James R. Alley

 

Preferred Name: J.R.

Nickname/Call Sign: J.R.

Date of Birth: 10-31-1934

Highest Military Grade Held: Lt. Col., O5

Hometown: Lake Oswego, OR

  • James R. Alley - before
  • James R. Alley - now

Biography

J.R. has some real kudos in his flying career. If you ask him he’ll tell you that as far as he knows, he’s the only known person to have ejected from the back and the front seat of an F-89s (both at night). And he was more than disappointed about not getting a follow-on F-100 assignment from UPT, especially with being the number one graduate of his entire class 61-D (Daedalian Award). J.R. was also the only USAFE F-4 pilot to compete in two AFCENT Tac Wpns Competitions.

In his second flying career he had 19 years flying T-33s, Mk 5/6 Sabres, F-106s, F-4s and the F-100’s that eluded him his entire military career. He conducted a multitude of flying projects with Tracor Flight Systems for TAC, Army, Navy, Canada, England, Germany and Egypt.  J.R. remotely controlled many QF-86s for Army and Air Force missile testing and flew three F-100 ferry flights across the North Atlantic, island hoping.

According to his records he’s the only pilot to fly two solo F-100 flights across the North Atlantic and the last to fly an F-100C, Sept. 6, 1989.

J.R. tells us “I ferried five Egyptian F-4Es, that Air Force F-4 pilots refused to fly, from Cairo West to the Cherry Pt. MCAS Depot with Air Force tanker air refueling support. My last four years consisted mostly of flying 50,000ft, 1.5 mach AQM-37 target launches for Navy Aegis missile ship qualifications out of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Pt. Mugu. I fully retired after 46 years of flying at age 66 with over 11,000 total hours, over 600 air refuelings and a lot of war stories for the grand kids. When asked how I felt about my second flying career, I said, “I felt like I was a fighter pilot who died and went to heaven””.

See a video biography of Lt. Col. James R. Alley at the Flying Heritage website at: Https://video.flyingheritage.com/v/117066877/lt-colonel-james-r-alley.htm

Units Assigned

  • 1961 – 63, 123rd FIS, OREANG, F-89J (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1963 – Extended Active duty, 3575 PTS Vance AFB, T-33/38 (IP).
  • 1966 – RTU, MacDill AFB, F-4C.
  • 1967 – 68, 335th TFS, Seymour Johnson AFB, F-4D.
  • 1968 – Ftr Wpns Instr Schl, Nellis AFB (Dstgd Grad), F-4D.
  • 1968 – 69, 555th TFS, Udorn AB, Sqd. Wpns Instructor, F-4D, 210msns, 420hrs.
  • 1969 – USAFE, 81TFW, 78TFS, 92TFS, RAF Woodbridge/Bentwaters, F-4C/D.
  • 1970 and 1972, 81TFW Team Capt.NATO’s AFCENT TAC WPNs COMP, F-4D.
  • 1974 – TAC FTR WPNs CNTR, Nellis AFB (F-4 Tactics Officer).
  • 1975 – PACAF IG, Clark AB (Chief Opns Inspector).
  • 1977 – 79, Cmdr 1st Test Sqd (Combat Sage) Clark AB, F-4E (retired).

Units Assigned

  • 1953 – Bsc Mil Tng (enlisted), Lackland AFB
  • 1955 – AvCadet, Nav/Rdr Obsr.
  • 1956 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Moody AFB, F-94C.
  • 1956 – 123rd FIS,OREANG, F-94B/F-89D/H (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1959 – UPT, Marianna/Webb, T-34/37/33 (Dstgd.Grad.- Pri. and Bsc).
  • 1961 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Perrin AFB, F-86 (Dstgd Grad).
  • 1961 – 63, 123rd FIS, OREANG, F-89J (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1963 – Extended Active duty, 3575 PTS Vance AFB, T-33/38 (IP).
  • 1966 – RTU, MacDill AFB, F-4C.
  • 1967 – 68, 335th TFS, Seymour Johnson AFB, F-4D.
  • 1968 – Ftr Wpns Instr Schl, Nellis AFB (Dstgd Grad), F-4D.
  • 1968 – 69, 555th TFS, Udorn AB, Sqd. Wpns Instructor, F-4D, 210msns, 420hrs.
  • 1969 – USAFE, 81TFW, 78TFS, 92TFS, RAF Woodbridge/Bentwaters, F-4C/D.
  • 1970 and 1972, 81TFW Team Capt.NATO’s AFCENT TAC WPNs COMP, F-4D.
  • 1974 – TAC FTR WPNs CNTR, Nellis AFB (F-4 Tactics Officer).
  • 1975 – PACAF IG, Clark AB (Chief Opns Inspector).
  • 1977 – 79, Cmdr 1st Test Sqd (Combat Sage) Clark AB, F-4E (retired).

Flight Info

F-4C-D, F-4E, F-86L, F-89F-H-J, F-94, T-33, T-34, T-37, T-38

Awards

Military Education

  • 1953 – Bsc Mil Tng (enlisted), Lackland AFB
  • 1955 – AvCadet, Nav/Rdr Obsr.
  • 1956 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Moody AFB, F-94C.
  • 1956 – 123rd FIS,OREANG, F-94B/F-89D/H (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1959 – UPT, Marianna/Webb, T-34/37/33 (Dstgd.Grad.- Pri. and Bsc).
  • 1961 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Perrin AFB, F-86 (Dstgd Grad).
  • 1966 – SOS
  • 1973-74 ACSC (1973-74) both in residence.

Civilian Education

  • Two years college

See a video biography of Lt. Col. James R. Alley at the Flying Heritage website at: Https://video.flyingheritage.com/v/117066877/lt-colonel-james-r-alley.htm

Biography

Biography

J.R. has some real kudos in his flying career. If you ask him he’ll tell you that as far as he knows, he’s the only known person to have ejected from the back and the front seat of an F-89s (both at night). And he was more than disappointed about not getting a follow-on F-100 assignment from UPT, especially with being the number one graduate of his entire class 61-D (Daedalian Award). J.R. was also the only USAFE F-4 pilot to compete in two AFCENT Tac Wpns Competitions.

In his second flying career he had 19 years flying T-33s, Mk 5/6 Sabres, F-106s, F-4s and the F-100’s that eluded him his entire military career. He conducted a multitude of flying projects with Tracor Flight Systems for TAC, Army, Navy, Canada, England, Germany and Egypt.  J.R. remotely controlled many QF-86s for Army and Air Force missile testing and flew three F-100 ferry flights across the North Atlantic, island hoping.

According to his records he’s the only pilot to fly two solo F-100 flights across the North Atlantic and the last to fly an F-100C, Sept. 6, 1989.

J.R. tells us “I ferried five Egyptian F-4Es, that Air Force F-4 pilots refused to fly, from Cairo West to the Cherry Pt. MCAS Depot with Air Force tanker air refueling support. My last four years consisted mostly of flying 50,000ft, 1.5 mach AQM-37 target launches for Navy Aegis missile ship qualifications out of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Pt. Mugu. I fully retired after 46 years of flying at age 66 with over 11,000 total hours, over 600 air refuelings and a lot of war stories for the grand kids. When asked how I felt about my second flying career, I said, “I felt like I was a fighter pilot who died and went to heaven””.

See a video biography of Lt. Col. James R. Alley at the Flying Heritage website at: Https://video.flyingheritage.com/v/117066877/lt-colonel-james-r-alley.htm

Units - Education - Awards - Flight Info

Units Assigned

  • 1961 – 63, 123rd FIS, OREANG, F-89J (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1963 – Extended Active duty, 3575 PTS Vance AFB, T-33/38 (IP).
  • 1966 – RTU, MacDill AFB, F-4C.
  • 1967 – 68, 335th TFS, Seymour Johnson AFB, F-4D.
  • 1968 – Ftr Wpns Instr Schl, Nellis AFB (Dstgd Grad), F-4D.
  • 1968 – 69, 555th TFS, Udorn AB, Sqd. Wpns Instructor, F-4D, 210msns, 420hrs.
  • 1969 – USAFE, 81TFW, 78TFS, 92TFS, RAF Woodbridge/Bentwaters, F-4C/D.
  • 1970 and 1972, 81TFW Team Capt.NATO’s AFCENT TAC WPNs COMP, F-4D.
  • 1974 – TAC FTR WPNs CNTR, Nellis AFB (F-4 Tactics Officer).
  • 1975 – PACAF IG, Clark AB (Chief Opns Inspector).
  • 1977 – 79, Cmdr 1st Test Sqd (Combat Sage) Clark AB, F-4E (retired).

Units Assigned

  • 1953 – Bsc Mil Tng (enlisted), Lackland AFB
  • 1955 – AvCadet, Nav/Rdr Obsr.
  • 1956 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Moody AFB, F-94C.
  • 1956 – 123rd FIS,OREANG, F-94B/F-89D/H (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1959 – UPT, Marianna/Webb, T-34/37/33 (Dstgd.Grad.- Pri. and Bsc).
  • 1961 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Perrin AFB, F-86 (Dstgd Grad).
  • 1961 – 63, 123rd FIS, OREANG, F-89J (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1963 – Extended Active duty, 3575 PTS Vance AFB, T-33/38 (IP).
  • 1966 – RTU, MacDill AFB, F-4C.
  • 1967 – 68, 335th TFS, Seymour Johnson AFB, F-4D.
  • 1968 – Ftr Wpns Instr Schl, Nellis AFB (Dstgd Grad), F-4D.
  • 1968 – 69, 555th TFS, Udorn AB, Sqd. Wpns Instructor, F-4D, 210msns, 420hrs.
  • 1969 – USAFE, 81TFW, 78TFS, 92TFS, RAF Woodbridge/Bentwaters, F-4C/D.
  • 1970 and 1972, 81TFW Team Capt.NATO’s AFCENT TAC WPNs COMP, F-4D.
  • 1974 – TAC FTR WPNs CNTR, Nellis AFB (F-4 Tactics Officer).
  • 1975 – PACAF IG, Clark AB (Chief Opns Inspector).
  • 1977 – 79, Cmdr 1st Test Sqd (Combat Sage) Clark AB, F-4E (retired).

Flight Info

F-4C-D, F-4E, F-86L, F-89F-H-J, F-94, T-33, T-34, T-37, T-38

Awards

Military Education

  • 1953 – Bsc Mil Tng (enlisted), Lackland AFB
  • 1955 – AvCadet, Nav/Rdr Obsr.
  • 1956 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Moody AFB, F-94C.
  • 1956 – 123rd FIS,OREANG, F-94B/F-89D/H (Full time ADC Alert).
  • 1959 – UPT, Marianna/Webb, T-34/37/33 (Dstgd.Grad.- Pri. and Bsc).
  • 1961 – Advncd Intcptr Schl, Perrin AFB, F-86 (Dstgd Grad).
  • 1966 – SOS
  • 1973-74 ACSC (1973-74) both in residence.

Civilian Education

  • Two years college
Video

See a video biography of Lt. Col. James R. Alley at the Flying Heritage website at: Https://video.flyingheritage.com/v/117066877/lt-colonel-james-r-alley.htm