GROUNDBREAKING AFGHAN AIR FORCE PILOT Captain Niloofar Rahmani was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. She holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Economics from Kabul University. After graduating from Officer Candidate School in May 2011, she was selected for pilot training in the...
“The flyingest General in the German Air Force,” Günther Rall, entered the German Army in 1936 as an officer candidate in the infantry. However, the 20-year-old Rall decided aviation was his real interest and transferred to the Luftwaffe. After pilot...
General (Ret) John “Jay” Raymond was selected as an Eagle for his outstanding contributions to air and space power as the first Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force. Responsible for standing up the newest branch of armed service since 1947,...
Ed Rector was just 10 years old when an older brother advised “get into aviation, that’s going to be the coming thing.” Growing up in Marshall, North Carolina, Rector, at age 12, gleaned knowledge from pulp aviation magazines such as Battle Aces ....
William “Bill” Reid earned one of only 32 Victoria Crosses awarded for heroism in the air during World War II. The son of a blacksmith, Reid was born 21 December 1921 at Baillieston, Glasgow, Scotland. After completing his studies at the Coatbridge Secondary School,...
Vladimir Remek carried Czechoslovakia’s flag into space and became the first cosmonaut from outside the Soviet Union. The son of a Czechoslovak fighter pilot, Remek was born in 1948 in the southern Bohemian city of Ceske Budejovice near the Austrian border. At...
Zachary J. Rhyner, a Combat Controller assigned to the 24th Special Operations Wing, is an extraordinary hero and warrior. Born in Medford, Wisconsin on 21 June 1986, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2004. After completing Combat Control training in...
Manfred A. Rietsch flew more than 700 jetfighter combat missions during his 24-year career in the United States Marine Corps. Born in East Germany, Rietsch immigrated to the United States in December 1956. He graduated from the University of Minnesota and, in March...
Margaret J. “Maggie” Ringenberg took her first airplane ride at the age of seven from a farmer’s field in rural Indiana. She was called to be a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in 1943, became a flight instructor in 1945 and has...
In 1973, Americans welcomed home their returning Vietnam prisoners of war (POWs). Among those released heroes walked then-Colonel James Robinson “Robbie” Risner. During 33 years of service, he fought in three wars and twice received the Air Force’s...
Brigadier General “Steve” Ritchie is the U.S. Air Force’s only pilot ace of the Vietnam War. Born in North Carolina in 1942, he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1964. He then attended undergraduate pilot training in Texas where he...
Few aeronautical engineers can equal the contributions Bob Robbins made to the Boeing Company! As a boy, Robbins thrilled to Lindberghs ticker tape parade in New York. A few years later, following his hero into the air, he took wing in an Aeronca at his hometown...
General Lori J. Robinson has the unique distinction of not only being the first female service member to lead a Unified Combatant Command, but she is also the highest ranking woman and Air Battle Manager in the history of the United States military. General Robinson...
Cesar A. “Rico” Rodriguez Jr. was born on 22 March 1959 in El Paso, Texas. The son of a career Army officer, Rodriguez wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and enrolled in The Citadel as a means to play sports and become an Army officer. An...
Joe Rosbert shared in the destruction of four Japanese bombers during his first aerial engagement. Born in January 1917, Rosbert grew up in south Philadelphia. An outstanding student, he won a scholarship to Villanova College where he earned a degree in chemical...
Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal is one of the most decorated Airmen of World War II. Fresh out of law school, he enlisted in the US Army on 8 December 1941 as an air cadet. He earned his wings in September 1942, and was assigned to train personnel in...
Dick Rossi, an ace with six victories as a “Flying Tiger,” also flew 735 transport missions as a “Hump” pilot! Rossi was born in April 1915 in Placerville, California, and went to high school in San Francisco. During his university years he...
Yves “Jetman” Rossy is a pilot, innovator, and aviation enthusiast who is expanding the possibility of human flight. In November 2006, Rossy became the first person in the history of aviation to fly with a jet-propelled wing. The Jetman, as he is now universally...
After flying more than 100 combat missions against F-86 Sabres, Ken Rowe survived the Korean War to deliver an intact MiG-15 fighter to the United States Air Force. Ken Rowe was 17 years old when he entered the North Korean Naval Academy. At that time he was known as...
“Born with aviation fuel in his body instead of blood” is how Richard G. “Dick” Rutan’s mother describes her eldest son who would later co-pilot the first aircraft to circumnavigate the globe non-stop, without refueling. Rutan was born in...
