Augustine Warner Robins was born on September 29, 1882, in Gloucester County, Virginia. A descendant of early settlers in the Virginia colony, he spent his youth in Richmond where he graduated from high school in 1903. Four years later he had his commission from the U.S. Military Academy, with initial assignment to the 12th Cavalry at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Two years later he went to the Philippines for duty at Fort William McKinley with the Military Information Division. On this tour he went to China on mapping chores. Robins came home in 1912 to teach at the Military Academy. In August 1913 he rejoined the 12th Cavalry, at Fort Meade, South Dakota, for a two-year tour. He next served with the Punitive Expedition to Mexico, from March 1916 to September 1917, being on border patrol duty. He transferred to the Air Service in late 1917 and spent World War I at Scott Field, Illinois, and Park Field, Tennessee, where he also learned to fly. Robins got his wings in 1918 and assignment to Indianapolis, Indiana, as District Supervisor of the Northern Air Service. In early 1919 he went to Washington, D.C., for two-and-a-half years with the Air Service’s Supply Division. He suffered serious face injuries in an airplane accident near Washington, D.C., on January 3, 1921, and was confined to Walter Reed Hospital for six months. From 1921 until July 1928 he held key positions at the Air Corps Supply Depot at Fairfield, Ohio, where he devised important procedures for handling supplies peculiar to the Air Corps. He completed the courses at the Air Corps Tactical School at Langley Field, Virginia, and the Observers Course at Kelly Field, Texas. He was assigned to the San Antonio Air Depot, then to Wright Field, Ohio, as Executive to the Chief of the Material Division. He attended both the Army Industrial College and the Army War College. In January 1935 Robins was made Chief of the Material Division, with promotion to brigadier general. He served the next four years, directing the pre-World War II functions of supply, repair, and purchase of equipment. In February 1939 he was sent to Randolph Field, Texas, as Commandant of the Air Corps Training Center as the big prewar buildup began. He died in his quarters at Randolph Field on June 16, 1940.
The base near Macon, Georgia was named Robins Field (later, AFB) in his honor.
Reference:
Dupre, Flint O., Col. USAFR., USAF Biographical Dictionary – Robins, pp. 201-202