Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Harold Geiger (October 7, 1884 – May 17, 1927) was US military aviator number 6, who was killed in an airplane crash in 1927. He was also a balloonist.

Spokane International Airport Spokane International Airport is a commercial airport located approximately west-southwest of downtown Spokane, Washington, United States. It is the primary airport serving the Inland Northwest, which consists of 30 counties and includes areas ...

is designated with the

International Air Transport Association airport code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a three-character alphanumeric geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the I ...

GEG in his memory.

Biography

He was born on October 7, 1884, in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

, to Frederick C. Geiger and Josephine Dodd Squier. He attended

East Orange High School East Orange High School was a comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from 1891 to 2002 in East Orange, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. For most of its existence, the school ...

. Geiger was a cadet at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

June 16, 1904 to February 14, 1908, when he was graduated as an

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an Corps#Administrative corps, administrative corps responsible for coastal defence and fortification, coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft Seacoast defense in the United States, defense of the United S ...

. He was promoted to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

November 8, 1908. As a lieutenant, Geiger commanded the aviation assets of the

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

in the Hawaiian Islands. The first Army airplanes, pilots and crews arrived in

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

in July 1913. The planes were based at

Fort Kamehameha Fort Kamehameha was a United States Army military base that was the site of several coastal artillery batteries to defend Pearl Harbor starting in 1907 in Honolulu, Hawaii. History The eastern areas of the fort were in the district called Moanalua ...

, near present-day

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

. Lieutenant Geiger arrived in Oahu with two

Curtiss Aeroplane Company Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

s, a mechanic, 12 enlisted men, and other equipment. However, Geiger's aircraft were in poor shape. His flights were limited to short flights in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

and a longer flight to

Diamond Head, Hawaii Diamond Head is a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and known to Hawaiians as Lēahi (). The Hawaiian name is most likely derived from ''lae'' (browridge, promontory) plus ''ahi'' (tuna) because the shape of the ridgeline resem ...

, and back to Fort Kamehameha. Geiger was ordered to cease all flying operations in late 1913 because the

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

were too strong. The airplanes were sold locally, and the engines were sent back to the North Island Flying School. The Hawaiian Islands would not see any more Army aviation activity until 1917.

Balloons and dirigibles

Geiger completed courses at the U.S. Army Balloon School in April 1917, and later during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

served overseas with the Army's Balloon Section Headquarters in France as a lieutenant colonel. He completed dirigible studies in France and Italy. He was attached later to the Ambassador's staff in Berlin. While in Germany, Major Geiger sent reports to the Chief of the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

on the construction of the dirigible USS ''Los Angeles'', and repeatedly urged that the craft, which was later taken over by the Navy, be purchased by the Army. He was on the ''Los Angeles'' on its transatlantic flight. Geiger also commanded the Army Balloon School at Ross Field, Arcadia, California. By 1927, Geiger was commandant of Phillips Air Field at Aberdeen, Maryland. On May 10, 1926, Major Geiger was slightly injured in a mid-air collision between two airplanes at

Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perform ...

, near Hampton, Virginia. While attending the

Air Corps Tactical School The Air Corps Tactical School, also known as ACTS and "the Tactical School", was a military professional development school for officers of the United States Army Air Service and United States Army Air Corps, the first such school in the world. C ...

at Langley Field, his airplane and another flown by fellow student

Horace Meek Hickam Horace Meek Hickam (August 14, 1885 – November 5, 1934) was a pioneer airpower advocate and an officer in the United States Army Air Corps. Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, is named in his honor. Background The son of a lawyer, Hickam was born ...

hit each other and crashed.

Death

On May 17, 1927, Geiger died in the crash of an

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Air ...

he was piloting as he was taking off for a flight to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. A newspaper article reported six mechanics and officers at the Middleton Air Station, at

Olmsted Field Harrisburg Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania. It is located west-southwest of Middletown, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard facility is sited ...

, Pennsylvania as saying that Geiger's airplane dove into the ground from a height of . Geiger managed to jump out just as the airplane struck the ground and burst into flames. He made desperate efforts to get clear of the wreckage and, according to the onlookers, half crawled and ran as far as the tail of the machine before he was overcome. There he dropped and the flames prevented the watchers from getting near enough to rescue him. Major Geiger was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Legacy

In 1941, the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

purchased the area then known as Sunset Field from

Spokane County, Washington Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest cit ...

, as a

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 ...

training facility for future pilots of the

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 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 ...

and the

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

. Following the acquisition, it renamed the facility Geiger Field in honor of Major Geiger. In 1946, a portion of the airfield was designated a municipal airport, and commercial airline operations were moved from

Felts Field Felts Field is a public airport in the northwest United States, located northeast of downtown Spokane, in Spokane County, Washington. It is owned by Spokane City-County. The airport has two parallel runways. Now used for general aviation, Felt ...

to Geiger Field. In 1960, the facility was renamed

, but its

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

code remains GEG in honor of Geiger.

Gallery

File:Lieutenant Harold E. Geiger war games 1912.jpg, Geiger in 1912 File:Aviators 1911 College Park.jpg, Geiger in 1911 File:Lieutenant Harold C. Geiger 1911 crop.png, Geiger in 1911

References

External links

Biography by Clifford A. Presley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Harold C. 1884 births 1927 deaths United States Military Academy alumni Aviators from New Jersey East Orange High School alumni People from East Orange, New Jersey Air Corps Tactical School alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Aviation accidents and incidents in Ohio Aviators from Hawaii Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1927 Military personnel from New Jersey