Echols, Oliver P.

Echols, Oliver P.

(1892–1954) aviator; born in Charlottesville, Va. Commissioned in the army in 1916, he was chief of aviation for the U.S. 1st Army Corps in France during World War I. As chief of the Army Air Force's matériel division from 1940–45, he helped build the largest and most powerful air force the world had seen. He retired in 1949 to become chairman and chief operating officer at Northrop Aircraft.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.