Beletskii, Evgeniy Mikhailovich
From OnAirpower.org
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[edit] Biography
Beletskii joined the Red Army in 1925 and attended the Leningrad Military Theory School for Pilots (to 1926), followed by the Kachinsk Military Aviation School (to 1927)[1].
Starting in December, 1927, he served as a flight instructor at the Orenburg Military Pilots School (3rd School for Pilots). He became a flight commander in the 11th Aviation Unit in April, 1931, followed by positions as a unit commander in the 8th Aviation Squadron (from November, 1931), a squadron commander in the 40th Aviation Brigade (from October, 1933), commander of the 114th Aviation Brigade (from December, 1936), and commander of the 58th Fighter Aviation Brigade (from August, 1938).
In December, 1939 he became commander of the 1st Special Purpose Army of the Northwestern Front, which served during the Soviet-Finnish War. He was promoted to the position of deputy commander of Air Forces in the Leningrad Military District in February, 1940[1].
Beletskii served as chief of the Fighter Aviation Training Section of the Soviet Air Force starting in July, 1940. In March, 1941 he moved back into an operational command position as the commander of the 73rd Fighter Aviation Division of the North Caucasus Military District[1].
At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, Beletskii was commander of air forces for the 19th Army in the Western Front, which participated in battles around Vitebsk and Smolensk. In September, 1941 he became commander of air forces for the 51st Independent Army, which participated in the defense of the Crimea and the Kerch-Feodosia Amphibious Operation[1].
In July, 1942 Beletskii became commander of the newly-forming 1st Fighter Aviation Army, part of the Stavka reserves. The unit participated in battles around Voronezh (Bryansk Front) but was found to be ungainly and difficult to command effectively, and was converted into multiple, smaller Fighter Corps in September, 1942. After the transformation, Beletskii served as commander of the 1st Fighter Aviation Corps, part of the 3rd Air Army in the Kalinin Front. The unit received the "Guards" designation in February, 1943. Beletskii served as commander of the unit throughout the rest of the war, participating in battles in the Bryansk, Kalinin, Belorussian, and Baltic fronts[1].
After the war, Beletskii served in a number of positions, including Assistant Commander for Training in the 16th Air Army, Assistant Commander of the Air Force Headquarters for Flight Operations, and Assistant Commander for Operations of the Civil Air Fleet. He retired in 1959[1].
