William Paul Fife Colonel William Paul " Bill " Fife USAF ( Ret ) ( November 23 , 1917 – October 13 , 2008 ) was a United States Air Force officer that first proved the feasibility for U . S . Air Force Security Service airborne Communications Intelligence ( COMINT ) collection and Fife is considered the " Father of Airborne Intercept " . Fife was also a hyperbaric medicine specialist who was known for his pioneering research on pressurized environments ranging from high altitude to underwater habitat s . Fife was a Professor Emeritus at Texas A & M University . Education . Fife began his training in anatomy from the University of Washington in 1935 and had started his first year of medical school when World War II began . Fife earned a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Oregon in 1956 . He later completed a Ph . D . in physiology at Ohio State University in 1962 . Fife was a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist ( CHT ) through the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology . Military career . Fife left medical school and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in U . S . Army in June 1939 . Fife then reported to the 15th Infantry at Fort Lewis , Washington for training in Aug 1940 . After receiving his basic infantry training , he reported to the 60th Infantry at Fort Bragg in North Carolina where he served as an Assistant Operations Officer in September 1940 . Fife volunteered for the 18th class of Parachute Jump School in Fort Benning , Georgia in April 1942 . Following his training in May 1942 , he joined the newly formed 503rd parachute infantry battalion as Company Commander . As Company Commanding Officer of the 503rd parachute infantry regiment in Sept 1943 , Fife led his company in a jump in the Markham Valley , New Guinea . This was the first successful airborne combat jump in the Pacific Theater of Operations . His first combat jump was planned with the ground elevation 500 feet lower than it actually was and Fife found himself in a coconut tree . Fife had completed 35 training and combat jumps by the time WWII ended . Fife reported to the U . S . Army FE Head Quarters Office of Intelligence in January 1944 then to the 68th Airborne Air Control Squadrons ( AACS ) combat operations in SW Pacific in September . He then went on to the 141st AACS special ops in New Guinea & P . I . in January 1945 . Fife reported to the AACS Head Quarters Office of Intelligence in Washington , DC in August 1945 . Hoping for a chance to ride in the planes more often , Fife transferred to the Air Force in November 1947 where he was immediately sent to the Defense Language Institute to learn Russian . He became the first Russian linguist of the USAF Security Service ( USAFSS ) command . Fife was among the first inductees to the Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame . Fife was sent to 1st Radio Squadron Mobile , Johnson Air Base , Japan during the Allied Occupation where he earned the unofficial title , “ Father of USAFSS Command in the Far East ” . Part of his duties included intelligence briefings for General Douglas MacArthur . Russian forces were beginning to build up and the Far East Air Force needs were changing , Fife proposed airborne Communications Intelligence ( COMINT ) collection . In 1950 , Fife planned and flew the first USAF Security Service reconnaissance mission s from Kadena Air Base over the Sea of Japan with a wire recorder and jury - rigged receiver on an RB - 29 air plane . As a result of these missions proved the feasibility for USAFSS airborne COMINT collection and Fife is considered the " Father of Airborne Intercept " . He also managed to earn a first degree black belt . In 2006 , Fife was inducted into the Air Intelligence Agency Hall of Honor . Fife was then sent to North Korea where he served as USAFSS 1st RSM ’ s liaison officer to Fifth Air Force Head Quarters located in Kim Il - sung ' s palace and stayed until the then Capt . Fife , ordered the evacuation of USAFSS COMINT personnel as Chinese entered the Korean War . Fife ' s position was the beginning of the future USAFSS Special Security Office program . In 1951 , Fife set up USAFSS linguist team operations in Pyeongtaek with the 606th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron . Fife had a great respect for the Korean operators he worked with noting they were " the best I have ever seen " . In 1951 , Fife returned to Japan until transfer to Moscow shortly after Stalin died . Lieutenant Colonel Fife , with his wife Ann , served as Assistant Air Attaché at the U . S . Embassy with military intelligence as a Russian expert . Following his time in Moscow , he spent time at The Pentagon as the Intelligence Briefing Officer for General Twining and General LeMay . Colonel Fife translated for President Dwight D . Eisenhower a radio transmission from a Soviet fighter pilot intercepted after shooting down a USAF C - 130 ACRP ( 60528 ) over Armenia in September 1958 . In 1962 , after obtaining his Ph . D . , he served as Assistant Chief of the Aerospace Medical Research Division at Brooks Air Force Base , San Antonio , Texas where he performed research essential to the space race . His work was in cardiovascular responses and measurement tools critical for tests of g - force and near - vacuum survival . The Air Force did not have a training program in hyperbaric medicine so Fife was trained by the Navy . His first test dive was performed with Micky Goodwin and Robert Workman . Col . Fife retired from the Air Force in 1967 . Academic career . Dr . Fife joined the Texas A & M University Department of Biology faculty in 1967 . In his time there he served as the Chairman of the Biology Department , Dean of Research and Vice President for Academic Affairs as well as chairman for numerous academic committees . Dr . Fife was instrumental in the founding of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences . He retired from Texas A & M in 1997 . Contributions to hyperbaric medicine . Fife was a pioneer in undersea medicine and served as director of the Texas A & M University Hyperbaric laboratory . Fife was active with the HydroLab saturation diving research program funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . Fife was an aquanaut having spent 28 days in saturation in the habitat performing physiology experiments . The first uses of hydrox , a gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is used as a breathing gas in very deep diving are usually attributed to six ocean dive trials by the Swedish engineer , Arne Zetterström in 1945 . Fife later showed that hydrox would allow divers to descend and work at great depths . Fife also developed the first decompression tables for the use of the mixture . The French engineering company COMEX ( Compagnie maritime d ' expertises ) later applied Fife ' s work in developing their HYDRA dive series . Much of his other diving medical research was focused on women in diving and spinal cord decompression sickness . Fife ' s interest in clinical hyperbaric medicine lead to several research projects to look for new indications for the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy . It has been estimated that about half of the 2 , 000 patient treatments done by his lab were for research . These projects included the treatment of : HyperTrak clinical documentation software , marketed by Intellicure , Inc . , was started at Texas A & M University with Dr . Fife and David Walker in 1996 . Professional societies . Fife was a member of the Aerospace Medical Association , the American Physiological Society , Sigma Xi and the American Academy of Underwater Sciences . He served on the Executive Committee of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society . Awards . Texas A & M University presented Fife with the University Outstanding Award for Teaching in 1975 . The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society conveyed their Paul Bert Award for Distinguished Research to Fife in 1983 and their Oceaneering Award for Research in 1994 . On his 78th birthday in 1995 , Fife and a team from Diving Diseases Research Centre received " The Duke of Edinburgh ' s Prize of the British Sub - Aqua Club " which was presented by H . R . H . Prince Phillip for their work on " Men and Women in Diving " .