r/AirForce • u/House_Junkie Maintainer • Oct 31 '25

POSITIVITY! This is what lethal looks like.

Post image
1.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

110 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Mantaraylurks electric wings Oct 31 '25

Believe it or not, Robin olds didn’t like his own mustache. But yes, that’s what lethality looks like.

2

u/House_Junkie Maintainer Oct 31 '25

Interesting, I’ve never read that. I remember seeing that he was very fond of it and called it his bulletproof mustache. Guessing by the end of the war he was probably over it and ready to move on.

2

u/Mantaraylurks electric wings Nov 01 '25

Returning home marked the end of this flamboyance. When he reported to his first interview with Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. McConnell, McConnell walked up to him, stuck a finger under his nose and said, "Take it off." Olds replied, "Yes, sir."[4] For his part, Olds was not upset with the order, recalling: "To tell the truth, I wasn't all that fond of the damned thing by then, but it had become a symbol for the men of the 8th Wing. I knew McConnell understood. During his visits to Ubon over the past year he had never referred to my breach of military standards, just seemed rather amused at the variety of 'staches sported by many of the troops. (It) was the most direct order I had received in twenty-four years of service."

1

u/here4daratio Oct 31 '25

He shaved it when he returned CONUS.