Roger D. Ingvalson

Roger Ingvalson enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on August 3, 1950, and after basic training he attended Airborne Electronics School before serving as an Airborne Radar Repairman at Randolph AFB, Texas. He was accepted into the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings at Bryan AFB, Texas.. After completing F-80 Shooting Star and F-86 Sabre Combat Crew Training, Lieutenant Ingvalson served as an F-94 Starfire pilot with the 437th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Oxnard AFB, California, then transferred to the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Keflavik, Iceland, flying F-89 Scorpions. His next assignment was as an F-86 pilot with the 552nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron at Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, followed by service as an F-100 Super Sabre pilot with the 406th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Turner AFB, Georgia. Captain Ingvalson next served as an F-105 Thunderchief pilot with the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida, and then Director of Flight Test Operations for the F-105 with the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. Major Ingvalson's next assignment was as an F-105 pilot with the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kadena AB, Okinawa, followed by service as an F-105 pilot and as Operations Officer for the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from January 1968 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on May 28, 1968.