Post-Vietnam War
Removed from active combat following his fifth and sixth kills, DeBellevue re-applied for and re-entered pilot training at Williams AFB, Arizona, in November 1972. After pinning on his new pilot wings, he returned to the F-4 as a pilot assigned to the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. In 1975, he moved to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, where he served as the assistant operations officer in the 43d Tactical Fighter Squadron. He went on to serve as the 5th Air Force deputy chief of staff at Yokota AB, Japan and the Commander of the 432d Combat Support Group at Misawa AB, Japan. He was then assigned as the commander of the 95th Air Base Wing at Edwards AFB, California, until 1995. The 95 ABW is the host wing at Edwards AFB, which is the second largest base, area-wise, in the U.S. Air Force.
DeBellevue retired from active duty as a full Colonel while serving as commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 440 at the University of Missouri in January 1998 after 30 years of military service.
He was the last American fighter ace on active duty.
Read more about this topic: Charles B. De Bellevue
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“He was ... a degenerate gambler. That is, a man who gambled simply to gamble and must lose. As a hero who goes to war must die. Show me a gambler and I’ll show you a loser, show me a hero and I’ll show you a corpse.”
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