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Paul W. Beck Military person

Paul Ward Beck (1 December 1876 – 4 April 1922) was an officer in the United States Army, an aviation pioneer, and one of the first military pilots. Although a career Infantry officer, Beck twice was part of the first air services of the U.S. Army, first as de facto head of the flying section of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps in 1911, then as a senior officer of the Air Service in 1920-1922. He is generally credited as being the first military officer to advocate a separate air arm.The son of a cavalry officer, Beck developed an interest in aviation while detached to service with the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Benicia, California, in 1908-1910, attending several air meets. He was one of four students in the first class of U.S. Army and U.S. Navy pilot trainees taught by Glen Curtiss beginning January 1911, and commanded the "provisional aero company" at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. On 1 May 1912, he returned to the Infantry as required by army regulation.Following service as a field grade infantry officer in World War I, Beck returned to aviation as part of the Air Service in 1920. He was assigned as commandant of the Air Service Observation School and assistant post commander of Post Field at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There he was killed by a gunshot to the head during an evening with friends. The shooting was a disputed mystery, with friends, colleagues, the County Attorney and an Army investigating board suspecting that Beck was murdered for being caught in flagrante delicto with the wife of a friend following an evening of drinking, possibly with premeditation by an already-suspicious husband. However the shooter, a well-known former judge on the Oklahoma Supreme Court, contended that the shooting was an accident during an act of self-defense after Beck had allegedly tried to sexually assault the shooter's wife in their home. The judge was exonerated by a coroner's jury of wrongdoing in the shooting.

Personal facts

Birth date	December 01, 1876
Birth place	Fort McKavett State Historic Site , United States
Date of death	April 04, 1922
Place of death	Oklahoma City , United States

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