Robert Michael White began his military career in World War II. White joined the 354th Fighter Squadron of the 355th Fighter Group (Eighth Air Force) in England in July, 1944. Following the end of World War 2, he returned to the United States and enrolled as a student at New York University, where he received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1951. He was in the reserves and was recalled to active duty in May 1951. He first served as a pilot and engineering officer with the 514th Troop Carrier Wing at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York. From a system engineer's job at the Rome Air Development Center in New York, he soon traveled to California to attend the Air Force's Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. Capt. White graduated with Class 54C in January 1955, and stayed on at Edwards as a working test pilot, flying and evaluating advanced models of the F-86K Sabre, F-89H Scorpion, the new F-102 Delta Dart and the F-105B Thunderchief. He became the deputy chief of the Flight Test Operations Division, and somewhat later was named assistant chief of the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch.
White was designated the Air Force's primary pilot for the X-15 program in 1958. While the new plane was undergoing its initial tests, he attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., graduating in 1959. He then made his first X-15 flight April 15, 1960, when the new aircraft was still fitted with only two small, 16,000 lb (71 kN) total thrust, interim rocket engines. Four months later, still using the temporary engines, he took the experimental craft to an altitude of 136,000 feet (41.5 km) above Rogers Dry Lake bed.
After the craft's 57,000 lbf (254 kN) thrust YLR-99 engine was installed, he flew it to a speed of 2,275 mph in February 1961, setting an unofficial world speed record. Over the next eight months, he became the first human to fly an aircraft at Mach 4 and then at Mach 5. This amazing rise climaxed on Nov. 9, when White reached a speed of 4,093 mph. This was 93 mph more than the plane was designed to achieve and made White the first human to fly a winged craft six times faster than the speed of sound. Following this he took the X-15 to a record-setting altitude of 314,750 feet July 17, 1962, more than 59 miles above the earth's surface. Flying at this altitude also qualified him for astronaut wings, and he became the first of the tiny handful of "Winged Astronauts" to achieve that coveted status without using a conventional spacecraft.
In October 1963, he returned to the site of some of his wartime exploits in Germany, this time as operations officer for the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing at Bitburg. Next, he achieved what most Air Force pilots consider to be the peak of a military career: command of an operational fighter squadron. He remained in command of the 53d Tactical Fighter Squadron until he returned to the United States in August 1965. Then it was time to return to the classroom, this time to the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, where he graduated in 1966. That same year, he received a master of science degree in business administration from The George Washington University. An assignment to the Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) followed, as chief of the Tactical Systems Office, F-111 Systems Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Then, for the third time in his career, war intervened. In May 1967, he went to Southeast Asia as deputy commander for Operations of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. The wing was flying F-105 Thunderchief tactical bombers, and during his assignment he flew 70 combat missions over North Vietnam. In October he was transferred to Seventh Air Force Headquarters at Tan Son Nhut Airfield, Republic of Vietnam, where he served as chief of the Attack Division in the Directorate of Combat Operations.
Then it was time to return to the world of research and development, and in June 1968, he went back to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and AFSC, this time as director of the Aeronautical Systems Division's F-15 Systems Program Office. Now a full colonel, he was responsible for managing the development and production planning of the new F-15 Eagle weapons system, the air-superiority fighter which would enter the Air Force inventory in the mid-1970s and see the nation into the 21st Century.
White's next assignment brought him back to Edwards Air Force Base. Designated a selectee for the rank of brigadier general, the 46-year-old officer assumed command of the Air Force Flight Test Center July 31, 1970. A wide range of responsibilities came with this position: overseeing the research and developmental flight testing of both manned and unmanned aircraft and aerospace vehicles, and ensuring the continued operation of the Air Force Test Pilot School, to say nothing of the supervision of the Air Force's second-largest base and several thousand military and civilian personnel. A number of important testing programs were already underway: Category II testing of the A-7D close air support plane, numerous system evaluations of the F-111 and FB-111A tactical bomber, and combined Category I-II testing of the immense C-5A Galaxy transport. During White's command, evaluation began of a number of other aircraft vital to the Air Force in years to come: The F-15 Air Superiority Fighter, the A-X ground attack aircraft (eventually to become the A-10 of Gulf War fame), and the revolutionary E-3A Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft. In addition to his other duties during his tenure, White completed the Naval Test Parachutist course and was awarded his parachutist's wings in October 1971.
White served at the Flight Test Center until Oct. 17, 1972. The following month, he assumed the duties of Commandant, Air Force Reserve Officer's Training Corps. In February 1975, he won his second star and in March became Chief of Staff of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force.
Robert M. White retired from active duty with the Air Force as a major general, in February 1981.