Early Life and Military Career
Jack Ridley was born in Garvin, Oklahoma, not long after the aeroplane had made its first hesitant appearance on the world's stage. At that time, the warring powers in Europe were still uncertain about the role which their awkward flying machines would play on the field of war. Even that early, however, the U.S. Army was deep in plans to set up its own aeronautical engineering laboratory at McCook Field at Dayton, Ohio, and by 1918 it had begun systematic research and development of the fledgling weapon of war. Ridley was destined to leave an indelible mark on the newly emerging science of aeronautical testing.
Jack graduated from a high school in Sulphur, Oklahoma in 1935. Following high school, he entered the ROTC program at the University of Oklahoma where he received his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1939. The world into which he graduated was in turmoil. By the summer of 1941, the Battle of Britain had been fought and the United States was desperately building up its long-neglected armed forces to prepare for the world conflict which many thought was inevitable. In July of that year, the young engineer received a commission in the U.S. Army field artillery and began a military career, which would continue for the rest of his life. The science of flight soon attracted him, however, and it was not long before he transferred to the Army Air Forces. Lieutenant Ridley was sent to the Flying Training School at Kelly Army Air Base in Texas, where he earned his pilot wings in May 1942.
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