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Which real-life military officer is portrayed in The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell?
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Otto Preminger
Film director Otto Preminger, 1976.
The 1955 film The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, directed by Otto Preminger, portrays the real-life U.S. Army officer William Mitchell.
Mitchell was a prominent advocate for the development of military aviation and the establishment of an independent U.S. Air Force. He became a controversial figure after publicly accusing the War and Navy departments of negligence regarding national defense, which led to his court-martial for insubordination in 1925.12