Thomas DeWitt Milling (July 31, 1887 – November 26, 1960) was a pioneer of military aviation and a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was the first rated pilot in the history of the United States Air Force.

He received his flight training from the Wright Brothers and was awarded Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) pilot certificate No. 30 on July 6, 1911. Although Milling was not the first U.S. Army aviator, he was the first to receive Military Aviator Certificate No. 1 on July 5, 1912. Milling also received the first badge awarded to an American military aviator in October 1913.

Milling was born to Judge Robert E. Milling and the former Ida Roberts in Winnfield, Louisiana, the seat of Winn Parish, and attended public schools in Franklin, the seat of St. Mary Parish. He was appointed a cadet in the United States Military Academy on June 15, 1905. He graduated on June 11, 1909, with the degree of Bachelor of Science and commissioned a second lieutenant, Cavalry.

Milling reported to the 15th Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in September 1909 but his tour of duty was cut short when War Department Special Order 95, dated April 21, 1911, assigned Milling and 2d Lt. Henry H. Arnold to "aeronautical duty with the Signal Corps," and instructed them to "proceed to Dayton, Ohio, for the purpose of undergoing a course of instruction in operating the Wright airplane."

"Up to this time the Army had no prescribed tests for qualification as an airplane pilot. Now it adopted the FAI regulations and required all army fliers to pass these tests in order to be rated as pilots. All qualification certificates for airplane, airship, and balloon pilots were issued by the Aero Club of America, the only U.S. representative for the FAI." (from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Centenniel of Flight exhibition)

Milling began his training on May 3, 1911, under the tutelage of Wright instructor Cliff Turpin. However the next day Orville Wright took an interest in Milling and went up with him. On May 8, after just one hour and fifty-four minutes of flying time, Wright authorized Milling to go up alone, and he made his first solo flight. Milling landed in an unorthodox downward spiral, alarming onlookers that included Wright, Turpin, and Arnold, but appeared in control the entire time, and the Wrights included a modified maneuver in future instruction. Milling flew daily for six weeks, except in bad weather, mastering takeoffs, landings, turns, and rudimentary maneuvers.

After completing their training, Milling and Arnold reported to College Park, Maryland, detailed to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps to instruct the commander of the division flight school, Captain Charles DeForest Chandler, who had only balloon experience, and his adjutant, 1st Lt. Roy C. Kirtland, in operating the Wright airplane. The school officially opened on July 3, 1911, and taught ten students, including two members of the National Guard.

The Army, in addition to the Wright biplane, had also purchased an aircraft manufactured by Glenn Curtiss, which the "Provisional Aero Company" flew at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, until a fatal crash in May, 1911 resulted in the banning of further flights there. The company relocated to College Park, where Milling became the only aviator able to master the significantly different flight controls of each type.