Edwin Halstead Brainard (September 6, 1882 – February 27, 1957) was a United States Marine Corps officer who was awarded the Navy Cross during World War I.

During the Champagne Offensive in October 1918, he unhesitatingly moved his battalion forward under heavy artillery fire and directed accurate counterfire at the enemy.

[2] On November 3, Major Brainard constantly exposed himself to enemy artillery fire, increasing the morale of his men and the accuracy of his guns.

[1] In March 1925, Major Brainard was made the Officer in Charge, Aviation for all Marine aircraft, replacing Lieutenant Colonel Thomas C. Turner.

The third mission included air-to-air combat for control of the skies and was called “fighting aviation.”[3] On January 17, 1927, Major Brainard flew from Washington, D.C., to Pensacola, Florida, in 6 hours 45 minutes.

[1] In December of 1927, Major Brainard obtained the Marine Corps’ first cargo plane, a Fokker Trimotor from Atlantic Aircraft, and made the first flight across the Caribbean.

In November 1951, his nephew George Spencer Brainard, who had also become a Naval Aviator, was killed in a crash landing aboard the carrier USS Antietam during the Korean War.