This is a list of notable people who served in the United States Air Force, the Air National Guard, or their antecedents in the Army. See also Graduates of the United States Air Force Academy.

A Oscar Zeta Acosta – Attorney, Chicano Movement activist, novelist and close friend of American author Hunter S. Thompson Charles J. Adams – brigadier general and aviator John Agar – Film actor Paul W. Airey – First Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Frank Albertson – Film actor Robert Aldrich – DGA Award-nominated filmmaker Buzz Aldrin – Astronaut (Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 – second man to walk on the Moon) Robert Altman – Seven-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker who flew more than 50 bombing missions as a co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War II Leon Ames – Film and TV actor who served in the field artillery of the U.S. Army and later in the flying corps (the Army Air Service) during World War I Wally Amos – Television personality, businessman, author and founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and host of the adult reading program Learn to Read William Anders – Astronaut (Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon) Michael P. Anderson – NASA astronaut killed in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster (STS-89, STS-107) Sunny Anderson – Radio and television personality William C. Anderson – Author and screenwriter who adapted his own Bat*21 starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover Keith Andes – Film, TV and stage actor Edward Anhalt – Novelist and screenwriter Al Anthony – Radio personality Richard Arlen – Film actor Michael F. Armstrong – Attorney Hap Arnold – Aviation pioneer and General of the Air Force Jack Arnold – Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luke Askew – Film and TV actor Leon Askin – Film and TV actor Xavier Atencio – Film animator Gene Autry – Grammy Award-winning musician, singer, Oscar-nominated songwriter, film actor and Major League Baseball team owner

B

Alonzo Babers – Airline pilot and Olympic athlete Jacob “Buddy” Baer – Boxer, film and TV actor Max Baer, Jr. – Film actor Max Baer, Sr. – Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion, Film and TV actor Parley Baer – Film and television actor Hobey Baker – Amateur hockey player Bernt Balchen – Norwegian-born aviation explorer Thomas Scott Baldwin – Pioneer balloonist Martin Balsam – Oscar-winning film actor John Banner – Film and television actor Sy Bartlett – Screenwriter and producer, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High Warren Beatty – Oscar-winning film actor, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter Don Beddoe – Film and television actor Chuck Bednarik – Professional football player Art Bell – Talk radio personality Brooks Benedict – Actor of the silent and sound film eras who served with the American Ambulance Corps and in the U.S. Army Air Service during the First World War Lloyd Bentsen – Senator from Texas, 1988 vice presidential nominee, 69th Secretary of the Treasury Elmer Bernstein – Oscar and Emmy-winning and Grammy Award-nominated film composer Charles A. Berry – Flight surgeon during the Apollo space program and Director of Life Sciences at the NASA Mark H. Berry – American politician James Best – Film and television actor Edward Binns – Film and television actor John Birch – East China missionary Barry Bishop – Member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest Whit Bissell – Film and television actor Charles F. Blair, Jr. – General officer and husband of actress Maureen O'Hara Esther Blake – First female member of the United States Air Force Michael Blake – Oscar-winning screenwriter and author of Dances with Wolves and its 1988 best-selling novel William Peter Blatty – Oscar-winning screenwriter, film producer, director and author known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist and for writing and producing the hugely successful 1973 film adaptation Guion Bluford – Astronaut and first African American to fly in space (STS-8, STS-61-A, STS-39, STS-53) John Boccieri – Member of Congress of Ohio. Paul Bogart – Five-time Emmy Award-winning television director and producer Richard Bong – American Ace of Aces Frank Borman – Astronaut (Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon) Robert Sidney Bowen – Newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author of the Dave Dawson War Adventure Series and the Red Randall Series. Served as a fighter pilot in both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Service, and as an ambulance driver with the American Field Service (AFS) during World War I. William Bowers – Screenwriter Boxcar Willie – Country music entertainer John Boyd – Air Force fighter pilot and Pentagon consultant during the second half of the 20th century who, together with Thomas Christie, created the Energy–Maneuverability theory of aerial combat, which became the world standard for the design of fighter aircraft Vance D. Brand – Astronaut who also was a naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, STS-5, STS-41-B, STS-35) Albert Brenner – Five-time Oscar-nominated production designer and art director Lewis H. Brereton – Aviation pioneer and only active duty member of USAF and all of its forebears John Briley – Oscar-winning screenwriter Charles Bronson – Emmy Award-nominated film and television actor Rand Brooks – Film and television actor (Babes in Arms, Gone with the Wind) Al Brown – Film and television actor known for The Wire who served 29 years in the Air Force including two tours in Vietnam Charles Q. Brown Jr. – USAF general who is currently serving as the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as of January 2024 Clarence Brown – Six-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker who was a fighter pilot and flight instructor with the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I Dale Brown – Author Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. – Tuskegee Airman, educator, and TV personality Roger Browne – Film actor best known for his work in the peplum and Eurospy films popular in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s Robert Brubaker – Film and TV actor Don Budge – American tennis player most famous as the first tennis player to win the Grand Slam John Bunch – Jazz pianist William Bundy – CIA analyst and foreign affairs advisor George W. Bush – 43rd President of the United States Aaron Bushnell – 25-year-old airman who live streamed his self-immolation and resultant death outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. in protest of genocide and United States support for Israel in the Gaza war Craig D. Button – Victim of mysterious flight and crash Red Buttons – Oscar-winning film actor

C

Bruce Cabot – Film actor Frank Cady – Film and TV actor Ben Nighthorse Campbell – Cheyenne politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and was a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 to 2005 Dann Cahn – Film editor Daniel Caine – Air Force major and F-16 fighter pilot whose mission (along with three other pilots, including USAF Major Heather Penney, Captain Brandon Rasmussen and Lieutenant General Marc Sasseville) on 9/11 was to find United Flight 93 and destroy it however they could, including ramming the aircraft. George Carlin – Emmy Award-nominated and Grammy-winning stand-up comedian and actor Don Carpenter – Novelist and WGA Award-nominated screenwriter John Carroll – Film actor Jack Carter – Daytime Emmy Award-nominated comedian, actor and television presenter Johnny Cash – Grammy Award-winning country music singer and musician Don Castle – Film actor Clint Castleberry – College football player James Lea Cate – Historian Clarence Chamberlin – Barnstormer and aviation pioneer Harry Chapin – Singer/songwriter Hollis B. Chenery – Economist John Ciardi – Poet Theresa Claiborne – First female African-American pilot in the U.S. Air Force Beryl Clark – Professional football player Hal Clement – Author Larry Clinton – Band leader William Close – Surgeon and physician, father of Oscar-nominated actress Glenn Close Lee J. Cobb – Oscar-nominated film actor Bill Cobbs – Emmy Award-winning film and TV actor Jacqueline Cochran – Aviator; co-founder and director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots Red Cochran – Professional football player, coach, and scout Fred Coe – Oscar-nominated film and TV director, film and TV producer and screenwriter Gene Colan – comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics Charles J. Colgan – Virginia politician and founder of Colgan Air. Eileen Collins – Astronaut (STS-84, STS-93, STS-114) Michael Collins – Astronaut (Gemini 10 & Apollo 11) Ramón Colón-López – First Hispanic recipient of the Air Force Combat Action Medal Darva Conger – former emergency department nurse and winner on Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? in 2000 John Connell – Film, TV, stage and voice actor Mike Connors – Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning film and TV actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix William Conrad – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated film and TV actor, director and producer Jackie Coogan – Film and television actor Gordon Cooper – Mercury astronaut (Mercury 9 & Gemini 5) Merian C. Cooper – Oscar-nominated filmmaker, adventurer and producer who was a fighter pilot in World War I. Cooper also was an aviator in the Polish Air Force. Joseph Cotten – Film actor Joe Coulombe – American entrepreneur who founded the grocery store chain Trader Joe's James E. Counsilman – Collegiate swimming coach John R. Countryman – American child actor known by the stage name "Johnny Russell" who was an Air Force pilot and later as a career officer for the United States Foreign Service (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) Alexander Courage – Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning film composer Clyde Cowan – Physicist and discoverer of the neutrino James Gould Cozzens – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Brad Crandall – Radio personality, voice-over announcer and film narrator, best known for his radio show on WNBC in New York City which aired from March 1964 to September 1971. Crandall also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Broderick Crawford – Oscar-winning film and television actor Mort Crim – Television news anchor Adrian Cronauer – Lawyer, media expert and inspiration for the film Good Morning, Vietnam Floyd Crosby – Oscar and Golden Globe Award-winning cinematographer Robert Cummings – Emmy Award-winning film and television actor

D James Daly – Emmy Award-winning actor (Planet of the Apes) Tom D'Andrea – Film and television actor Tom Daschle – Senator from South Dakota Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. – First African-American USAF general officer Bud Day – Medal of Honor recipient and prisoner of war in Vietnam Jimmy Dean – Grammy Award-winning country music singer, television host, actor, businessman and creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand Brad Dexter – Film actor and producer James Dickey – Poet, author of the 1970 novel Deliverance and Golden Globe-nominated screenwriter of the 1972 film adaptation William Diehl – Author of the novel Primal Fear which was adapted into the 1996 film of the same name Joe DiMaggio – New York Yankees center fielder Lawrence Dobkin – Emmy Award-nominated actor (North by Northwest) Brian Donlevy – Oscar-nominated film actor Jimmy Doolittle – Test pilot and aeronautical engineer Bob Dornan – Member of Congress from California and talk radio personality Robert Drew – Documentary filmmaker known as the father of cinéma vérité or direct cinema in the United States (Primary, Crisis) Gary Drinkwater – Maine state representative Howard Duff – Film and television actor (Kramer vs. Kramer, The Late Show) Charles Duke – Astronaut (Apollo 16)