As a University of Illinois graduate with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, he joined the Coast Artillery Corps and shortly thereafter became an aviator in the US Army Air Service.

Dodd sat on many boards of review during the service's infancy and was one of the members who condemned pusher planes in favor of tractors.

In June Dodd, along with his squadron, transferred to the San Diego Signal Corps Aviation School (now known as Rockwell Field).

Dodd, along with Captain Benjamin Foulois and Lieutenants Walter R. Taliaferro, Carleton G. Chapman, and Joseph E. Carberry, condemned not just the Wright C but all "pusher" aircraft as unsafe on 16 February 1914, and those remaining in the Army inventory were ordered to be immediately grounded.

Following a promotion to captain, Dodd and his observer, Lieutenant S. W. Fitzgerald, won the third annual contest for the Mackay aviation trophy when he descended at North Island after a trip of three hours and three minutes.

[3] The contest for the Mackay Trophy involved serial reconnaissance of troops maneuvering in the vicinity of San Diego and reports of their numbers and disposition.

Accidents eliminated all machines but theirs and the trophy would not have been awarded that year if Fitzgerald had not provided a comprehensive and accurate report of the composition and location of the troops.

[3] On 12 March 1916, Dodd was appointed as a pilot to the 1st Aero Squadron, under General John Pershing's 8th Brigade, which was positioned on the Mexican border.

[a 8] While serving under Pershing, Dodd gained experience and was appointed to a staff position as the Aviation Officer within the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), when it was raised for overseas service during World War I.

Before sailing to France, on 27 May 1917, Dodd sent his assistant, Lt. Birdseye B. Lewis, to New York with instructions to round-up qualified candidates for the aviation staff.

Among the applicants was auto race car driver, Edward V. Rickenbacker, who was promptly enlisted as a sergeant first class, chauffeur.

To do so he spent several days in London where he spoke to the US Military Attaché, Colonel William Lassiter, and various British officials.

[a 8] The Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces was formally created on 3 September 1917 when General Order 31 was published, and remained in being until demobilized in 1919.

[a 8] Dodd, Bolling, and Mitchell resented their being replaced by non-aviators and after leaving the theater of operations all continued to further the Air Service in their own ways.

Colonel Dodd organized the Aviation Training School at Issoudun and successfully conducted the negotiations for the first purchase of aeroplanes from allied governments for the use of the American Expeditionary Forces.

The crash occurred on 5 October 1919 at Bustleton Field, Philadelphia, during the New York to San Francisco transcontinental air race.

[5] Active flight operations were terminated in October 1931, although the official date of closure of Dodd Field as an aviation facility has not been determined.