Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell Directed

¶ … Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell directed by Otto Preminger. Specifically it will discuss what I thought of the video and if it enhanced my understanding of the topic. "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" is a film about a famous World War I aviator, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. This film, set in the 1920s, shows the court-martial trial of Billy Mitchell, a man with an outstanding war record in World War I. Convinced the airplane is one of the best pieces of military defense for the future, he attempts to convince the military to create an Air Force. When they fail to see his point, Mitchell disobeys orders and drops a bomb that sinks a ship, something the military leaders thought was impossible. Because he disobeyed the order not to drop the bomb, he is demoted to the rank of Colonel and sent to a remote military base in Texas. He basically accuses his superiors of treason, and then in Texas he sees two plane crashes by planes that were not equipped properly, and he speaks out against his superiors, accusing them of incompetence and criminal negligence. He does this at a public press conference, which leads to his court-martial., but puts the problem of outmoded and non-maintained equipment out in the open. Mitchell is devastatingly honest throughout the film, and he gained pubic support that helped him during the trial, but did not lead to his acquittal. In fact, he is found guilty and suspended from the Army for five years, but he still remains loyal to the Army.

This film had many of the anti-war qualities of "Paths of Glory," and again showcased poor leadership at the top. One of the most interesting aspects of this film is that Mitchell had so many predictions and that so many of them came true. He predicted that aerial warfare would become a primary way to fight wars that aerial attacks would occur, like the one on Pearl Harbor, and that the military should start a school just for aviators, like the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It is clear Billy Mitchell was a forward thinker, and he had a great military mind, and what he got for it was a court-martial. Some of the best military leaders of the time ignored him, and that is a pretty sad statement about our country's military. Mitchell was a war hero, but he was a real hero too, because of the way he stood up to the military and made matters public.

This film is based on the true story of Billy Mitchell, and it is well acted and very dramatic at times. I found myself hoping that he would be found innocent, but cynical enough to believe in the power of the military leaders. Again, this film finds fault with the people at the top, and it shows just how poorly run the military really is. Of course, this took place in the 1920s and 1930s, but there is no reason it could not (and does not) happen today. One very real example is the body armor and truck armor issue in Iraq that came to light after the war started. The military was not armoring Humvees, and it was not issuing body armor to the soldiers, so many of them had to buy it on their own. The public outcry led to increased armoring, but it is still so like Mitchell's situation that it is frightening, because clearly the military and its operations have not improved in decades.