United States Army general
The climax of Mitchell’s campaign came in September 1925, when the loss of the navy dirigible Shenandoah in a storm inspired him to publicly accuse the War and Navy departments of “incompetency, criminal negligence, and almost treasonable administration of the national defense.” He was, as he expected, immediately court-martialed, and, after he made the trial a platform for his views, he was convicted in December of insubordination. Sentenced to suspension from rank and pay for five years, he resigned from the army on Feb. 1, 1926, and retired to a farm near Middleburg, Va.
Among Mitchell’s published works were Our Air Force: The Keystone of National Defense (1921), Winged Defense (1925), and Skyways: A Book on Modern Aeronautics (1930).