List of United States Air Force personnel

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[]

• John Agar - Film actor
• Paul W. Airey – First Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
• Frank Albertson - Film actor
• Buzz Aldrin – Astronaut (Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 – second man to walk on the Moon)
• Robert Altman – Film director
• William Anders – Astronaut (Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon)
• Michael P. Anderson – Astronaut (Killed in Columbia Accident)
• Sunny Anderson – Radio and television personality
• Edward Anhalt – Novelist and screenwriter
• Richard Arlen - Film actor
• Michael F. Armstrong - Attorney
• Hap Arnold – Aviation pioneer and General of the Air Force
• Xavier Atencio – Film animator
• Gene Autry – Film actor, singer, and Major League baseball team owner
• Al Anthony – Radio personality

B[]

• 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
• Hobey Baker – Amateur hockey player
• Bernt Balchen – Norwegian-born aviation explorer
• Thomas Scott Baldwin – Pioneer balloonist
• Martin Balsam – Film actor
• Sy Bartlett – Film screenwriter and producer, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High
• Warren Beatty - Oscar-winning film actor, director, producer and screenwriter
• Chuck Bednarik – Professional football player
• Art Bell – Talk radio personality
• Lloyd Bentsen – Senator of Texas, 1988 vice presidential nominee, 69th Secretary of the Treasury
• James Best – Television and film actor
• Edward Binns – Television and film actor
• John Birch – East China missionary
• Barry Bishop – Member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest
• Charles F. Blair, Jr. – General officer, and husband of actress Maureen O'Hara
• Esther Blake – First female member of the United States Air Force
• John Boccieri – Member of Congress of Ohio.
• 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
• Lewis H. Brereton - Aviation pioneer and only active duty member of USAF and all of its forebearers
• Charles Bronson – Film actor
• Clarence Brown – Six-time Oscar-nominated film director who served as a fighter pilot and flight instructor in the United States Army Air Service during World War I
• Dale Brown – Author
• Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. – Tuskegee Airman, educator, and TV personality
• John Bunch – Jazz pianist
• William Bundy – CIA analyst and foreign affairs advisor
• George W. Bush – 43rd President of the United States
• Craig D. Button – Victim of mysterious flight and crash
• Red Buttons – Film actor

C[]

• Dann Cahn – Film editor
• Frank Capra - Film director
• George Carlin – Actor & Comedian
• Johnny Cash – Country Music Singer
• James Lea Cate - Historian
• Clint Castleberry – College football player
• 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 - Film actor
• Jacqueline Cochran - Aviator; co-founder and director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
• Red Cochran - Professional football player, coach, and scout
• 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
• Mike Connors - Film and TV actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix
• Jackie Coogan – Film and television actor
• Gordon Cooper – Mercury Astronaut (Mercury 9 & Gemini 5)
• Merian C. Cooper – Adventurer, filmmaker and film producer
• Joseph Cotten - Film actor
• James E. Counsilman - Collegiate swimming coach
• Clyde Cowan – Physicist and discoverer of the neutrino
• James Gould Cozzens – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
• Adrian Cronauer - Lawyer, media expert, and inspiration for the film Good Morning, Vietnam

D[]

• Tom Daschle – Senator of South Dakota
• Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. – First African-American USAF general officer
• Bud Day - Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam POW.
• James Dickey - Poet
• Brian Donlevy – Film actor
• Jimmy Doolittle – Test pilot and aeronautical engineer
• Bob Dornan - Member of Congress from California and talk radio personality
• Charles Duke – Astronaut (Apollo 16)

E[]

• Robert Ellenstein - Film and television actor
• Sam Elliott – Oscar-nominated film actor
• Jules Engel – Filmmaker and animator
• Joe Engle – Astronaut, X-15 and space shuttle pilot
• Bill Erwin – Character actor known for his 1993 Emmy-nominated performance on Seinfeld, portraying the embittered, irascible retiree Sid Fields in the episode "The Old Man"

F[]

• Fred D. Fagg Jr. - 2d Director of Air Commerce and 6th president of the University of Southern California
• Norman Fell - Film and television actor
• Bryce Fisher - Professional football player
• Kelly Flinn – First female B-52 pilot
• Tennessee Ernie Ford – Television comedian and recording artist
• Nathan Bedford Forrest III – Great-grandson of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest
• Joe Foss – Marine Corps ace and 20th Governor of South Dakota
• John Frankenheimer - Film director
• Arthur Franz – Film actor
• Morgan Freeman – Film actor
• Theodore Freeman – Astronaut (first fatality)

G[]

• Clark Gable – Film actor
• Ernest K. Gann – Novelist
• Daniel Garber - Artist
• William T. Gardiner - 55th Governor of Maine
• Robert Gates – 22d United States Secretary of Defense
• Marvin Gaye – Singer
• Michael V. Gazzo - Broadway playwright and film actor best known for playing Frank Pentangeli in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
• Elmer Gedeon – Three-sport college athlete and professional baseball player
• Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel – Author
• Leigh Gerdine - Musician, civic leader, Webster University president
• Arthur Godfrey – Television personality
• George Gobel – Television comedian
• Barry Goldwater – Senator of Arizona and 1964 Republican presidential nominee
• Alberto Gonzales – 80th United States Attorney General
• Dick Grace - Film stunt flyer
• Lindsey Graham – Senator of South Carolina
• Susan Grant – Novelist
• Peter Graves – Film and television actor
• Hank Greenberg – Major League baseball player
• Gus Grissom – Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Astronaut

H[]

• 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. – Film 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.
• Scott Hall - Executive, C.P.A., C.F.P.
• Iceal Hambleton – Missile expert, subject of "Bat 21" rescue
• Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. - Thoroughbred racehorse breeder
• Howard Hawks - Academy Award-nominated filmmaker who served as an aviator in the United States Army Air Service during World War I.
• Michael Hayden – 19th CIA Director
• Van Heflin – Film actor
• H. John Heinz III – Senator of Pennsylvania.
• Joseph Heller – Novelist
• Skitch Henderson – Band leader
• Chad Hennings – Professional football player
• Jim Hensley – Beer executive and father-in-law to John McCain
• Don Herbert – Television personality as "Mr. Wizard"
• Charlton Heston – Film actor
• John Hillerman – Film actor
• Ben Hogan - Professional golfer
• William Holden – 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 TV actor, also father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of the actresses Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard
• Rick Husband – NASA astronaut (killed in the Columbia accident)
• Mac Hyman - Novelist

J[]

• James Jabara – First American jet ace
• Bernard James - NBA player for the Dallas Mavericks
• Randall Jarrell – Poet
• Rick Jason - Film and television actor
• Russell Johnson – Film and television actor
• Sam Johnson – Member of Congress of Texas
• Bobby Jones – Amateur golf champion
• David M. Jones – Doolittle Raider and POW of Stalag Luft III.

K[]

• Todd Karns – Film actor who played George Bailey's younger brother, Harry, in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life
• William Keighley – Film director and actor who supervised the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II
• Nicholas Katzenbach – 65th United States Attorney General
• DeForest Kelley – Film and television actor
• Arthur Kennedy – Film actor
• Ron Kenoly – Christian music worship leader
• Algene and Frederick Key – Brothers and aviation pioneers
• Iven Kincheloe – Air Force test pilot
• Dennis King – Software executive
• Micki King – Olympic diving gold-medalist and athletic coach
• Wally Kinnan – Pioneering meteorologist
• Irvin Kershner - Film director
• Norman Krasna – Screenwriter

L[]

• Alan Ladd – Film actor
• Fiorello H. La Guardia – Mayor of New York City
• Frank Purdy Lahm – First military aviator
• Tom Landry - Dallas Cowboys football coach
• Beirne Lay, Jr. – Screenwriter, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High
• Norman Lear – Television and motion picture producer, director and screenwriter
• 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
• Charles Lindbergh – Legendary aviator
• Roger Locher - USAF pilot whose rescue was the deepest inside North Vietnam during the entire Vietnam War
• Donald S. Lopez, Sr. – Ace with the Flying Tigers
• Robert Moffat Losey - Meteorologist; considered to be the first American military casualty in World War II
• Nancy Harkness Love - Aviator and co-founder of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
• Frank Luke Jr. – Medal of Honor recipient in World War I

M[]

• MC Tee – Musician
• John E. Mack - Psychiatrist
• Gordon MacRae – Broadway and Film actor
• John Lee Mahin – Screenwriter and film producer
• Karl Malden – Film actor
• Herman J. Mankiewicz – Oscar-winning screenwriter of Citizen Kane who also served in the Marine Corps
• Delbert Mann - Television and film director
• Paul Mantz – Film stunt pilot
• Dean Paul Martin - Singer and actor
• Tony Martin – Entertainer
• Vernon Martin - Professional football player
• Jerry Mathers – Television actor
• Walter Matthau – Film actor
• T. Allen McArtor – Business executive and FAA Administrator
• Kevin McCarthy – Film actor
• Joseph C. McConnell – Leading U.S. ace of the Korean War
• George McGovern – Senator of South Dakota, 1972 presidential nominee
• Robert McNamara and the Whiz Kids – Ford Motor Company executives
• James Meredith - Civil Rights figure; first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi
• Gary Merrill – Film actor

• Ray Milland - Film actor
• Dana Mohler-Faria – President, Bridgewater State College
• Nicole Malachowski – First woman pilot with United States Air Force Thunderbirds
• Glenn Miller – Musician and band leader
• Walter M. Miller, Jr. – Science fiction author
• John Purroy Mitchel - 95th Mayor of New York City
• Billy Mitchell – Grandfather of the U.S. Air Force.
• Cameron Mitchell – Film actor
• Nicole Mitchell - TV meteorologist
• George Montgomery – Film and television actor
• Clayton Moore - Television actor
• Dodge Morgan - Single-handed sailor and entrepreneur
• Charles Munger – Billionaire investor
• Richard Murphy – Film screenwriter

N[]

• Jack Narz – TV game show host
• Mike Nesmith – Guitarist, member of "The Monkees," and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune
• Chuck Norris – Actor
• Willie Nelson – Singer and songwriter
• Cody Nickson^[1] — American television personality, winner of The Amazing Race 30, contestant of Big Brother 19
• Charles Nordhoff – American writer best known for The Bounty Trilogy who served in the Ambulance Corps during World War I, as well as a military aviator in both the French Lafayette Flying Corps and the United States Army Air Service.

O[]

• Edmond O'Brien – Film actor
• Jarvis Offutt – Air Service aviator and namesake of Offutt Air Force Base.
• Robin Olds – Two-war triple ace
• George Olesen - Cartoonist
• Patrick O'Neal - Film actor

P[]

• Jack Palance – Film actor
• Ron Paul – Member of Congress; 1988, 2008 & 2012 Presidential candidate
• John Payne – Film actor
• Stacy Pearsall - combat photographer, twice winner of the NPPA Military Photographer of the Year award
• Oscar Francis Perdomo – "Ace in a Day"
• Leo Penn - Film director
• Leonard Pennario – Concert pianist and composer
• Sonny Perdue – 81st Governor of Georgia.
• H. Ross Perot, Jr. – Member of the Forbes 400 and son of Ross Perot
• Rick Perry - 47th Governor of Texas
• Paul Picerni - Actor
• Tom Poston – Television comedian
• William H. Pitsenbarger – Enlisted recipient of the Medal of Honor
• Robert M. Polich, Sr. – Recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross and POW of Stalag Luft III
• Gregg Popovich – Head Coach of the NBA professional basketball team San Antonio Spurs
• H.C. Potter - Film director and producer
• Jody Powell – White House Press Secretary
• Francis Gary Powers - CIA U-2 spy plane pilot
• Robert Preston – Film and Broadway actor
• Mario Puzo – Screenwriter and author of The Godfather (1969)

Q[]

• Elwood R. "Pete" Quesada – Aviation pioneer
• Robin Quivers – Co-host of the Howard Stern Show

R[]

• Dennis Rader – BTK Serial Killer
• John Randolph - Broadway and film actor
• Gene Raymond – Film actor
• Ronald Reagan – 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 – Film actor, comedian, director and screenwriter
• Roy Riegels – All-American football player
• Robinson Risner - A decorated USAF General and Vietnam POW.
• R. Stephen Ritchie – USAF Ace in the Vietnam War
• Martin Ritt - Film director
• Gene Roddenberry – Television producer
• Marion Rodgers-Communications Specialist, Former Tuskegee Airman
• Elliott Roosevelt – Son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Quentin Roosevelt – Son of Theodore Roosevelt, killed in WWI
• Bob Ross – Painter
• Chelcie Ross – Film actor
• Dan Rowan – Comedian and television actor
• Eddie Rickenbacker – Leading American World War I ace
• Dick Rutan - Aviation record-holder and aircraft designer

S[]

• Sabu - Film actor
• James Salter – Novelist
• Mark Sanford – 115th Governor of South Carolina
• Roy Scheider – Actor
• Bob Schieffer – Television journalist
• Tex Schramm - President and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys
• 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
• Lance Sijan – Medal of Honor recipient
• Sinbad – Actor & Comedian
• Deke Slayton – Mercury and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronaut
• Jack Smight - Theater, film and television director
• Tubby Smith - NCAA Men's Basketball Coach
• Carl Spaatz – Pioneer airman, first Chief of Staff of the Air Force
• Aaron Spelling – Film and television producer
• Mickey Spillane – Crime novelist
• 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
• Ted Stevens – Senator of Alaska
• James Stewart – Film actor
• Bert Stiles – Author
• Ralph Story – Television personality
• Dale E. Stovall - USAF General, decorated Vietnam War search and rescue pilot
• John Sturges - Film director
• 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.
• Jack Swigert - Astronaut and congressman-elect

T[]

• Don Taylor - Film actor
• Fred Taylor – College basketball coach
• Kenneth M. Taylor – World War II ace at the Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Jamie Teachenor – Multi-Platinum Country Music singer/songwriter
• Hunter S. Thompson – Writer
• Harrison R. Thyng – Two-war ace and Senate candidate
• Stephen W. Thompson - First U. S. aviator to shoot down an enemy aircraft.
• Bobby Thomson – Major League baseball player
• Leo K. Thorsness - Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam POW.
• Paul Tibbets – Commander of the Enola Gay
• Mel Tillis - Country Music Singer
• Tuskegee Airmen – First African-American military pilots

U[]

• Stewart Udall – 37th United States Secretary of the Interior

V[]

• Dick Van Dyke – Film and TV actor, comedian, writer, singer and dancer
• Jerry Van Dyke – Film and TV actor, musician and comedian

W[]

• 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
• Jack L. Warner – Hollywood film executive
• Jack Webb – Film and television actor, director, and producer
• George Welch – World War II ace, decorated for heroism at the Attack on Pearl Harbor
• William A. Wellman – Oscar-winning film director 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
• 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
• John Williams - Composer
• Flip Wilson - Comedian
• Heather Wilson – Member of Congress of New Mexico
• Reality Winner – Whistleblower
• Harris Wofford – Senator of Pennsylvania
• Alfred Worden – Astronaut (Apollo 15)
• James C. "Jim" Wright, Jr. – U.S. Representative from Texas and 56th Speaker of the House
• William Wyler – Film director

Y[]

• Coleman Young – Mayor of Detroit (1974–1994)
• Chuck Yeager – Air Force test pilot

Z[]

• Louis Zamperini – Olympic distance runner
• Darryl F. Zanuck - Film producer and executive

References[]