Leadership in Combat: The Legacy of Major Alton

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COL (Ret.) William S. Reeder is a legendary aviator who has made contributions to survival, evasion, resistance, escape (SERE) training and the attack helicopter community. His 30-year career included two combat tours in Vietnam flying armed OV-1 Mohawk reconnaissance airplanes and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters.

On May 9, 1972, he was leading a team of AH-1 Cobras supporting two Vietnamese ranger battalions and their American advisors. He was shot down, his co-pilot/gunner killed. Severely wounded, he evaded the enemy but was eventually captured spending nearly a year as a prisoner of war (POW).