James R. Allen

This article deals with General James R. Allen. For the politician James R. Allen, see JR Allen .

General James R. Allen

James Rodgers Allen (born November 17, 1925 in Louisville , Kentucky ; † August 11, 1992 ) was an American general in the US Air Force , who was superintendent of the US Air Force Academy between 1974 and 1977 and most recently from 1981 to 1983 Supreme Commander of the Air Transport Command MAC ( Military Airlift Command ) was.

Life

Training as an air force officer

Allen graduated from Louisville Male High School in 1943 and began his military training in 1944 at the US Military Academy at West Point , which he received in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in military engineering (B.Sc. Military Engineering) and the Promoted to lieutenant ( Second Lieutenant ) of the US Air Force ended. He then began his flight training at the Randolph Air Force Base military airfield and completed his pilot training at the Nellis Air Force Base in September 1949 . After he found in 1951 use in the between September 1949 and June Philippines and South Korea deployed 18 fighter flight group ( 18th Fighter Group ), for which he as a pilot of North American P-51 "Mustang" - fighter planes and Lockheed F-80 "Shooting Star" - fighter-bombers took part in combat missions during the Korean War . During the first two months of the Korean War, he flew combat missions as a member of a volunteer squadron with the South Korean Air Force and was later from June to October 1951 adjutant to the commander of the 5th Air Force ( Fifth Air Force ).

After returning to the United States in October 1951, Allen became a pilot of a North American F-86 "Saber" fighter with the 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Greater Pittsburgh Airport . In June 1953 he returned to the US Military Academy, where he was tactical officer of a company, before he was successively aviation commander, operations officer and finally executive officer at the head of the planning department at the headquarters of the US Air Forces in Europe USAFE between December 1956 and July 1959 ( US Air Forces in Europe ) was at Ramstein Air Base . In 1959 he returned to the United States and graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth .

In 1960 Allen was transferred to the Planning Department at US Air Force Headquarters in Washington, DC and began studying at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF) at Fort Lesley J. McNair in August 1964, graduating in 1965. He finished studying business administration at George Washington University in 1965 with a Master of Science degree (M.Sc. Business Administration).

In July 1965, Allen was transferred to Eglin Air Force Base , where he was commander of the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron . There he was, however, used only briefly and was then pilot of a McDonnell F-4 "Phantom" - combat aircraft , as well as deputy commander for operations at the 12th Tactical Wing battle ( 12th Tactical Fighter Wing ) on the Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in South Vietnam . In December 1966, he returned to the United States and became deputy command in command of the 3615th Pilot Training Wing stationed at Craig Air Force Base . In August 1968 he became assistant to the deputy chief of the planning department at US Air Force Headquarters and then in August 1969 deputy chief of the planning and policy department in the office of the deputy chief of the air force staff for planning and operations. In this role he was chief planner of Operation Kingpin , a military commando company during the Vietnam War for the liberation of American soldiers from a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp near Sơn Tây .

Promotion to general

Allen became commander of the 19th Air Division at Carswell Air Force Base in January 1972 and, six months later, in August 1972, assistant to the deputy chief of operations at the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command (SAC ) Offutt Air Force Base , before becoming Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the SAC six months later in February 1973 and finally Chief of Staff of the Strategic Air Force Command SAC in September 1973. In January 1974 he returned to the headquarters of the US Air Force and was there special assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , General George S. Brown .

As the successor to Lt. Gen. Albert P. Clark , Allen became superintendent of the US Air Force Academy in August 1974 and held this post for three years until he was replaced by Lt. Gen. Kenneth L. Tallman in July 1977. During this time he was awarded by the University of Denver in 1975 an honorary doctorate in law. He was then between July 1977 and July 1979 Chief of Staff at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ) and was promoted to General on August 1, 1977 . He then became Deputy Commander in Chief of the US Forces in Europe USEUCOM ( United States European Command ) in July 1979 and was thus representative of General Bernard W. Rogers until June 1981 .

Most recently General Allen was in June 1981 Commander in Chief of the MAC ( Military Airlift Command ) and remained in that post until his retirement on July 1, 1983. As Commander in Chief of the MAC at Scott Air Force Base , he was over the United Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS ) responsible to the US President and the US Secretary of Defense for planning and conducting air transport operations in times of war, crisis and peace-time exercises. He was thus in charge of all strategic and tactical airlift units worldwide in order to ensure operational support for combined commands and special forces commands in military operations. Under peace conditions, the Commander-in-Chief of the MAC ensured the airlift services through the US Secretary of the Air Force due to his simultaneous function as Managing Director of the Operational Agency for Airlift Services in the US Department of Defense . In this role he was also responsible for the air rescue, aviation weather, air medical rescue, deployment documentation and audiovisual systems of the US Air Force.

During his military career, Allen flew North American T-6 “Texan” , North American P-51 “Mustang” , Lockheed F-80 “Shooting Star” , North American F-86 “Saber” and North American F-100 aircraft “Super Saber” , McDonnell F-4 “Phantom” , Cessna T-37 “Tweet” , Northrop T-38 “Talon” , Boeing B-52 “Stratofortress” and Boeing KC-135 “Stratotanker” . He has received several awards. He was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal , Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaves, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaves, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaves, the Bronze Star Medal , the Air Medal with eleven oak leaves and the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaves, the Army Commendation Medal and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with the addition of "V" and three oak leaves. In February 1979 he was also commander of the French Ordre national du Mérite .

Web links

• Biography on the US Air Force homepage