18. There was another Colonel Arnold involved in the Bug program
Besides Colonel Hap Arnold, who commanded the US Army Air Corps during World War II, there was another Colonel Arnold in the Bug program, Lt. Col. Bion Arnold. Bion Arnold was an engineer with a career building urban transit systems when the Army called him to duty in World War One. Arnold specialized in the electrification of urban and interurban railways, and was experienced working with both contractors and government bureaucracies, which he brought with him to the Bug project. His role in the development phase was what in later times be considered a program manager, and he was actively involved with developers, manufacturers, and the Army as an eventual customer.
Following the November Armistice, Arnold asked for quick release from the Army, eager to return to his lucrative career. The Army accommodated him in December, 1918. With Arnold gone, and with Kettering no longer particularly interested in the Bug as a potentially profitable pursuit, the program all but collapsed. A dozen or so Bugs remained, and there were parts scavenged from failed flights which were usable. A decision was made within the Army’s hierarchy to use the remaining Bugs for test flights, since they had been bought and paid for with taxpayer money. A remote location was considered ideal, keeping the project secret.