Alexander Pokryshkin - After The War

After The War

When the Second World War ended, Pokryshkin found himself shunned due to his war-time preference for non-Soviet aircraft. In 1948 he graduated from the Military Academy in Frunze. Between 1949–1955 he was Deputy commander of the 33rd Fighter Air Defense and the commander of the 88th Fighter Aviation Corps in Rzhev. He was repeatedly passed up for promotion. Only after Stalin's death did he find himself back in favor and finally promoted to Air Marshal. However he never reached a very high position in the Soviet Air Force, mostly serving in regional commander roles. In 1957 he graduated from General Staff Academy. After graduation, served as chief of fighter aircraft of the North Caucasian military defense. From 1959, he served in the 8th Army Air Defense separate (Kiev) and from 1961 to 1968 was Commander of the 8th Army Air Defense and deputy commander of the Kiev Military District Air Defense Forces.In 1968 he became Deputy Chief of the Air Defense Forces.

His highest position was as president of DOSAAF (1972–1981), a mostly civilian organization that was largely tasked with training young civilians and preparing them for service with the Air Force. Pokryshkin again found himself ostracized for his honesty. Despite strong pressure, he never wrote anything or supported glorification of premier Leonid Brezhnev's role in the battle of Kuban, where Brezhnev was a minor general. Pokryshkin died on November 13, 1985 at the age of 72. In Novosibirsk, a street, a square and a subway station are named in his honour.

He wrote several books about his wartime experiences, none of which appear to be translated into English. He appeared in several episodes of the Unknown War documentaries narrated by Burt Lancaster.