page_title: Francis Gary Powers
section_title: Education and service
hierarchical_section_title: Francis Gary Powers / Education and service
caption_attribution_description: English: “American Spy Pilot Francis Gary Powers”. American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers whose Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile outside Sverdlovsk. Русский: «Американский летчик-шпион Ф. Г. Пауэрс». Американский летчик-шпион Фрэнсис Гарри Пауэрс, чей самолет-разведчик "Локхид У-2" был сбит советской зенитной ракетой под Свердловском. Россия, Москва
context_page_description: Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.
  He later worked as a helicopter pilot for KNBC in Los Angeles and died in a 1977 helicopter crash.
context_section_description: Graduating with a bachelor's degree from Milligan College in Tennessee in June 1950, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in October. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in December 1952 after completing his advanced training with USAF Pilot Training Class 52-H at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. Powers was then assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, as an F-84 Thunderjet pilot.
  He married Barbara Gay Moore in Newnan, Georgia, on April 2, 1955.
  In January 1956 he was recruited by the CIA. In May 1956 he began U-2 training at Watertown Strip, Nevada. His training was complete by August 1956 and his unit, the Second Weather Observational Squadron (Provisional) or Detachment 10-10, was deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. By 1960, Powers was already a veteran of many covert aerial reconnaissance missions. Family members believed that he was a NASA weather reconnaissance pilot.
caption: Powers while he was in Soviet custody
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "1297", "Image ImageLength": "3000", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "35174 16.11.1960 \u0410\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043a\u0430\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043b\u0435\u0442\u0447\u0438\u043a-\u0448\u043f\u0438\u043e\u043d \u0424\u0440\u044d\u043d\u0441\u0438\u0441 \u0413\u0430\u0440\u0440\u0438 \u041f\u0430\u0443\u044d\u0440\u0441, \u0447\u0435\u0439 \u0441\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043b\u0435\u0442-\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0447\u0438\u043a \"\u041b\u043e\u043a\u0445\u0438\u0434 \u0423-2\" \u0431\u044b\u043b \u0441\u0431\u0438\u0442 \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0442\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0437\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0440\u0430\u043a\u0435\u0442\u043e\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u0434 \u0421\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0434\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c. \u0427\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0432/\u0420\u0418\u0410 \u041d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:01:25 12:28:44", "Image Artist": "\u0427\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0432", "Image ExifOffset": "572", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "758", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3913", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "1960:11:16 00:00:00+03:00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "443", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1024"}