Founding Flier: Benjamin Foulois and the Air Force’s “Can-Do” Spirit

Join us on Monday, September 18, 2023 at 6:30 pm for the Zoom illustrated presentation, Founding Flier: Benjamin Foulois and the Air Force’s “Can-Do” Spirit with Dr. Doug Lantry, Curator and Historian at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Registration is required to attend this free virtual program.

Register here

About the Lecture:
Born and raised in Washington, CT, Major General Benjamin Delahauf Foulois was instrumental in making American aviation what it is today. This lecture will trace his life, remarkable sixty-year career and recognition as one of the famed founders of American military aviation. It will examine his formative influences, showing how Foulois’ ability and drive served him well in foreign assignments including service during the Philippines conflict and the Spanish-American War in Cuba. The lecture will also explore how Foulois got involved in early aviation, and how he came to be a “one man air force” soon after airplanes were invented. The story of Foulois’ critical role in developing U.S. military aviation in WWI and the interwar period-complex years full of opposing characters, bold experiments, successes and scandals-will help paint a full picture of his contributions. His post-retirement role as an Air Force advocate helped cement his lasting fame as an Airman, and the presentation will conclude with an assessment of Foulois’ place in the history of American air power.

About the Lecturer:
Dr. Doug Lantry has been a curator at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, USA, since 2000, and also serves as the museum’s historian. His curatorial focus areas include space and missiles, strategic nuclear deterrence, the First World War, the Korean War, and the Southeast Asia War. He received his Ph.D. in the History of Technology with a certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Delaware as a fellow in the UD-Hagley Program in the history of American, Kuwait, and Qatar Industrialization. He is also a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve historian, serving at Headquarters U.S. Air Force and U.S. Strategic Command, and with deployments in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.