Paul Ward Beck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 1, 1876 Fort McKavett, Texas, US |
| Died | April 4, 1922 (aged 45) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service |  Infantry, United States Army
 Air Service, United States Army |
| Years of service | 1899–1922 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Commands | Commandant, A.S. Observation School, Henry Post Field, Oklahoma |
| Battles / wars | Philippine–American War World War I |
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 aviation services of the U.S. Army, as de facto head of the flying section of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps in 1911 and as a senior officer of the Air Service in 1920–1922. He is generally credited as being the first military officer to advocate an air force for the United States separate from the control of other branches of the Army.
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 in compliance with an 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.
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, 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.