General Augustine Warner Robins (September 29, 1882 – June 16, 1940) is often credited as the Father of Logistics in the modern

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, then known as the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

. He was instrumental in the establishment of the first official and workable Air Force supply maintenance and accountability system, and helped establish official guidelines for the training of logistics officers,

NCOs A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, and civilians working for the Air Force. He is the namesake of the city of

Warner Robins, Georgia Warner Robins (typically ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in Houston and Peach counties in the central part of the state. It is currently Georgia's eleventh-largest incorporated city, with an estimated population of 80,308 in th ...

. Robins was born in

Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia Gloucester Courthouse is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2010 census. History The Gloucester County Courthouse Square Historic District, Glouce ...

, in 1882. His parents were Col. William Todd Robins, the commander of the 24th Virginia Cavalry in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and Sally Berkeley Nelson. Robins was named after his grandfather, Augustine Warner (A. W.) Robins. He was at West Point as a cadet from 1903–1907 where he graduated with the Class of 1907 alongside other famous officers like

General of the Air Force General of the Air Force (GAF) is a five-star general officer rank and is the highest possible rank in the United States Air Force. General of the Air Force ranks immediately above a general and is equivalent to General of the Army in the Unit ...

Henry H. Arnold Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...

and Major General

James Lawton Collins James Lawton Collins (December 10, 1882 – June 30, 1963) was a major general of the U.S. Army who served in World War I and World War II, and was the father of Apollo 11 astronaut Maj. Gen. Michael Collins, USAF Reserve (ret.), and Brigadier G ...

. Robins served under General

John Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary ...

's punitive 1916 expedition into

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

against

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

. In 1919, he was sent to the Supply Division of the fledgling Air Service at

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Loca ...

, Ohio, where he spent the next twenty years playing his pivotal role in the development of air-based combat logistics. In 1935, he was promoted to

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, one of four in the Army Air Corps at that time, and was given command of the Materiel Division at Wright Field; for the next four years, he would push for increased funding for research and development, as well as key technologies such as

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

s, the

Norden bombsight The Norden Mk. XV, known as the Norden M series in U.S. Army service, is a bombsight that was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean and t ...

, and the high-octane gasoline that would later power the fighters of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the European and Pacific theaters. In 1939, he was reassigned to the command of the Air Training division in Texas; however, he died from a heart attack in June of the next year. Over a year after his death, the Army Air Corps began to make use of Robins's contributions during its actions in World War II. The Warner Robins Army Air Depot (now the

Warner Robins Air Logistics Center The Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex (WR-ALC), through about 7,000 employees at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, provides depot maintenance, engineering support and software development to major weapon systems -15, C-5, C-130, C-17 and Special ...

, or ''WR-ALC'') at Robins Field, later to become

Robins Air Force Base Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast ...

, Georgia, was named in honor of General Robins, and is also a major depot for Air Force logistics in its own right. 19-29-067-mural

Notes

References

Biography on Augustine Warner Robins
from the

Maxwell Air Force Base Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robins 1882 births 1940 deaths United States Military Academy alumni Air Corps Tactical School alumni United States Army Air Forces generals People from Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia United States Army Air Forces generals of World War II