“Earthquake” Titus wasn’t afraid to make waves.

Even though the swells might have cost Brig. Gen. Robert F. Titus a few stars, says author Bill Scott. Titus retired from the Air Force in 1977 with one star, but Scott suspects he probably could have gotten at least two more if he hadn’t argued with bureaucrats and senior officers about putting a 20-mm cannon in every F-15, a fighter plane he flew during his career.

“He knew what he was talking about. One MiG (enemy aircraft) he shot down was with a gun,” said Scott, a Springs resident. “I asked him do you think that fight for the gun cost you some stars? He smiled and said probably, but every Air Force fighter since then has had a gun in it.”

Scott, a former Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and author of six previous books, spent the second half of last year interviewing 97-year-old Titus, a Springs resident since 1976. “Earthquake,” named after Titus’ call sign, was released in March. It’s available online at amazon.com and through North Slope Publications at northslopepublications.com.

During a Heritage Moment in April, Titus and Scott were on hand as more than 1,000 copies of the book were given to graduating Air Force Academy cadets.

“Titus spoke to them and the theme was duty, commitment to mission and leadership by example,” Scott said. “That’s pretty much the theme of the book.”

Titus was lured into the military by an Air Force recruiter who dangled the opportunity to be a pilot in front of him.

“It was the joy of flying,” Titus said. “That’s why you wanted to be in fighters. Fighters can do a lot of things other aircraft can’t do.”

He kicked off his long career at 18 as a Army paratrooper in WWII, though the war ended before he could put that particular training to work. From there he wound up in the Air Force, flying more than 100 missions in the Korean War.

When the Vietnam War came along, Titus wasn’t afraid to express his opinion. He didn’t think the U.S. should get involved, but his sense of duty compelled him to follow orders. He went over as a squadron commander of Skoshi Tigers and after flying more than 350 combat missions he was moved to a base at Da Nang in Vietnam and made squad commander of the F-4 Phantom. During the war, he shot down three MiG-21s.

“I enjoyed it. I was there to protect the strike of force,” Titus said. “When I had the opportunity to destroy the enemy, I took satisfaction in it. I didn’t feel sorry for guys I just killed. I accepted that’s war. He was there to kill us and he lost. It was nothing personal. It not like when you’re eyeball to eyeball with someone on the ground. That’s what PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is about — people dealing with the destruction of other human bodies. Your own life on the line. That’s the toughest part of warfare.”

As a test pilot in the ’50s, Titus tested Air Force Century-series fighters, including the rocket-boosted zero launch F-100. Post-Vietnam, he was put in charge of the F-15 program, which evolved the aircraft into the F-15 Eagle. It was the fighter plane that cost him some stars, even though the plane has shot down 70 enemy aircraft over its lifetime and has never been shot down or lost an engagement.

“Titus is the father of the F-15 Eagle,” Scott said. “He irritated some senior folks along the way that limited his career, but he’s a good example of how you get things done in spite of the barriers set in front of you.”

After he retired, Titus got involved with AFA cadets, sponsoring a few of them and becoming involved with the football team.

He convinced many of them to do pilot training, including Chad Hennings, an AFA graduate who played on the football team. He eventually flew A-10s in Iraq before leaving the military and playing for the Dallas Cowboys where he won three Super Bowl rings.

“He (Titus) was passing along great values to them,” Scott said.

“He was inspirational even after he retired. He’s affected a lot of people.”

Contact the writer: 636-0270