Colonel William C. Bentley Jr. was a member of the small elite group of U.S. Army Air Corps officers who formed the genesis for the development of what we now know as the U.S. Air Force. He was not only rated as a Command Pilot and was a test pilot on the B-17, but he was a doctrinal visionary in airlanding tactics and serving as an advocate for servicemembers higher education. Colonel Bentley commanded the Paratroop Task Force during Operation Torch; the longest and first airborne mission in American military history. He was the first graduate of the University of Maryland's off campus degree completion program.