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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Colonel Alan B. Cirino retired from the United States Air Force as vice commander, 3rd Air Division, Strategic Air Command, with Headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.
Colonel Cirino was born May 22, 1943, in San Francisco, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from San Francisco State University in 1965. Colonel Cirino received his Master of Arts degree from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, in June 1978. He completed Squadron Officer School in 1971, Air Command and Staff College in 1976, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1977, all by correspondence. He completed Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in 1979, in residence, and Air War College by seminar in 1985.
Colonel Cirino received his commission through the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at San Francisco State University, graduating as a distinguished military graduate. He entered the Air Force at Reese Air Force Base, Texas on July 23, 1965. He attended undergraduate pilot training at Reese and received his pilot rating in August 1966.
Following transition training in the F-4D (Phantom) aircraft at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, he was assigned his first operational duty as a pilot attached to the 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He remained there until June 1968. He returned to the United States in July 1968 when his entire F-4 squadron was relocated to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. He checked out as an F-4 aircraft commander and remained there until December 1969.
In January 1970, Colonel Cirino was selected to be a forward air controller in Vietnam. He entered transition training in the OV-10 (Bronco) aircraft at Hurlburt Field, Fla., with a follow-on assignment to Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, in March 1970. During his one-year tour of duty, he flew 204 combat missions in direct support of American and South Vietnamese forces. During the latter six months of his tour, he also served as an instructor pilot.
Returning to the United States in March 1971, he was selected for transition training in the B-52 (Stratofortress) bomber at Castle Air Force Base, California with subsequent assignment to the 7th Bombardment Wing at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. As a B-52D aircraft commander with the 9th Bomb Squadron, he deployed to Guam and Utapao Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, in April 1972 and flew 130 combat missions including missions over Hanoi and Haiphong during the 11-day siege of December 1972 (Linebacker II). He subsequently served as a Standardization/Evaluation instructor pilot with the 7th Bombardment Wing until March 1974.
Colonel Cirino was selected for the SR-71 (Blackbird) program and was assigned to Beale Air Force Base, California in April 1974. He served as an aircraft commander and as squadron operations officer and accumulated over 450 hours in the Blackbird, flying operational missions from overseas forward operating locations.
Following attendance at Air Command and Staff College (1978-79), Colonel Cirino received a directed duty assignment to the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C. He served a four-year tour there as an operations staff officer in the Joint Reconnaissance Center.
From July 1983 to August 1985 he was commander of the 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SR-71) at Beale Air Force Base, California. Upon completion of this tour, he served as Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations, 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, and as Director of Operations 14th Air Division, at Beale Air Force Base, Calif.
In September 1986, Colonel Cirino was assigned to the 319th Bombardment Wing, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, as the Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations. He became the Deputy Commander for Operations in December 1986 and was directly involved in the 319th Bombardment Wing’s conversion from the B-52 to the B-1B (Lancer) bomber. He assumed his current position on November 26, 1987 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and retained his position when the entire 3rd Air Division was transferred to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii in September 1988.
He retired from active duty on July 1st, 1991 with 26 years of distinguished service.
Colonel Cirino is a command pilot with more than 4,400 flying hours in the SR-71, B-1B, B-52, KC-135, F-4, OV-10 and T-38 aircraft, including 477 combat missions and 1,640 combat hours. His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with 21 oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
He was promoted to Colonel on May 1, 1986, with the same date of rank. Colonel Cirino and his wife, the former Elizabeth Wigglesworth of Cranford Northamptonshire, England, have two sons, Steven and James.
United Air Lines Career – Current Position, Captain on A-320. Domiciled at San Francisco International Airport.
1992-1994, Boeing 727, 1,528 hours, domicile San Francisco, Washington, D.C. 1994-1996, A-320 Airbus, 950 hours, domicile Los Angeles 1996-1998, Boeing 757 / 767, 1,698 hours, domicile San Francisco 1998-2002, Boeing 747-400, 2,183 hours, domicile San Francisco 2002-present, A-320 Airbus - Captain, 310 hours, domicile San Francisco