Is it Colonel Mitchell? Brigadier General Mitchell? Or, Major General Mitchell? He was all three ranks at various times in his career and not necessarily in the order that we’re all used to. In order to understand why he was first a Colonel, then a Brigadier General, back to Colonel, back to Brigadier General and finally Major General, you must look back at this visionary leader to understand why his rank fluctuated the way it did. William “Billy” Mitchell, by many historians, is regarded as the father of the U.S. Air Force (Ott, 2006). The mere definition and qualities of a visionary leader as described by Travis Turner in his article of “Qualities of a Visionary Leader” include openness, imagination, persistence, and conviction. From the student lesson plan, a sub-competency of Strategic Thinking is vision. Vision requires the ability to take a long term view and build a shared vision that clearly defines and expresses a future state. It requires the ability to demonstrate innovative and creative insights/solutions and for anticipating potential threats, barriers and opportunities while encouraging risk-taking. Billy Mitchell had all of these qualities when he went up against the Army and…show more content… It takes a tremendous amount of conviction to stand up for something that you believe in. I most likely would have given up at some point. One issue late in my career, I had to choose between making ethical and unethical decisions. As a Course Chief, I was essentially caught between my instructors and the Flight Superintendent. He was not, in my opinion, a good Senior Master Sergeant and he and I got into some heated discussions about what my instructors were or were not doing. On several occasions I would go against what he wanted to do and would back my instructors because they were the ones with the students. I had to make some unethical decisions in order to get the mission