William Paul Fife

Colonel William Paul 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 habitats.

Fife was a Professor Emeritus at Texas A&M University.

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 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 Headquarters 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 Headquarters Office of Intelligence in Washington, D.C., 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 missions 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 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.

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.

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.

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 Headquarters located in Kim Il Sung's palace and stayed until the then Capt. Fife, ordered the evacuation of USAFSS COMINT personnel as China entered the Korean War.

Fife's position was the beginning of the future USAFSS Special Security Office program.