From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of notable people who served in the
United States Air Force , the
Air National Guard , or their
antecedents in the
Army . See also
Graduates of the United States Air Force Academy .
A
B
Charles Bronson
George W. Bush
Alonzo Babers – Airline pilot and
Olympic athlete
Jacob “Buddy” Baer – Boxer, film and TV actor
Max Baer, Jr. – Film actor
Max Baer, Sr. – Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion, Film and TV actor
Parley Baer – Film and television actor
Hobey Baker – Amateur hockey player
Bernt Balchen – Norwegian-born aviation explorer
Thomas Scott Baldwin – Pioneer balloonist
Martin Balsam –
Oscar -winning film actor
John Banner – Film and television actor
Sy Bartlett – Screenwriter and producer, co-author of
Twelve O'Clock High
Warren Beatty –
Oscar -winning film actor, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
Don Beddoe – Film and television actor
Chuck Bednarik – Professional football player
Art Bell – Talk radio personality
Brooks Benedict – Actor of the silent and sound film eras who served with the
American Ambulance Corps and in the
U.S. Army Air Service during the
First World War
Lloyd Bentsen –
Senator from
Texas ,
1988 vice presidential nominee , 69th
Secretary of the Treasury
Mark H. Berry , American politician
Elmer Berstein –
Oscar and
Emmy -winning and
Grammy Award -nominated film composer
James Best – Film and television actor
Edward Binns – Film and television actor
John Birch – East China missionary
Barry Bishop – Member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest
Whit Bissell – Film and television actor
Charles F. Blair, Jr. – General officer and husband of actress
Maureen O'Hara
Esther Blake – First female member of the
United States Air Force
Michael Blake –
Oscar -winning screenwriter and author of
Dances with Wolves and its
1988 best-selling novel
William Peter Blatty –
Oscar -winning screenwriter, film producer, director and author known for his 1971 novel
The Exorcist and for writing and producing the hugely successful
1973 film adaptation
Guion Bluford – Astronaut and first African American to fly in space (
STS-8 ,
STS-61-A ,
STS-39 ,
STS-53 )
John Boccieri –
Member of Congress of Ohio.
Paul Bogart – Five-time
Emmy Award -winning television director and producer
Richard Bong – American Ace of Aces
Frank Borman – Astronaut (
Gemini 7 and
Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon)
Robert Sidney Bowen – Newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author of the Dave Dawson War Adventure Series and the
Red Randall Series . Served as a
fighter pilot in both the
Royal Air Force (RAF) and the
United States Army Air Service , and as an ambulance driver with the
American Field Service (AFS) during
World War I .
William Bowers – Screenwriter
Boxcar Willie – Country music entertainer
Vance D. Brand – Astronaut who also served as a
naval aviator in the
U.S. Marine Corps (
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project ,
STS-5 ,
STS-41-B ,
STS-35 )
Albert Brenner – Five-time
Oscar -nominated
production designer and
art director
Lewis H. Brereton – Aviation pioneer and only active duty member of USAF and all of its forebears
John Briley –
Oscar -winning screenwriter
Charles Bronson –
Emmy Award -nominated film and television actor
Al Brown – actor known for
The Wire who served 29 years in the Air Force including two tours in
Vietnam
Charles Q. Brown Jr. – USAF
general who is currently serving as the 21st
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as of January 2024
Clarence Brown – Six-time
Oscar -nominated filmmaker who served as a
fighter pilot and
flight instructor with the
U.S. Army Air Service during
World War I
Dale Brown – Author
Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. –
Tuskegee Airman , educator, and TV personality
Roger Browne – Film actor best known for his work in the
peplum and
Eurospy films popular in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s
Robert Brubaker – Film and TV actor
Don Budge – American
tennis player most famous as the first tennis player to win the
Grand Slam
John Bunch – Jazz pianist
William Bundy –
CIA analyst and foreign affairs advisor
George W. Bush – 43rd
President of the United States
Aaron Bushnell – 25-year-old airman who
live streamed his
self-immolation and resultant death outside the front gate of the
Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. in protest of
genocide and
U.S.-backed support of Israel in the Israel–Hamas war
Craig D. Button – Victim of mysterious flight and crash
Red Buttons –
Oscar -winning film actor
C
Jacqueline Cochran
Bruce Cabot – Film actor
Frank Cady – Film and TV actor
Ben Nighthorse Campbell –
Cheyenne politician who represented
Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the
House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and was a
U.S. Senator from
Colorado from 1993 to 2005
Dann Cahn – Film editor
George Carlin –
Emmy Award -nominated and
Grammy -winning stand-up comedian and actor
Don Carpenter – Novelist and
WGA Award -nominated screenwriter
John Carroll – Film actor
Johnny Cash –
Grammy Award -winning country music singer and musician
Don Castle – Film actor
Clint Castleberry – College football player
James Lea Cate – Historian
Clarence Chamberlin – Barnstormer and aviation pioneer
Harry Chapin – Singer/songwriter
Hollis B. Chenery – Economist
John Ciardi – Poet
Beryl Clark – Professional football player
Hal Clement – Author
Larry Clinton – Band leader
William Close – Surgeon and physician, father of actress
Glenn Close
Lee J. Cobb –
Oscar -nominated film actor
Bill Cobbs –
Emmy Award -winning film and TV actor
Jacqueline Cochran – Aviator; co-founder and director of the
Women Airforce Service Pilots
Red Cochran – Professional football player, coach, and scout
Fred Coe –
Oscar -nominated film and TV director, film and TV producer and screenwriter
Gene Colan –
comic book artist best known for his work for
Marvel Comics
Charles J. Colgan – Virginia politician and founder of
Colgan Air .
Eileen Collins – Astronaut (
STS-84 ,
STS-93 ,
STS-114 )
Michael Collins – Astronaut (
Gemini 10 &
Apollo 11 )
Ramón Colón-López – First Hispanic recipient of the
Air Force Combat Action Medal
Darva Conger – former
emergency department
nurse and winner on
Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? in 2000
John Connell – Film, TV, stage and voice actor
Mike Connors –
Emmy -nominated and
Golden Globe Award -winning film and TV actor best known for playing private detective
Joe Mannix
William Conrad –
Emmy and
Golden Globe Award -nominated film and TV actor, director and producer
Jackie Coogan – Film and television actor
Gordon Cooper – Mercury astronaut (
Mercury 9 &
Gemini 5 )
Merian C. Cooper –
Oscar -nominated filmmaker, adventurer and producer who served as a
fighter pilot in
World War I . Cooper also served as an aviator in the
Polish Air Force .
Joseph Cotten – Film actor
Joe Coulombe – American entrepreneur who founded the grocery store chain
Trader Joe's
James E. Counsilman – Collegiate swimming coach
Alexander Courage –
Oscar -nominated and
Emmy Award -winning film composer
Clyde Cowan – Physicist and discoverer of the
neutrino
James Gould Cozzens –
Pulitzer Prize -winning novelist
Brad Crandall –
Radio personality , voice-over announcer and film narrator, best known for his radio show on
WNBC in
New York City which aired from March 1964 to September 1971. Crandall also served in the
U.S. Marine Corps .
Broderick Crawford –
Oscar -winning film and television actor
Adrian Cronauer – Lawyer, media expert and inspiration for the film
Good Morning, Vietnam
Floyd Crosby –
Oscar and
Golden Globe Award -winning
cinematographer
Robert Cummings –
Emmy Award -winning film and television actor
D
E
F
G
Hank Greenberg , Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP
Clark Gable –
Oscar -winning film actor
William Gaines – Publisher and co-editor of
EC Comics
Ernest K. Gann – Novelist
Daniel Garber – Artist
William T. Gardiner – 55th
Governor of Maine
Arthur Gardner – Film actor and producer
Robert Gates – 22nd
United States Secretary of Defense
Marvin Gaye –
Grammy Award -winning singer and songwriter
Michael V. Gazzo – Broadway playwright and
Oscar -nominated film actor best known for playing
Frank Pentangeli in
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Elmer Gedeon – Three-sport college athlete and professional baseball player
Leigh Gerdine – Musician, civic leader,
Webster University president
Henry Gibson –
Golden Globe Award -nominated film actor and
Grammy Award -nominated singer and songwriter
Nelson Gidding –
Oscar -nominated screenwriter
Lewis Gilbert –
Oscar -nominated and
BAFTA Award -winning filmmaker
Guy Gilpatric – Pilot,
flight instructor ,
journalist ,
short-story writer and
novelist , best known for his Mr. Glencannon stories
Sidney Glazier –
Oscar -winning film producer
John Glenn – Aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman and politician who became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn initially enlisted in the
Army Air Corps during
World War II , then later served as a
naval aviator in the
Marine Corps .
George Gobel – Television comedian
Arthur Godfrey – Television personality
Barry Goldwater – Senator from
Arizona and
1964 Republican presidential nominee
Alberto Gonzales – 80th
United States Attorney General
Bert I. Gordon –
Visual effects artist and filmmaker
Dick Grace – Film stunt flyer
Lindsey Graham – Senator from
South Carolina
Susan Grant – Novelist
Peter Graves –
Emmy and
Golden Globe Award -winning film and television actor
Hank Greenberg –
Major League Baseball player
Frederick D. Gregory – Astronaut (
STS-51-B ,
STS-33 ,
STS-44 )
John Howard Griffin – Journalist and author best known for his 1959 project to temporarily pass as a black man and journey through the Deep South in order to see life and segregation from the other side of the color line first-hand published under the title
Black Like Me (1961)
Gus Grissom – Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Astronaut
H
LeRoy Homer Jr.
Larry Hagman –
Emmy and
Golden Globe Award -nominated film and television actor, director and producer
William Wister Haines – Novelist, screenwriter and playwright
Fred Haise – Naval aviator, Air Force pilot,
test pilot and NASA astronaut (
Apollo 13 and
Space Shuttle Enterprise ). Of the 24 men to have ever flown to the moon, Haise is also the only
Marine .
Arch Hall Sr. – Screenwriter, actor and filmmaker
James Norman Hall – American writer best known for
The Bounty Trilogy who holds the distinction of serving in the militaries of three Western allies during
World War I ;
Great Britain as an
infantryman , and then
France and the
United States as an aviator
Iceal Hambleton – Missile expert, subject of
"Bat 21" rescue
Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. – Thoroughbred racehorse breeder
Jack Hanlon – Child actor known for his role in
Our Gang and silent films
Brian Harnois – former
paranormal investigator for
Ghost Hunters and
Ghost Hunters International
Pat Harrington Jr. –
Emmy Award -winning stage and television actor
Harry Harrison –
Science fiction author known mostly for his novel
Make Room! Make Room! (1966)
Bob Hastings – Film and TV actor
Howard Hawks –
Oscar -nominated filmmaker who served as an aviator and
flight instructor with the
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and with the
United States Army Air Service during
World War I
Michael Hayden – 19th
CIA Director
Peter Lind Hayes –
Vaudeville entertainer and film and television actor
Van Heflin –
Oscar -winning film actor
H. John Heinz III – Senator from Pennsylvania
Joseph Heller – Novelist
Susan Helms – Astronaut (
STS-54 ,
STS-64 ,
STS-78 ,
STS-101 ,
Expedition 2 -
STS-102 /
STS-105 )
Sherman Hemsley –
Emmy and
Golden Globe Award -nominated actor and musician
Skitch Henderson – Band leader
Chad Hennings – Professional football player
Jim Hensley – Beer executive and father-in-law to
John McCain
Don Herbert – Television personality better known as "
Mr. Wizard "
Charlton Heston –
Oscar -winning film actor
Nat Hiken – Five-time
Emmy Award -winning television writer, director, producer and songwriter
John Hillerman – Film actor
Don Ho –
Hawaiian
traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer
Ben Hogan – Professional golfer
Dick Hogan – Film actor
William Holden –
Oscar -winning film actor
Tim Holt – Film actor
LeRoy Homer Jr. – Airline pilot, co-pilot of
United Airlines Flight 93
John Hope – Television meteorologist
Rance Howard – Film and television actor, also father of actor and filmmaker
Ron Howard and actor
Clint Howard , and grandfather of actresses
Bryce Dallas Howard and
Paige Howard
David Huddleston –
Emmy Award -nominated film and television actor
John Hudson – Film and TV actor
Rune Hultman – Film actor
E. Howard Hunt –
Intelligence officer and author known for his involvement in the
Watergate scandal , also served in the
U.S. Navy and the
Office of Strategic Services
Rick Husband –
NASA astronaut (killed in the
Columbia accident )
Bobby Hutchins – Child actor known for his role in
Our Gang shorts
Mac Hyman – Novelist
I
J
K
James Karen –
Saturn Award -winning film, television and theater actor
Phil Karlson –
Emmy -nominated film and television director
Todd Karns – Film actor who played
George Bailey 's younger brother, Harry, in the 1946 film
It's a Wonderful Life
Nicholas Katzenbach – 65th United States Attorney General
William Keighley – Film director and actor who supervised the
First Motion Picture Unit of the
United States Army Air Forces during
World War II
DeForest Kelley – Film and television actor
Jack Kelly – Film, TV and stage actor
Orry-Kelly – Three-time
Oscar -winning
Hollywood
costume designer
Arthur Kennedy – Five-time
Oscar -nominated film actor
Ron Kenoly – Christian music worship leader
Irvin Kershner – Film director
Algene and Frederick Key – Brothers and aviation pioneers
Iven Kincheloe – Air Force test pilot
Micki King – Olympic diving gold-medalist and athletic coach
Wally Kinnan – Pioneering meteorologist
Julian Koenig – American copywriter who was inducted into
The One Club Creative Hall of Fame in 1966
Lester Koenig – Screenwriter, film producer, and founder of the jazz record label
Contemporary Records
Gene Kranz –
aerospace engineer who served as
NASA 's second
Chief Flight Director , directing missions of the Mercury,
Gemini and
Apollo programs, including the first lunar landing mission,
Apollo 11
Norman Krasna –
Oscar -winning screenwriter
L
Alan Ladd
Alan Ladd – Film actor
David Ladd – Film and TV producer and former actor
Fiorello H. La Guardia – Mayor of New York City
Tim LaHaye –
Baptist
evangelical Christian
minister who wrote more than 85 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the
Left Behind
apocalyptic fiction series
Frank Purdy Lahm – First military aviator
Jay Lambert - Olympic and professional boxer and general surgeon
Paul Lambert – Film and television actor
Tom Landry –
Dallas Cowboys football coach
Mario Lanza –
Grammy Award -nominated tenor and actor
Arnold Laven – Film and
television director and producer
Beirne Lay, Jr. – Screenwriter, co-author of
Twelve O'Clock High
Norman Lear –
Emmy Award -winning TV and film producer, director and
Oscar -nominated screenwriter
Jeannie Leavitt – First female USAF fighter pilot in 1993 and first woman to command a combat fighter wing
Robert LeFevre – American
libertarian
businessman ,
radio personality and primary theorist of
autarchism
Curtis LeMay – USAF Chief of Staff and 1968 vice presidential candidate
John Levitow – Enlisted recipient of the
Medal of Honor
Jules V. Levy – Film and television producer and screenwriter
Buddy Lewis –
Major League Baseball player
Larry Lieber –
Comic book artist and writer best known as co-creator of
Iron Man ,
Thor and
Ant-Man
Charles Lindbergh – Legendary aviator
George Lindsey – Film and TV actor and stand-up comedian
James Lipton –
Emmy Award -winning writer, lyricist, actor and
dean
emeritus of the
Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He was also the executive producer, writer and host of the
Bravo TV series
Inside the Actors Studio .
Roger Locher – USAF pilot whose rescue was the deepest inside
North Vietnam of the entire
Vietnam War
Jon Locke – Film and TV actor
Frank Loesser –
Oscar ,
Grammy ,
Tony and
Pulitzer Prize -winning songwriter
Donald S. Lopez, Sr. –
Ace with the
Flying Tigers
Pare Lorentz – Filmmaker known for his film work about the
New Deal
Robert Moffat Losey – Meteorologist; considered to be the first American military casualty of
World War II
Charlie Louvin –
Grammy Award -nominated
country music singer and songwriter best known as one of
the Louvin Brothers
Nancy Harkness Love – Aviator and co-founder of the
Women Airforce Service Pilots
Frank Luke Jr. –
Medal of Honor recipient during
World War I
Anna Paulina Luna –
Maxim magazine model and politician
Jeffrey Lynn – Actor and film producer
M
James Meredith in 1962
Major Glenn Miller
N
O
P
Tom Poston
Q
R
Dennis Rader – BTK Serial Killer
John Randolph – Broadway and film actor
Gene Rayburn –
Emmy -nominated radio and television personality
Gene Raymond – Film actor
Ronald Reagan –
B-movie actor and 40th President of the United States
Chuck Reed – Mayor of
San Jose, California and his daughter,
Kim Campbell , a decorated Iraq War pilot
George Reeves – Television and film actor
William Rehnquist – 16th
Chief Justice of the United States
Carl Reiner –
Emmy and
Grammy Award -winning film and television actor, comedian, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
John Rich –
Emmy Award -winning film and
television director
Lloyd Richards –
Emmy Award -nominated
television director , theatre director, actor, and dean of the
Yale School of Drama
Eddie Rickenbacker – Leading American
World War I
flying ace
Roy Riegels –
All-American football player
Robinson Risner – Decorated USAF General and Vietnam POW.
R. Stephen Ritchie – USAF Ace in the Vietnam War
Martin Ritt –
Oscar -nominated filmmaker
Hal Roach –
Oscar -winning producer and screenwriter
Gene Roddenberry –
Emmy Award -nominated television and film producer
Marion Rodgers – Communications Specialist, Former Tuskegee Airman
Gilbert Roland –
Golden Globe Award -nominated film and television actor
Stuart Roosa – Astronaut (
Apollo 14 )
Elliott Roosevelt – Son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Quentin Roosevelt – Son of Theodore Roosevelt, killed in WWI
Leonard Rosenman –
Oscar -winning film composer
Bob Ross –
Painter , art instructor and television host
Chelcie Ross – Film actor
Dan Rowan – Comedian and television actor
Kurt Russell –
Emmy and
Golden Globe -nominated film and television actor
Dick Rutan – Aviation record-holder and aircraft designer
S
Sabu
Mickey Spillane
Brig. Gen. Stewart ca. 1960
Sabu – Film actor
James Salter – Novelist
Tommy Sands – Pop music singer and film actor
Mark Sanford – 115th Governor of South Carolina
John Monk Saunders –
Oscar -winning screenwriter, film director and novelist
William Schallert –
Emmy Award -nominated actor
Roy Scheider –
Oscar -nominated film and TV actor
Bob Schieffer – Television journalist
Tex Schramm – President and general manager of the
Dallas Cowboys
Rusty Schweickart – Astronaut (
Apollo 9 )
Dick Scobee – Astronaut, killed in
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
David Scott – Astronaut (
Gemini 8 ,
Apollo 9 , and
Apollo 15 )
Donald E. Scott – All-American college football
quarterback
Dr. Seuss – Famed American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet,
Emmy Award -winning animator and filmmaker
Carroll Shelby – Automotive designer, racecar driver and entrepreneur who served as a bomber pilot in
World War II
Jim Siedow – Film and TV actor
Gregory Sierra – Film and TV actor
Lance Sijan –
Medal of Honor recipient
John Simon – Literary, theater and film critic
Neil Simon – Four-time
Oscar -nominated and
Golden Globe Award -winning screenwriter, playwright and author
Sinbad – Actor and comedian
Tom Skerritt – Film actor
Richard X. Slattery – Film and TV actor
Deke Slayton – Mercury and
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronaut
Jack Smight – Theater, film and television director
Gretchen Smith – Founder of the charity organization "Code of Vets"
Hal Smith – Film and television actor
Tubby Smith – NCAA Men's Basketball Coach
William Smith – Film and television actor and champion
arm-wrestler
Carl Spaatz – Pioneer airman, first
Chief of Staff of the Air Force
Aaron Spelling – Film and
television producer
Mickey Spillane – Crime novelist
Caroll Spinney – Puppeteer, cartoonist and artist most famous for playing
Big Bird and
Oscar the Grouch on
Sesame Street
G.D. Spradlin – Film actor known for
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Thomas P. Stafford – Astronaut and aviator (
Gemini 6A ,
Gemini 9A ,
Apollo 10 )
Bill Stealey – Business CEO and co-founder of
MicroProse
David Steeves – Pilot who crashed in the
Sierra Nevada and endured a nearly two month survival ordeal.
George Steinbrenner – Team owner of the
New York Yankees
Robert Sterling – Film actor
Craig Stevens – Television actor
George Stevens Jr. –
Oscar -nominated producer, TV director, playwright and author
Ted Stevens – Senator from
Alaska
James Stewart –
Oscar -winning film actor
Bert Stiles – Author
Ralph Story – Television personality who served as a
P-51
fighter pilot and
flight instructor during
World War II
Dale E. Stovall – USAF General, decorated Vietnam War search and rescue pilot
Joseph Strick –
Oscar -winning film director, producer and screenwriter
Woody Strode –
Golden Globe Award -nominated film actor and football player
John Sturges –
Oscar -nominated filmmaker
Preston Sturges –
Oscar -winning filmmaker
Chesley Sullenberger – Airline pilot, hero of
Miracle on the Hudson
Bruce Sundlun – 71st governor of Rhode Island
Charles Sweeney – Pilot who flew the
Fat Man bomb to Nagasaki.
Dolph Sweet – Film and TV actor
David Swift –
WGA Award -nominated screenwriter, animator, director and producer
Jack Swigert – Astronaut and congressman-elect
T
U
V
W
Flip Wilson
Joseph A. Walker –
X-15 test pilot
Kenneth N. Walker –
Medal of Honor recipient, airpower visionary
George Wallace – 45th Governor of Alabama and presidential candidate
Fred Ward – Actor and producer
Jack L. Warner –
Oscar -winning producer and Hollywood film executive
Jack Webb – Film and television actor, director, and producer
George Welch –
World War II
flying ace , decorated for heroism at the
Attack on Pearl Harbor
William A. Wellman –
Oscar -winning filmmaker who, during
World War I , served as a
fighter pilot in the
French Foreign Legion , as a driver in the
Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps on the
Western Front , and as a
flight instructor in the
United States Army Air Service . He was also the first American to join
Escadrille N.87 in the
Lafayette Flying Corps of the
French Air Force during the war. As a fighter pilot, he is credited with three confirmed kills and five probables.
David Westheimer – Novelist
Donald E. Westlake –
Oscar -nominated screenwriter and novelist
Ed White – Astronaut (
Gemini 4 , first American to walk in space)
Frank D. White – 41st Governor of Arkansas
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney – Businessman
John Hay Whitney – Newspaper publisher and
Ambassador to Great Britain
Thornton Wilder – Novelist and playwright (
The Bridge of San Luis Rey ,
Our Town ,
The Skin of Our Teeth )
Charles Willeford – Novelist and poet (
Cockfighter ,
Miami Blues ,
The Woman Chaser ,
The Burnt Orange Heresy )
Grant Williams – Film, theater and television actor
John Williams – Five-time
Oscar -winning film composer
Gordon Willis –
Oscar -nominated
cinematographer
Flip Wilson –
Emmy ,
Grammy and
Golden Globe Award -winning actor and comedian
Heather Wilson – U.S. Member of Congress from
New Mexico
Jason Wingreen – Film and television actor known as the original voice of
Boba Fett in
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Reality Winner – Whistleblower
Harris Wofford – U.S. Senator from
Pennsylvania
Morgan Woodward – Film and television actor
Alfred Worden – Astronaut (
Apollo 15 )
James C. "Jim" Wright, Jr. –
U.S. Representative from
Texas and 56th
Speaker of the House
William Wyler – Three-time
Oscar -winning filmmaker
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References
Leadership
Structure
Personnel and training Uniforms and equipment History and traditions