John "Johnny" R. Alison (born
November 21,
1912),
a highly decorated combat
ace of
World War II and veteran of the
Korean War, is the father of Air Force Special
Operations.
Early years
Born near
Gainesville,
Florida
in 1912, Alison graduated from the University of
Florida
School of Engineering and joined the US Army Air Corps in 1936.
He earned
his wings and was commissioned at Kelly Field
in 1937. Prior to Americas entry into World
War II, he served as Assistant Military Attache in England and
helped British pilots transition into the
P-40.
In October 1941, Alison traveled to Moscow
to
administer the sensitive US-Soviet P-40 Lend-Lease program.
He trained Russian pilots in the
P-40,
A-20, and
B-25
Mitchell aircraft. In his autobiography,
Jimmy Doolittle wrote:
Combat
After ten months and repeated requests for reassignment to combat,
Alison got his wish. In June 1942, he reported to the
China-Burma-India
Theater (CBI) to serve as Deputy Squadron Commander under
major David Lee "Tex" Hill in the
75th Fighter Squadron, part of
Colonel Robert Lee Scott, Jr.'s
23rd Fighter Group, the USAAF successor
of the
AVG's famed
Flying Tigers in the China-Burma-India
Theater.Alison was called into theater by the previous commander of
the AVG,
Brigadier
General Claire Lee
Chennault, who was currently serving as Commander of the
Fourteenth Air Force. On
30 July 1942, Alison was
credited with the first night kills in the theater. For his
experimental night interception, he was awarded the
Distinguished
Service Cross. In early 1943, Alison demonstrated his
aggressiveness when he took off during an attack on his own
airfield. Alison engaged three
A6M Zeros
and scored one probable kill. He then vectored arriving
reinforcements to the battle, after which he made a stern attack on
another enemy fighter at close range, shooting it down. His
gallantry and fighting spirit earned him the
Silver Star. Ending his tour as commander of the
75th Fighter Squadron, Alison
left as an
ace with seven confirmed
victories and several probable kills. His former commanding
officer,
David Lee "Tex" Hill, had high
praise for Alison:
Air Commando
Later Years
After the war, he served as an Assistant Secretary of Commerce,
President of the
Air Force
Association, and as a major general in the
Air Force Reserve. He retired as
vice president of the
Northrop
Corporation in 1984 and is a 1994 inductee into the Air
Commando Hall of Fame.
Air Commando Hall of Fame retrieved January 26, 2008
In 1985 and 2004, Alison was inducted into the Air University's
Gathering of Eagles program.
In 2005,
he was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
.
Notes
- Boltz, Images of Apollo's Warriors, pages 41-44
- John Alison DSC Citation Home of Heroes
(September 12,
1942); retrieved January 30,
2008
References
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