Robert V. Whitlow (November 7, 1918 – July 11, 1997) was an American military officer,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, university

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

, and sports club executive. He served as the first head football coach and athletic director of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

in 1955. Whitlow had a twenty-year career in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, saw combat as both a bomber and fighter pilot. After his military service, he worked for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

baseball franchise as its first "athletic director."

Early life and education

Whitlow was born in

Calwa, California Calwa (formerly, Calwa City) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 1,776 at the 2020 census, down from 2,052 at the 2010 census. Calwa is located south-sou ...

on November 7, 1918, to Victor and Elizabeth (née Drenth) Whitlow.Robert V. Whitlow
, West Point Association of Graduates, retrieved July 25, 2010. He attended Fairfax High School and the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. Whitlow then went on to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, where he earned

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

as a tackle, baseball as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, and basketball.Army-Navy Battle Creates Interest Here; Many Local Grids Perform Busik, Howie Clark Among Top Players in Service Classic
''Los Angeles Times'', p. 23, November 25, 1941. On October 13, 1942, he pitched five innings as the starter against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, and when he was removed from the game, the score was a 2–2 stalemate. He started again on May 27 against

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and helped Army to a 10–3 win, its first of the series since 1914. Whitlow earned his pilot wings as a first class cadet (senior), and was assigned to heavy bombers because of his large stature after graduating in January 1943.

Military service

Whitlow served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and saw aerial combat, initially as a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

pilot with the

458th Bombardment Group 458th may refer to: * 458th Air Expeditionary Group, a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe * 458th Airlift Squadron (458 AS), part of the 375th Airlift Wing at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois * ...

. He later piloted

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

s on reconnaissance missions with the Eighth Air Force Scouting Group. In 1944, ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'' reported on one of his aerial engagements in which he shot down a German

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...

fighter. All told, he logged 550 combat hours over the course of one bomber and three fighter tours, and destroyed eight enemy aircraft. Whitlow received the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and eight

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

s. In the late 1940s, Major Whitlow served as an assistant coach for the Army football team at the

.Mexican Team Wins Silver Bowl Contest
''Reading Eagle'', December 21, 1947. In 1947, while assigned to the Air Staff at the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

, Whitlow was selected for an officer exchange with the Mexican military academy, El Colegio Militar de Mexico. His duties there included coaching the Mexican cadets in football. Whitlow guided a Mexican team to victory against an American team from

Randolph Air Force Base Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United ...

, which included

Doc Blanchard Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (December 11, 1924 – April 19, 2009) was an American football player and serviceman who became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award, and was the first football player to win the James E ...

and Arnold Tucker, in a December game he organized in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

called the "Silver Bowl". He was awarded the Mérito Militar de Mexico.

Air Force Academy

In 1955, Whitlow was appointed the head football coach and athletic director at the newly created

.77 Airmen Report For Grid Duty
''The Tuscaloosa News'', September 8, 1955. He served in that role for one season, and was replaced by Lawrence "Buck" Shaw. After the 1956 Air Force football team went 6–2–1, athletic director Whitlow turned down a bid offered for the

Junior Rose Bowl The Pasadena Bowl, known as the Junior Rose Bowl or Little Rose Bowl from 1946 to 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, was a college football bowl game. Between 1946 and 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, the game pitted the California Junior College fo ...

. He wired the bowl organizers to inform them that the superintendent, Major General James Briggs, had "disapproved participation of heAir Force Academy football team in post-season competition" after consulting with

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. In 1957, his three-year tour of duty ended, and he was reassigned within the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. In the 1960s, he held assignments in Germany and France. Whitlow was then assigned to Air Defense Sector, Montana and qualified on the

F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a penetration fighte ...

fighter.

Later life

Whitlow retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1963 at the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, and was appointed as "athletic director" of the

baseball club. The position was created as part of the

College of Coaches The College of Coaches was an unorthodox baseball organizational practice employed by the National League's Chicago Cubs in and . After the Cubs finished 60–94 in , their 14th straight NL second-division finish, Cubs owner P. K. Wrigley annou ...

experiment, and outranked general manager John Holland. The unique arrangement was widely ridiculed by people associated with the franchise. One of his contributions was the installation of weight training equipment in the team's clubhouse, an uncommon practice at the time. Less well-received was his construction of a batter's background screen which doubled the height of the barrier and was derided as "Whitlow's wall". Whitlow remained with the organization for two years. In the 1980s, Whitlow was the president of the "Arizona Firebirds", a group of investors that sought to bring a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

expansion franchise to Phoenix. In 1984, commenting on widespread speculation that the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

would relocate to Arizona, Whitlow said, "Until they're actually here, I won't accept it ... I'm really very surprised that anything is this close, especially because they don't have their own place to play. This doesn't seem very wise from the Eagles' point of view." Whitlow also owned the Phoenix Roadrunners minor league hockey team.Founders see a hot future with pecan-shell briquets
''Arizona Daily Star'', August 17, 1994. Whitlow died on July 11, 1997, at his summer home in Harbor Point, Michigan.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlow, Robert V 1918 births 1997 deaths Air Force Falcons athletic directors Air Force Falcons football coaches Army Black Knights football coaches Army Black Knights football players Chicago Cubs executives Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Silver Star United States Air Force officers United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Military Academy alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Players of American football from Fresno County, California