Edwin A. Doss (September 14, 1914January 7, 1996) was an American

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare an ...

and commander in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

. Logging more than 4,500 flying hours, Doss flew 573 combat hours and accrued 280 combat missions during his leadership in the

South West Pacific Theatre The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory ...

and

. For his two-year service as commander of the

35th Fighter Group Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

during World War II, Doss was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross,

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, and the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

. He received his second Legion of Merit and the Korean Ulchi medal with a Silver Star for his assignments as commander of the 49th Fighter Bomber Wing and the 3rd Bomber Wing at Kunsan, Korea. Colonel Doss's service has been cited as integral to the development of long-range fighter tactics in the

South West Pacific Theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory ...

. After the Korean War, Doss held assignments including senior Air Force advisor to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, Vice Commander of the

85th Air Division The 85th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Eastern Air Defense Force of Air Defense Command at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. It was inactivated on 1 September 1958. History During World W ...

(Air Defense) at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

, and Deputy Commander of the

Washington Air Defense Sector The Washington Air Defense Sector (WaADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command (ADC) 26th Air Division, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station (AFS), Virginia. It w ...

at Fort Lee, Virginia. In 1963, Doss was assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) headquarters as Deputy Inspector General and Inspector General. In 1964, he was appointed as head of the command liaison agency to the government of France at Paris. He retired from the Air Force in 1968. He died in 1996 at age 81 in Riverside, California, and was buried at the

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administratio ...

Early life and education

Doss was born in Rector, Arkansas. He later moved to Missouri where he graduated from Portageville High School in 1932. He spent the next two years in the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part o ...

before attending Lead Belt Junior College in Desloge, Missouri. He graduated in 1936.

Career

Early military years (1940–1941)

After being commissioned as a second lieutenant on December 20, 1940, Doss's first military assignment was to the 41st squadron of the

31st Operations Group The 31st Operations Group is the flying component of the 31st Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe. It is stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The 31st Operations Group ensures the combat readiness of two F-16CG F ...

Selfridge Field Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

, Michigan. There, he flew

Seversky P-35 The Seversky P-35 is an American fighter aircraft built by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in United States Army Air Cor ...

aircraft. In April 1941, he was appointed squadron operations officer. On April 9, 1941, Doss's P-35 crashed due to mechanical failure in

. The plane was severely damaged.

World War II

In January 1942, Doss and his squadron were deployed to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, New Guinea in the

. In June of that year, he was appointed

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

of the

41st Pursuit Squadron The 41st Flying Training Squadron is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates Beechcraft T-6 Texan II aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron's mission is to train future Air ...

, and by 1943, he was a major in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. In August 1943, Doss became commander of the

, and in November, Doss was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1944, under Doss's command the 35th Fighter Group set a record for the longest fighter mission in the

. After, the

continued into the Philippines. Under Doss's leadership, the group held a combat score of 397 victories and was the first fighter squadron to reach the Japanese mainland. After leading the 35th Fighter Group through the

from Lae, New Guinea to Okinawa, Japan, Doss was promoted to colonel in 1945. Doss's leadership as commander has been commended as integral to the advancement of long-range fighter tactics in the

. His strategic leadership received mention in a booklet that was published by World War II combat pilots of the South West Pacific.

Korean War

In March 1953, Doss was appointed as Commander of the 49th Fighter Wing at Kunsan, Korea, where he flew a

F-84G The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thun ...

. As a combat commander, he led the 49th Fighter Bomber Wing and then the

3rd Bombardment Wing The 3rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The Wing is the largest and principal unit within 11th Air Forc ...

, both at

Kunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an int ...

, through the end of the

. He returned to the United States in April 1954.

Later military years (1954–1968)

After returning to the United States, Doss was appointed as senior Air Force advisor to the

Pennsylvania Air National Guard The Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is, along with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, an element of the Pennsylvania National Guard. As commonw ...

. His next assignment was as vice commander of the 85th Air Defense Division at

. He then served as deputy commander of the

at Fort Lee, Virginia until 1960, when he was appointed

of the

Bangor Air Defense Sector The Bangor Air Defense Sector (BaADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 26th Air Division, being stationed at Topsham Air Force Station, Maine. It was inactivated on 1 A ...

. While serving as commander of the Bangor Air Defense Sector, he held the position of commander of the Bangor North American Air Defense Sector. In 1963, Doss was appointed deputy inspector general and

inspector general An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory o ...

of the

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(USAFE) headquarters.Holmes 27 He served as head of the command liaison agency to the government of France at Paris from 1964 until 1966, and then deputy commander of the

25th Air Division The 25th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force intermediate echelon command and control organization. It was last assigned to First Air Force, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It was inactivated on 30 September 1990 at McChord Air ...

McChord Air Force Base McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worl ...

until he retired from the Air Force in 1968. Edwin A

Education

* 1932 Graduate, Portageville High School * 1936 Graduate, Lead Belt Junior College * 1938 Student,

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

* 1940 United States Army Air Corps Flying School * 1945

Command and General Staff School The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

* 1947 Basic Military Management * 1948

Air Command and Staff School The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Un ...

* 1954 Graduate,

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

* 1958

National War College The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National War Co ...

Fort Lesley J. McNair Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To the peninsula's west is the Washington Chann ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Assignments

Flight information

* Rating:

Command Pilot U.S. Air Force aeronautical ratings are military aviation skill standards established and awarded by the United States Air Force for commissioned officers participating in "regular and frequent flight",The standard by which flight status has bee ...

* Flight hours: More than 4,500 * Aircraft flown:

P-47 The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...

P-51 The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

, and

Awards and decorations

Badges

Effective dates of promotion

References

Bibliography

* Pilots of the Fifth Air Force. “Fighter Combat Tactics in the Southwest Pacific Area.” Merriam Press, Vermont: 2007. . 83 pages. * Holmes, Tony, Ed.. “'Twelve to One' V Fighter Command Aces of the Pacific War”. Oxford, Great Britain: Osprey Publishing, 2004. . 129 pages. * Wistrand, R. B. ''Pacific Sweep: A Pictorial History of the Fifth Air Force Fighter Command''. F.H. Johnson, 1945. ASIN: B000ZUS7DW. * Futrell, Robert F. “The United States Air Force in Korea 1950-1953.” Government Printing Office: 2007. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doss, Edwin A Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Civilian Conservation Corps people National War College alumni Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni 1914 births 1996 deaths People from Rector, Arkansas