of Air War Plans. During World War II, he was assigned to the Air War Plans Division, becoming involved in planning the combined Bomber Offensive against Nazi Germany. He proved to be a brilliant strategic planner and combat leader, as he selected the targets, planned, and di­rected the missions for Op­eration Big Week of Feb­ruary of 1944. These concen­trated bombing strikes were the beginning of the 1,000-plane raids over Germany, which marked the turning point of the air war over Europe. He was promoted to brigadier general September l8, 1942 and to major general February 28, 1944. In 1946 he was the Commandant of the newly created USAF's Air War College at Maxwell Field at Montgomery, Alabama. Anderson was in con­stant demand as a public speaker. As many other military leaders, he was not pleased with the progress of the Korean Conflict. He retired in December of 1950, serving 33 years. After retiring from the military, he returned in 1954 to Maxwell Air Force Base as Executive Director of the Air Force Historical Foundation. He died of lung cancer. Other military honors he received were the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, and numerous medals from France, Belgium, and Great Britain. Anderson Hall, the home of the Air War College, stands as a monument to his achievements.