Editing Jimmy Doolittle (section)

==Postwar==
===Doolittle Board===
[[File:JimmyDoolittleAutographed.jpg|thumb|right|Personalized photo of then-Major General Jimmy Doolittle]]
Secretary of War [[Robert P. Patterson]] asked Doolittle on March 27, 1946, to head a commission on the relationships between officers and enlisted men in the Army called the "Doolittle Board" or the "GI Gripes Board". The Army implemented many of the board's recommendations in the postwar volunteer Army,<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Jerold E.|title=Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2001|page=154}}</ref> though many professional officers and noncommissioned officers thought that the Board "destroyed the discipline of the Army".<ref>{{cite book|last=Zellers|first=Larry|title=In Enemy Hands: A Prisoner in North Korea|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|date=1999|page=105}}</ref> Columnist [[Hanson Baldwin]] said that the Doolittle Board "caused severe damage to service effectiveness by recommendations intended to 'democratize' the Army—a concept that is self-contradictory".<ref>{{cite book|last=Bogle|first=Lori L.|title=The Pentagon's Battle for the American Mind: The Early Cold War|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|date=2004|page=51}}</ref>

===U.S. space program===
Doolittle became acquainted with the field of [[space science]] in its infancy. He wrote in his autobiography, "I became interested in [[rocket]] development in the 1930s when I met [[Robert H. Goddard]], who laid the foundation [in the US]. ... While with Shell [Oil] I worked with him on the development of a type of [rocket] fuel. ... "<ref name="Doolittle">{{cite book |last1=Doolittle|first1=James H.|last2=Glines|first2=Carroll V.|title=I Could Never Be So Lucky Again: An Autobiography|date=1991|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0553078077|page=515}}</ref> [[Harry Guggenheim]], whose foundation sponsored Goddard's work, and [[Charles Lindbergh]], who encouraged Goddard's efforts, arranged for (then Major) Doolittle to discuss with Goddard a special blend of gasoline. Doolittle piloted himself to Roswell, New Mexico in October 1938 and was given a tour of Goddard's workshop and a "short course" in rocketry and space travel. He then wrote a memo, including a rather detailed description of Goddard's rocket. In closing he said, "interplanetary transportation is probably a dream of the very distant future, but with the moon only a quarter of a million miles away—who knows!"<ref name="Papers">{{cite book|last1=Goddard|first1=Esther and G. Edward Pendray|title=The Papers of Robert H. Goddard, 3 vols.|date=1970|publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Co.|location=New York|pages=1208–1216}}</ref> In July 1941 he wrote Goddard that he was still interested in rocket propulsion research. The Army, however, was interested only in [[JATO]] at this point. Doolittle was concerned about the state of rocketry in the US and remained in touch with Goddard.<ref name="Papers"/>{{rp|1443}}

Shortly after World War II, Doolittle spoke to an [[American Rocket Society]] conference at which a large number interested in rocketry attended. The topic was Robert Goddard's work. He later stated that at that time "... we [the aeronautics field in the US] had not given much credence to the tremendous potential of rocketry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/space/i-was-there-the-tremendous-potential-of-rocketry-18946468/?page=1|last1=Putnam|first1=William D.|first2=Eugene M.|last2=Emme |author-link2=Eugene M. Emme |title=I Was There: 'The Tremendous Potential of Rocketry' |newspaper=Smithsonian Magazine|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=September 2012|access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref>

In 1956, Doolittle was appointed chairman of the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA) because the previous chairman, [[Jerome C. Hunsaker]], thought Doolittle to be more sympathetic to the rocket, which was increasing in importance as a scientific tool as well as a weapon.<ref name="Doolittle"/>{{rp|516}} The NACA Special Committee on Space Technology was organized in January 1958 and chaired by [[Guy Stever]] to determine the requirements of a national space program and what additions were needed to NACA technology. Doolittle, Dr. [[Hugh Dryden]] and Stever selected committee members including Dr. [[Wernher von Braun]] from the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]], Sam Hoffman of [[Rocketdyne]], Abe Hyatt of the [[Office of Naval Research]] and Colonel Norman Appold from the USAF missile program, considering their potential contributions to US space programs and ability to educate NACA people in space science.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bilstein|first1=Roger E.|title=Stages to Saturn|date=1980|publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville|page=34}}</ref>

===Reserve status===
On 5 January 1946, Doolittle reverted to inactive reserve status in the Army Air Forces in the grade of lieutenant general, a rarity in those days when reserve officers were usually limited to the rank of major general or rear admiral, a restriction that would not end in the US armed forces until the 21st century. He retired from the United States Army on 10 May 1946. On 18 September 1947, his reserve commission as a general officer was transferred to the newly established [[United States Air Force]]. Doolittle returned to Shell Oil as a vice president, and later as a director.

In the summer of 1946, Doolittle went to [[Stockholm]] where he consulted about the "[[ghost rockets]]" that had been observed over [[Scandinavia]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Operation Trojan Horse |year=1996 |isbn=978-0962653469 |page=122 |first=John |last=Keel |publisher=IllumiNet Press |url=http://galaksija.com/literatura/jk_oth.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420102608/http://galaksija.com/literatura/jk_oth.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2013 |author-link=John Keel}}</ref>

In 1947, Doolittle became the first president of the [[Air Force Association]], an organization which he helped create.

In 1948, Doolittle advocated the desegregation of the US military. He wrote, "I am convinced that the solution to the situation is to forget that they are colored." Industry was in the process of integrating, Doolittle said, "and it is going to be forced on the military. You are merely postponing the inevitable and you might as well take it gracefully."<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1998/July%201998/0798color.aspx |title=When the Color Line Ended |first=Herman S. |last=Wolk |year=1998 |journal=Air Force Magazine |volume=81 |issue=7}}</ref>

In March 1951, Doolittle was appointed a special assistant to the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]], serving as a civilian in scientific matters which led to Air Force ballistic missile and space programs. In 1952, following a string of three air crashes in two months at [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], the President of the United States, [[Harry S. Truman]], appointed him to lead a presidential commission examining the safety of urban airports.<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Preston |editor-first=Edmund |title=FAA Historical Chronology: Civil Aviation and the Federal Government, 1926–1996 |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37596/dot_37596_DS1.pdf |access-date=5 October 2020 |website=Repository and Open Science Access Portal; National Transportation Library; United States Department of Transportation |publisher=United States Federal Aviation Administration |quote=20 February 1952: President Truman established a temporary Airport Commission under the chairmanship of James H. Doolittle, with CAA Administrator C.F. Horne and J.C. Hunsaker of NACA as members. The action responded to a series of crashes, due to varied causes, in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. These events had raised residents’ fears and prompted authorities to close Newark Airport temporarily. |page=[https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37596/dot_37596_DS1.pdf#page=55 55]-56}}</ref> The report "Airports and Their Neighbors" led to zoning requirements for buildings near approaches, early noise control requirements, and initial work on "super airports" with {{convert|10,000|foot|adj=on}} runways, suited to 150 ton aircraft.

Doolittle was appointed a life member of the [[MIT Corporation]], the university's board of trustees, an uncommon permanent appointment, and served as an MIT Corporation Member for 40 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/corporation/membership/pastmembers.html |title=Members of the MIT Corporation |website=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]}}</ref>

In 1954, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] asked Doolittle to perform a study of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]; the resulting work was known as the [[Doolittle Report, 1954]], and was classified for a number of years.

From 1957 to 1958, he was [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics#NACA chairmen|chairman]] of the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA). This period was during the events of [[Sputnik I|Sputnik]], [[Vanguard 1|Vanguard]] and [[Explorer I|Explorer]]. He was the last person to hold this position, as the NACA was superseded by [[NASA]]. Doolittle was asked to serve as the first NASA administrator, but he turned it down.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Putnam |first1=William D. |first2=Eugene M. |last2=Emme |author2-link=Eugene M. Emme |title=I Was There: 'The Tremendous Potential of Rocketry' |journal=Air & Space Magazine |date=September 2012 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space/i-was-there-the-tremendous-potential-of-rocketry-18946468/ |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref>

Doolittle retired from [[Air Force Reserve]] duty on February 28, 1959. He remained active in other capacities, including chairman of the board of [[TRW Inc.|TRW]] Space Technology Laboratories.  ''Doolittle Drive'' at TRW's [[Space Park]] was named in his honor.