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Lieutenant General Devol Brett was commander 
of Allied Air Forces Southern
Europe, with headquarters at Naples, Italy, and commander of U.S. Air Forces in
Europe's Sixteenth Air Force based at Torrejon Air Base, Spain August 1, 1977
prior to his retirement from active duty on March 2, 1978.
Devol Brett was born at the Presidio of San Francisco, CA, in August 1923, the son of Lieutenant General George H. Brett, U.S. Army Air Corps. He was a 1945 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
General Brett's first assignment was to flight training, where he earned his pilot’s wings and became a single-engine fighter pilot. After transition training, he attended the Army Air Corps Junior Officers course at Orlando, FL In 1946; he went to Horsching, Austria, where he served with the 79th Fighter Group in 1947, then was assigned to the 86th Fighter Wing at Munich, Germany, after which he returned to the United States in 1948 and was assigned to the Air Tactical School, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, first as a student, then as an instructor.
During the Korean War General Brett survived one hundred close-support and
interdiction combat missions, flown at extremely low altitudes in WW-II vintage
F-51 propeller-driven aircraft of the 39th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 18th
Fighter-Bomber Wing. Upon completion of his Korean combat tour in 1951, he
served as a senior duty officer in the Joint Operations Center of Fifth Air
Force at Seoul.
Returning to the United States in 1952, he assumed command of an F-84 jet squadron at Luke Air Force Base, AZ, and in 1953 was selected to attend the Royal Air Force (RAF) Staff College at Bracknell, Berkshire, England. Upon completion of that course, he joined the 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at RAF Station, Woodbridge, in Suffolk, England.
In April 1957, General Brett became commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, S.C. , which was equipped with F-100s, the first of the new “Century Series” jets. His unit made four major deployments to Europe and participated in both the Lebanese Crisis of 1958 and the Berlin Airlift Crisis of 1961.
In July 1962, General Brett was assigned to the Tactical Air Command as commander of its 4452d Standardization and Evaluation Squadron at Waco, Texas, subsequently commanding the 4450th Standardization and Evaluation Group at Langley Air Force Base, VA. In 1964 he entered the National War College and upon graduation in 1965 was assigned to the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon as a member of the Operations Directorate, during which time he earned a master's degree in international affairs from The George Washington University at Washington, D.C., in 1966.
General Brett joined the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing in the Republic of Vietnam in July 1967, to serve as vice commander. During his tour, he flew more than 100 combat missions in F-4C fighter aircraft, was shot down over North Vietnam but, fortunately, was rescued before being captured. In February 1968 he was assigned to Headquarters Seventh Air Force as deputy director of the Tactical Air Control Center at Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
In September 1968 General Brett was named commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Station Bentwaters, England, and in September 1969 he became inspector general for Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Lindsey Air Station, Germany. He was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs) in September 1970 as the director, Near East and South Asia Region.
General Brett became the senior U.S. military officer in Iran in 1973 as chief of the U.S. Military Mission with the Iranian armed forces and the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group to Iran.
He was appointed the U.S. Representative to the Permanent Military Deputies Group and chief, U.S. Element, Central Treaty Organization in September 1975. With this assignment, he was promoted to the grade of Lieutenant General on September 1, 1975.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Purple Heart, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, and from the Republic of Vietnam, the Gallantry Cross with gold star and the Vietnamese Air Force Pilot Wings.
General Brett lives in Alexandria, VA, and has been a member of the 18th Fighter Wing Association since it’s founding in September 1994.
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