Scott FalesScott Fales was the lead pararescueman on Blackhawk “Super Six-Eight” during the 1993 Mogadishu battle. Born in Hagerstown, Maryland, Fales enlisted in March 1977 and served three years as a Security Policeman. He would become a Pararescueman in...
Maj Gen Gregory A. Feest was first selected by Air Command and Staff College’s Gathering of Eagles in 2010 and subsequently honored in 2017. “Beast” Feest has the unique distinction of having dropped the first bombs in two different operations: Operation...
As a young bombardier, Tom Ferebee had no idea his outstanding skills would one day be required for the world’s first atomic bomb drop. Following high school, he set his sights on a professional baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals. After a season...
Dave Ferguson made the first flight of the fighter that Air Force pilots will fly in the 21st century. Born in Pennsylvania, he graduated from Altoona High School in 1956. For three years he served as a draftsman then in 1959, he enlisted in the USAF as an Aviation...
During the Vietnam War, Frederick E. Ferguson earned our nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor! Born on 18 August 1939 in a small Texas town called Pilot Point, you might think he was destined to be an aviator. However, after...
Commander Kenny Fields’ naval career spanned 22 years from 1962 until 1984. Born in Lex, West Virginia, in 1940, He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee in 1962. Following school, he entered the...
In the spring of 1997, Linda Finch recreated an historic flight that brought aviation “alive” for millions of school children around the world. Finch, born in 1951, grew up in San Antonio, Texas. As a teenager, she began to dream about flying and set a...
Harold E. Fischer began his military career as a Navy cadet, was commissioned into the Army, and transferred to the Air Force where he became the United States’ 25th jet Ace. Born in 1925, he grew up as a farm boy in Iowa. In 1944, Fischer became a Navy cadet,...
Bernard F. Fisher is the first living US Air Force recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Moreover, he is the first USAF member to receive the medal from Vietnam. Born in 1927, this native of Idaho served briefly in the Navy at the end of World War II and then...
Chief Master Sergeant Wayne L. Fisk was born in Waldport, Oregon, on April 6, 1945, and raised in the mountainous Oregon Coast. In high school, Fisk was a member of the honor society and an award-winning cadet in the Alaska Civil Air Patrol. He selflessly turned down...
James H. Flatley IIIJim Flatley entered aviation history in October 1963 as a U.S. Navy test pilot. As the Flight Test Carrier Suitability Project Pilot, he piloted the largest aircraft ever to land upon an aircraft carrier. Flatley was born in San Diego, California...
The 1960’s was a decade of turbulence for the United States as the Civil Rights Movement and America’s escalating involvement in Vietnam divided the country. One of the bright spots during that time was the story of James P. Fleming, a Congressional Medal...
Maxine Edmondson Flournoy was a member of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Born in Wheaton, Missouri on 30 March 1921, she obtained her pilot’s license in 1941 through the Civil Pilot Training program at Joplin Junior College...
Ronald R. Fogleman, a native of Lewistown, Pennsylvania, began his Air Force career by earning an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. After graduating in 1963, he earned his pilot wings at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, and then became a Cessna T-37...
Joe Foss “the Flying Marine” was truly a Proud American! Born near Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1915, he graduated from the University of South Dakota. He soon joined the Marine Corps, became a Naval Aviator and received his commission in March 1941. After a tour as...
Dave Fowler flew over 30,000 hours in everything from the Piper J-3 Cub to the Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Born in Coleman County, Texas, in 1918, Fowler grew up fascinated and in awe of the airplanes that occasionally flew over the family...
Henry P. Fowler served the Air Force for 27 years as an F-4 Pilot and Judge Advocate. He participated in combat operations in Vietnam and served as the Maxwell Air Force Base Staff Judge Advocate. Colonel Fowler enlisted in the United States Navy in 1961. Upon...
Leon Frankel was a U.S.Navy pilot during World War II and flew for Israel in 1948. His heroic efforts during World War II culminated in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser, the Yahagi. He was a volunteer pilot for the new Israeli Air Force, flying during the War for...
In 1801, the United States Navy sloop of war, Enterprise, bombarded a barbary pirate ship in the harbor at Tripoli; in the spring of 1986, Arnie Franklin carried America’s flag across the same harbor during Operation El Dorado Canyon. Born in Franklin, Kentucky...
Pilot William A. “Skeeter” Hudson and radar operator Carl S. Fraser scored the first air victory in the Korean War. They were initially crewed together in 1948 while flying the P-61B Black Widow with the 68th Fighter All-Weather Squadron (FAWS), but soon...
Always a volunteer for the toughest tasks, it was volunteering for a mission many thought would be suicide that led Ed Freeman to receive the Medal of Honor. Freeman is a veteran Master Army Aviator in both fixed wing and helicopters with over 18,000 hours and more...
Richard Frost was a key member of the team that made the greatest advances in aviation since the Wright brothers opened the age of powered flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. The young boy born in 1916 in Ohio, just a few miles east of the cradle of aviation, would...
Fitzhugh L. “Fitz” Fulton is one of America’s most accomplished test pilots having flown more than 15,000 hours in over 225 different types of aircraft. After attending Auburn University, he enlisted in the Army as an aviation cadet and was awarded...
