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Noel Francis Parrish (November 11, 1909 – April 7, 1987) was a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force who was the white commander of a group of black airmen known as the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He was a key factor in the program's success and in their units being assigned to combat duty. Parrish was born and raised in the south-east United States; he joined the US Army in 1930. He served in the military from 1930 until 1964, and retired as a Brigadier General in 1964. Parrish's association with the Tuskegee Airmen began when he was assigned to be the Assistant Director of Training of the Eastern Flying Training Command. On December 5, 1941, Parrish was promoted to the position of Director of Training at Tuskegee Army Flying School in Alabama. One year later in December 1942 Parrish became the Tuskegee Army Air Field commander. The prestigious ''"Brigadier General Noel F. Parrish Award"'' was so named due to Parrish's efforts to desegregate his troops, reduce overcrowding, increase morale, and improve relations between Tuskegee's residents and the inhabitants of the base. Tuskegee's highest award has been named the "Brigadier General Noel F. Parrish Award" in honor of its titular namesake. ==Early life and career== Born in Versailles, Kentucky, to a Southern white minister, Parrish spent parts of his youth living in Alabama and Georgia. His birthplace is often listed as being in nearby Lexington, Kentucky. He graduated from Cullman High School, Cullman, Alabama in 1924 and Rice Institute, Houston, Texas in 1928. He dropped out of graduate school after one year and decided to hitchhike to San Francisco. The lack of work meant hunger, so he chose to join the United States Army's 11th Cavalry Regiment as a private on July 30, 1930, serving in Monterey, California. After a year in the horse cavalry, Parrish became an aviation cadet in June 1931 and subsequently qualified as an enlisted pilot. He completed flight training in 1932 and was assigned to the 13th Attack Squadron at Fort Crockett, near Galveston, Texas. One year later in September 1933 Parrish joined the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field, Illinois; later transferring to the First Air Transport Squadron at Dayton, Ohio. In July 1935 he rejoined the 13th Attack Squadron as assistant operations officer, then located at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. Parrish became a flying instructor at Randolph Field in April 1938, and by July 1939 he was a supervisor at the Air Corps Flying School in Glenview, Illinois. Commissioned as a lieutenant in 1939, Parrish attended the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Field, Alabama. As a captain, and still a student at Maxwell, his association with the Tuskegee Airmen began as in March 1941 when he was assigned as Assistant Director of Training of the Eastern Flying Training Command. Upon graduation in June 1941, he chose to remain at Maxwell, and work with the Tuskegee Institute as a primary flight instructor. By doing so, he gave up his own desires for a combat command. On December 5, 1941, two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was promoted to Director of Training at Tuskegee Army Flying School in Alabama, assuming command of Tuskegee Army Air Field a year later, in December 1942. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Noel F. Parrish」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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