Barney McKinney Giles (September 13, 1892[3] – May 6, 1984) was an American military officer who helped develop strategic bombing theory and practice.

Giles stepped outside established bomber doctrine during World War II to develop long-range capabilities for fighter aircraft[4] in use by the United States Army Air Forces.

[1] He and his identical twin, Benjamin Franklin Giles, both attended East Texas Normal College and taught school for three years.

Other officers in the graduating class included strategic bombing advocates Haywood S. Hansell, Muir S. Fairchild, Vernon M. Guymon, Laurence S. Kuter, Lawson H. M. Sanderson and Hoyt S.

[8] In May, Giles went to Guam to join Major General Curtis LeMay in planning the strategy of bombing industrial and petroleum targets in Japan.

[9] In June, Giles backed Admiral Charles A. Lockwood's plan to hold airman-submariner conferences with the goal of improving air-sea rescue operations.

[10] Giles was appointed deputy commander of United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific under General Carl Andrew Spaatz on July 5, 1945.

[6] Giles's twin brother Benjamin also served at high level in the Army Air Forces and retired from the military in September 1946 at the rank of major general.

[1] Further awards include the Mexican Medal of Military Merit, the Honoris Causa from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Order of the Cloud and Banner presented by President Chiang Kai-shek of China.

Subsequently, he worked for ten years with Swiss American Aviation Corporation, later known as Learjet, helping to develop the automatic pilot and other instrumentation.