Devol Brett Carroll Devol " Rock " Brett ( August 1 , 1923 – August 14 , 2010 ) was a United States Army Air Forces general who piloted American aircraft during crises and wars from 1948 ( the Berlin Crisis ) through the Vietnam War ( 1960s ) . He served in Austria , Germany , Korea , Vietnam , the United Kingdom , Iran , and Turkey , before his final assignment as commander of Allied Air Forces Southern Europe in 1977 . After his retirement in 1978 , he was a defense consultant for more than 20 years , retiring in 1998 . Early life and education . Devol Brett was born in California in 1923 at the Presidio of San Francisco , the son of U . S . Army Air Force General George Brett . He attended private high school , at Landon School in Bethesda , Maryland , graduating in 1941 . In 1945 he graduated from the U . S . Military Academy at West Point , N . Y . , where he was given the nickname " Rock " for his toughness . In 1966 he earned a master ' s degree in international policy from George Washington University . Military career . Upon graduation , Brett was commissioned a pilot in the Army Air Corps . He first assignment after training , in 1946 , was in Horsching , Austria ; in 1947 he was assigned to 86th Fighter Wing at Munich , Germany . In the early days of the Berlin Airlift in 1948 , he flew C - 47 cargo planes . During the Korean War , Brett took part in more than 100 combat missions , flying P - 51D Mustang s out of the 18th Fighter Wing . He sometimes lead as many as 36 planes on a mission , each typically carrying two 500 pound bombs , six rockets , plus machine gun ammunition . His plane had the nickname " Noherohere " painted on it ; his wife has asked him to " be good , but don ' t be a hero " . Beginning in April 1957 , Brett commanded the 355th Fighter Day Squadron , out of Myrtle Beach Air Force Base , which consisted of 17 F - 100 Super Sabre jets . In that position , he was featured in a 1958 Time magazine article in which an editor went weightless during dozens of short climbs and dives in Brett ' s F100 . His unit made four major deployments to Europe , including the 1958 Lebanon crisis , where his squadron was part of the first Composite Air Strike Force , and the Berlin Crisis of 1961 . In 2003 he was honored by The Air Command and Staff College Gathering of Eagles Foundation , which designated him an " Eagle " ; the Foundation specifically noted his actions in the Lebanon Crisis : On 14 July 1958 , Rock Brett led his F - 100D / F squadron in Operation DOUBLE TROUBLE , a top secret mission to deploy the first full Composite Air Strike Force from the US to Turkey in support of Lebanon invoking the Eisenhower Doctrine following the 14 July coup d ' etat in Iraq . This mission was also the first operational day / night transatlantic air - refueling mission by fighters . Brett ' s squadron was in place in less than 20 hours after notification . His leadership helped resolve the crisis and pave the way for today ' s critical Air Expeditionary Force deployments . In the Vietnam War , Brett flew more than 100 missions in a F - 4C jet fighter . In 1967 , he was shot down over North Vietnam by anti - aircraft fire . He broke his nose and cheekbone while ejecting from his aircraft , and was picked up by a search and rescue helicopter team after several hours in the water . The other member of his crew , a radar operator , did not survive . From 1973 to 1975 , Brett was the senior U . S . military officer in Iran , as chief of the U . S . Military Mission with the Iranian armed forces and the U . S . Military Assistance Advisory Group ( MAAG ) to that country . He was followed in that position by Maj . General Richard Secord . In 1978 , Brett retired from the Air Force . His final position , which he had assumed in 1977 , was as commander of Allied Air Forces Southern Europe , headquartered in Naples , Italy ( part of Allied Forces Southern Europe ) and ( jointly ) commander of U . S . Air Forces in Europe ' s Sixteenth Air Force , based at Torrejon Air Base , Spain . Military consultant . After retiring from the Air Force , Brett became a private military consultant for the Institute for Defense Analyses ( IDA ) . He specialized in conventional and nuclear tactical systems with emphasis on the employment of air power . While at IDA , he also did studies on search and rescue and personnel recovery for the Defense Prisoner of War / Missing Personnel Office . Among his work was a joint report in 1985 , with retired General Bryce Poe , for the Federal Construction Council , on quality control of Air Force construction programs . He retired in 2009 . Family . In 1947 , Brett married Hermine Mayerl of Austria . Brett , stationed in Germany , announced the birth of their first son by flying his P - 47 over the village where his in - laws lived , a short flight from his air base , and dropping a canister with the message " It ' s a boy - George Howard Brett II . " The couple had a second child , Karla . Hermine , who went by Mimi , died in 1999 . In 2005 , Brett married Lou Longino , the widow of a long - time friend of his .