I have not seen this posted in this forum, and I thought readers here would be interested in knowing that Brigadier General (Retired) Robin Olds passed away on June 14th, 2007.

BG Olds was probably best known for the period when he commanded the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (the “Wolf Pack”) during the Vietnam War. The command team there, with General (Retired) Chappie James, Jr. (Feb 11, 1920 - Feb 25, 1978) serving as Deputy Commander, was known as “Black Man and Robin.”

BG Olds was a “triple ace” with 16 kills combined from combat operations during World War II (P-38J and P-51D) and the Vietnam War (F-4C). BG Olds missed combat operations during the Korean War while serving as Commander of the 71st Fighter Squadron of the USAF’s Air Defense Command (ADC), based at Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Pennsylvania.

All of the aircraft assigned to BG Olds were named SCAT (the original SCAT was a P-38J, and SCAT XXVII, a F-4C, is displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio). Olds also flew F-86s and F-101s

BG Olds’ awards and decorations include: Air Force Cross; Air Force Distinguished Service Medal; Silver Star, three oak leaf clusters; Legion of Merit; Distinguished Flying Cross (with five oak leaf clusters); Air Medal (with 39 oak leaf clusters); Air Force Commendation Medal; American Defense Service Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom); Croix de Guerre with Palm (France); Vietnam Air Force Distinguished Service Order; Vietnam Air Force Meritorious Service Medal; Vietnam Air Gallantry Medal with Gold Wings; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

BG Olds was recently a contributing commentator for the “The History Channel” television series “Dog Fights”, and one episode (titled “Air Ambush”) was dedicated to BG Olds’ exploits during OPERATION BOLO, an operation he conceived and led while serving as the 8th TFW’s Commander.

RIP to one of the best of the best...he will be missed, I was just watching him in an interview he filmed not too long ago for "Dogfights" on the history channel a couples day ago

A whole generation of greats is leaving us. I was just reading one of my old books on the Viet Nam air war and was wondering what has become of Robin Olds. Thank you for the update