What? How many pins did he have above his right breast pocket? Huh, only 1. In the Navy, you can wear at least 2 warfare pins
From 1909 to 1913, Kepner served in the US Marine Corps, then the Indiana National Guard. After a short spell in the US cavalry, in 1917 he transferred to the infantry as a captain and commanded a company at the Battle of Chateau-Thierry. He subsequently lead the 3rd Battalion of the 4th US Infantry in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
In 1920, at the age of 27, he transferred to the US Army Air Corps and trained as a balloon pilot, then subsequently as an airship pilot.
From 1927 to 1929 he participated very prominently in several US national and international balloon races, most notably winning the prestigious Gordon Bennett Cup with co-pilot William Olmstead Eareckson in June 1928.
In the summer of 1934, Kepner took command of the joint National Geographic Society - US Army Air Corps Stratosphere Flight near Rapid City, South Dakota to make an attempt with the specially constructed balloon Explorer on the manned balloon altitude record.
Prior to leaving for Europe in 1942, Kepner demanded increased fuel capacity in aircraft like the P-38 and P-51. He demanded fuel be put into the wings of the aircraft, only to be told it couldn't be done by Lockheed. When he insisted they comply, complaints by the companies to Material Division (Wright Field) resulted in a threat to have charges laid against him for tampering with aircraft specifications. Fortunately, he was backed by Maj Gen Barney Giles and the modifications went ahead. These later proved critical in enabling the USAAF to introduce fighters with sufficient range to enable escort of bombers on deep penetration missions into Germany.
Anyone wanna bet that Brett Kepner is related to him?
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