Arnold Braswell passed away on March 15, 2022 in Potomac Falls, Virginia. He was born on October 3, 1925 in Minden, Louisiana, to Claiborne Braswell and Marguerite Walter.

Arnold attended LSU for two years before entering West Point in 1944, where he had the distinction of being elected First Cadet Captain by his peer cadets in his senior year. He and his wife Ione grew up together in Minden, and were married immediately upon his graduation in June of 1948, the same year that Arnold was commissioned in the newly formed United States Air Force.

After a year of flight training in San Antonio, Texas, he received his fighter pilot "wings" and, with Ione and a baby son, reported to Otis AFB on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1951, he deployed to Korea where he flew 155 combat missions in F-84 and F-86 jets in the Korean War. Upon returning from Korea, Arnold spent three years as a flight instructor at Luke AFB in Phoenix, Arizona. After that tour of duty – and a new baby daughter – he was assigned to Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado. There, he commanded one of the four cadet squadrons in the very first class of the U.S. Air Force Academy at Lowry AFB, pending the construction of the campus in Colorado Springs. A three-year NATO tour in Europe followed:  a year and a half at Étain, France, and then a year and a half at Spangdahlem, Germany. As a squadron commander, Arnold flew F-100s.

Arnold and family returned from Europe for a year at the Air Force Command and Staff College in Montgomery, Alabama, after which he reported for duty on the Air Staff at the Pentagon. This was followed by attendance at the National War College. In 1968 he shipped out to Vietnam as Director of Plans for the 7th Air Force, followed by Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, another Pentagon tour, and his first star. A second star in 1973 accompanied his assignment as  commander of U.S. Air Force units in Turkey. The mid-seventies were spent at SHAPE in Belgium, and then back to Washington, D.C. and a third star as Director of Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff.

In 1978, he took command of the Ninth Air Force at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. In 1981, he became Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Air Forces at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

Upon retirement in 1983, the couple returned east to McLean, Virginia. Arnold began a ten-year second career as President of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), where he was instrumental in passing legislation establishing national efficiency standards for the industry's products. This included a stint on the Board of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), where he was instrumental in the industry's successful replacement of the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) with coolant gases that were safer for the environment. He retired in Mclean in 1994 and he and Ione moved to Falcons Landing in 2009.

Arnold loved to hunt, fish and play tennis. After his final retirement, he and Ione spent most summers in Victoria, British Columbia with daughter Sally, where he enjoyed salmon fishing and playing tennis at the Oak Bay Tennis Club.

Arnold was renowned for his beautiful speaking and singing voice.  After retirement he was actively involved in the Mount Olivet United Methodist Church choir and later in the Falcons Landing chapel choir. He delighted residents at Falcons Landing performing many solos, including a lead in South Pacific.

Arnold had a long and distinguished career; he loved his country and served it honorably. Above all, he was devoted to his family. He is survived by Ione, his wife of 73 years; son, Jefferson (Machiko) Braswell; daughter, Sally (Eric) Murphy; three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and sister Judianne Myers. He was preceded in death by his parents and by his younger brothers, Lloyd and Donald.

Many thanks to the staff at the Johnson Center and Inova Loudon Hospital for their care of Arnold at the end of his life.

Burial for Arnold will be at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors on Thursday July 21, 2022.  There will first be a service at the Old Post Chapel at 11am, followed by the burial.  There is a strict security check in order to attend a funeral at Arlington, which takes time to process. Please see instructions for Attending a Funeral at Arlington National Cemetery https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Funerals/Attending-a-Funeral