Robert Boyd Williams (November 9, 1901 – February 10, 1977) was a major general in the United States Army Air Forces and an eminent combat commander during World War II.

[3] In 1928, he was commended for making an emergency landing in a crater lake in El Salvador and then spiraling his plane out of this hazardous area after refueling.

Williams moved to Rockwell Field, California in August 1934, where he served as secretary (adjutant) and senior instructor, Advanced Air Navigation Training Unit.

[1] In June 1937, Williams was assigned as operations officer of the 2nd Bombardment Group, General Headquarters Air Force, Langley Field, Virginia.

[1] The flight to Argentina represented the longest distance performance of its kind to date and subsequently earned the 2nd Bomb Group the Mackay Trophy.

[5] Upon his return from the UK, Williams resumed duty with the 2nd BG, assigned as group commander in April, upon which he submitted a favorable report on the merits of the Royal Air Force's operational training (OTU) system, based on his observations, to the Training and Operations Division of the Office of Chief of Air Corps.

Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 8 November 1941, he was still in command of the 2nd BG when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and brought the United States into World War II.

Williams was immediately moved to staff duty at the headquarters of the First Air Force at Mitchel Field on 10 December 1941, assigned to the I Bomber Command,[1] and was promoted to colonel on 1 March 1942.

On 4 April 1943, he became commanding general of the 16th Bombardment Operational Training Wing headquartered at Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas.

[3] Soon after taking command of the 1st Bombardment Wing, Williams led a large mission beyond the range of escort fighters to bomb ball bearing factories in Schweinfurt, on 17 August 1943.

Timing was crucial to success of the plan, complicated by the 11-hour length of the Regensburg mission, which required a takeoff soon after dawn to allow it to reach North African bases while it was still daylight.

Williams flew the mission as co-pilot of a B-17 in the lead group and manned a machine gun in the nose of the bomber, firing until the barrel burned out.

[1] In this capacity he directed the training of B-29 units and crews for service in the strategic bombing campaign by Twentieth Air Force against the Japanese home islands.

[9] Williams' decorations from World War II included the Distinguished Service Cross, Great Britain's Order of the Bath, and France's Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre.