Jon A. Reynolds

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Jon A. Reynolds
BG Jon A. Reynolds.jpg
Brigadier General Jon A. Reynolds
Born(1937-12-13)13 December 1937
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branch United States Air Force
Years of service1959–1990
RankUS-O7 insignia.svg Brigadier General
Battles/warsVietnam War
AwardsDistinguished Service Medal
Silver Star (2)
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star with "V" device and oak leaf cluster
Air Medal (7)
Purple Heart
Meritorious Service Medal (3)
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Santos-Dumont Merit Medal
Other workVice President, Raytheon Company

Brigadier General Jon A. Reynolds is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer who served in the Vietnam War. He was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from November 1965 to February 1973. Following his release from captivity he continued his USAF career, finally serving as assistant deputy director for attaches.

Early life and education[]

He was born on 13 December 1937 in Philadelphia and graduated from Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in 1955. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Trinity College in 1959.[1]

Military career[]

He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program and entered active duty in December 1959. From January 1960 to January 1961 he attended primary pilot training at , Missouri and basic pilot training at Craig Air Force Base, Alabama. He then was assigned to advanced flight training in the F-100 Super Sabre at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. In January 1962 he transferred to the 429th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, as an F-100 pilot.[1]

In March 1963 he was assigned as an air liaison officer and forward air controller with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam 22nd Infantry Division. He returned to the United States in February 1964 and was assigned to the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where he flew the F-105 Thunderchief. During 1964 and 1965, as a member of the 334th and 335th Tactical Fighter Squadrons at Seymour Johnson, he participated in squadron deployments to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey; Yokota Air Base, Japan; Osan Air Base, South Korea; and Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand.[1]

On 28 November 1965, while flying a mission near Yên Bái, North Vietnam, his F-105D was shot down, he ejected, was captured and interned as a prisoner of war. On 6 July 1966 he was one of the prisoners forced to participate in the Hanoi March. He was among the first group of American prisoners released during Operation Homecoming on 12 February 1973.[1]

Following his return from captivity he undertook graduate study through the Air Force Institute of Technology. In 1975 he received a master's degree in military history from Duke University. From July 1975 to June 1979 he served at the U.S. Air Force Academy as a history department member and directed the world and area studies and military history programs. He graduated from Air War College in 1978. He then was assigned as a politico-military affairs officer in the Western Hemisphere Division, Directorate of Plans, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington D.C. In July 1980 he became a National War College faculty member. He received his doctorate in military history from Duke University in 1980. In June 1981 he returned to Air Force headquarters as chief of the Western Hemisphere Division, Directorate of Plans. During this tour, he served as a delegate to the Inter-American Defense Board and was a member of the Canada-United States Permanent Joint Board on Defense and the Canada-United States Military Cooperation Committee.[1]

From March 1982 to March 1984 he attended Defense Intelligence School and studied Mandarin Chinese through the State Department's Foreign Service Institute. He was Air attaché and then defense/air attache to the People's Republic of China from April 1984 to January 1988. During the time he was senior U.S. military representative there, he simultaneously served as head of the U.S. security assistance effort in Beijing. He was responsible for managing almost $1 billion in security assistance programs and was the first westerner to fly a People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter aircraft. He was promoted to brigadier general on 1 October 1986. He became military assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force in February 1988. In August 1989 he became assistant deputy director for attaches, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., responsible for directing 96 U.S. defense attache offices worldwide.[1]

He retired from the USAF on 1 September 1990.[1]

Later life[]

Following his retirement he joined Raytheon Company as vice president for international technology programs, first working on the destruction of American chemical weapons at the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System and then as head of sales in China from 1994 to 2000.[2]

Decorations[]

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal; Silver Star with oak leaf cluster; Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit; Distinguished Flying Cross; Bronze Star with "V" device and oak leaf cluster; Air Medal with 6 oak leaf clusters; Purple Heart; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and Santos-Dumont Merit Medal

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Brigadier General Jon A. Reynolds". February 1990. Retrieved 12 October 2020.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Jon A. Reynolds '59" (PDF). Trinity College. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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