- Lew Allen
Infobox Military Person
name= Lew Allen, Jr.
born= birth date and age|1925|12|30
died=
placeofbirth=Miami, Florida
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=
caption= 10th Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1978-1982)
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Air Force
serviceyears= 1946–1982
rank=General
commands=Air Force Systems Command National Security Agency Chief of Staff, USAF
unit=
battles=
awards=Defense Distinguished Service Medal Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit
laterwork=Jet Propulsion Laboratory President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board General Lew Allen, Jr. (bornSeptember 30 ,1925 inMiami, Florida ) was the tenthChief of Staff of the United States Air Force . As chief, he served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipage of 750,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of theJoint Chiefs of Staff , he and the other service chiefs function as military advisers to theSecretary of Defense , National Security Council and the president.World War II
Allen graduated from high school in
Gainesville, Texas , in 1942. He entered theUnited States Military Academy , in 1943 and graduated in 1946 with abachelor of science degree and commission as a second lieutenant. He was awarded pilot wings upon graduation from flight training.Post-World War II
After completing multiengine flight training in November 1946, General Allen was assigned to
Strategic Air Command 's 7th Bombardment Group atCarswell Air Force Base ,Texas , where he flewB-29 Superfortress es andConvair B-36 s, and also served in various positions related tonuclear weapon ry. He attended the Air Tactical Course atTyndall Air Force Base , Florida, and returned to Carswell Air Force Base as an instructor and assistant special weapons officer for the 7th Bombardment Wing.In September 1950, he entered the University of Illinois for graduate training in
nuclear physics and received a master of science degree in 1952. He earned hisdoctorate degree inphysics in 1954 after completing an experimentalthesis on high energy photonuclear reactions. General Allen then was assigned to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission'sLos Alamos Scientific Laboratory inNew Mexico as aphysicist in the Test Division, where he became friends with bomb designerTed Taylor . He conducted experiments in several of thenuclear test series. These experiments related to the physics ofthermonuclear weapons design and to the effects ofhigh altitude nuclear explosion s forballistic missile defense .From June 1957 to December 1961, General Allen was assigned to
Kirtland Air Force Base , New Mexico, as science adviser to the Physics Division of theAir Force Special Weapons Center . He specialized in the military effects of high altitude nuclear explosions and participated in several weapon test series. He was scientific director of a major experiment that utilized a large series of high altitude rockets to measure the characteristics of electrons trapped in the geomagnetic field after an exoatmospheric nuclear burst.He was assigned in December 1961, to the Office of the
Secretary of Defense , Space Technology Office in the Directorate of Research and Engineering,Washington, D.C. From June 1965 to February 1973, he was assigned to the Office of theSecretary of the Air Force , initially inLos Angeles as deputy director for advanced plans in the Directorate of Special Projects. He moved toThe Pentagon in June 1968 as deputy director of space systems and in June 1969 became director. He returned to Los Angeles in September 1970 as assistant to the director of special projects and in April 1971 became director of special projects, with additional duty as deputy commander for satellite programs, Space and Missile Systems Organization.After serving briefly as chief of staff for
Air Force Systems Command atAndrews Air Force Base ,Maryland , General Allen was appointed in March 1973 as deputy to theDirector of Central Intelligence for theIntelligence Community in Washington, D.C. In August 1973, he became director,National Security Agency and chief, Central Security Service atFort George G. Meade , Maryland. Allen's tenure as NSA director was noteworthy in that he became the first NSA director to ever testify publicly before Congress. [cite book
last=Bamford
first=James
year=1983
title=The Puzzle Palace
publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company
location=New York
id=ISBN 0-14-006748-5
pages=111-112 ] In August 1977, he was named commander ofAir Force Systems Command .Allen served as the vice chief of staff, U.S. Air Force from April 1978 until he became
Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in July 1978. His nomination was unusual in that he had never served an overseas or a combat assignment, and most of his positions were in highly specialized activities rather than in the usual command structure of the Air Force.Following retirement from the Air Force in 1982, he became the Director of
Jet Propulsion Laboratory , during theVoyager program , serving in that capacity until 1990.He is a member of the
National Academy of Engineering [cite web
url=http://www.nae.edu/nae/naepub.nsf/Members+By+UNID/FC59400336B81DCD852569E00060F1FA?opendocument
title=Dr. Lew Allen Jr.
publisher=National Academy of Engineering
accessdate=2006-07-16 ] and theCouncil on Foreign Relations .From 1993 to 1995, General Allen served as a member of the
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) [cite web
url=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=President's_Foreign_Intelligence_Advisory_Board#Some_former_members_of_the_PFIAB:
title= President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
publisher=SourceWatch
accessdate=2007-05-30 ] and theIntelligence Oversight Board cite web |year=1999|title=Association of Graduates, USMA |work=1999 Distinguished Graduate Award |url=http://www.aogusma.org/aog/awards/DGA/99cit/L-Allen.htm|accessdate=2006-04-15 ]Allen was awarded the 1999 Distinguished Graduate Award of the Association of Graduates, the alumni association of West Point graduates.
Awards and Decorations
*Command Pilot Badge (more than 4,000 flying hours)
*Master Missile Badge
*Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
*Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
*Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
*Joint Service Commendation Medal
*National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal .References
External links
* [http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=4508 Official Air Force biography]
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