Russell M. “Rusty” Roth

Oct 23, 2019 | Air Force, Army

Russell M. “Rusty” Roth entered aviation history on Dec. 9, 1952, over Edwards Air Force Base, flying Republic Aviation Corp.’s XF-91 Thunderceptor rocket-boosted jet fighter prototype, making it the first combat-type airplane to exceed the speed of...

Brig Gen Charles “Chuck” Elwood Yeager

May 23, 2019 | Air Force

Chuck Yeager, byname of Charles Elwood Yeager, (born February 13, 1923, Myra, West Virginia, U.S.), American test pilot and U.S. Air Force officer who was the first man to exceed the speed of sound in flight. Yeager enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 1941, shortly...

Maj Gen Jeanne M. Holm

Jun 15, 2018 | Air Force, Army

Jeanne M. Holm was the first woman in the armed forces to be promoted to the rank of Major General (1973), and this was only one of her many firsts. She served in the Army from 1942-1945 and transferred to the Air Force in 1948, when a new law integrated women in the...

Maj Gen John L. Borling

Mar 17, 2018 | Air Force

John L. Borling was born in Chicago, Illinois in March, 1940. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1963, and received his pilot’s wings in 1964. By 1966 then-Lieutenant Borling was flying combat missions from a base in Thailand over North Vietnam....

Brig Gen Norman C Gaddis

Aug 24, 2017 | Air Force

On 12 May 1967 while on a mission near Hanoi I was hit by anti-aircraft guns. As I attempted to leave the target area, a MIG-17 pilot spotted my disabled aircraft and had little difficulty shooting it down. My pilot, Lt. James Jefferson, a fine young officer and a...