Rybalchenko, Stepan Dmitrievich
From OnAirpower.org
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[edit] Biography
Rybalchenko joined the Red Army in 1919 and served during the Russian Civil War in the infantry on the Western Front. He continued to serve in the infantry after the war[1].
In 1936, after completing the Frunze Military Academy he switched over to the air forces and became chief of staff for an aviation squadron. After that he became the assistant commander and later commander of the Operations-Reconnaissance Section of air force headquarters in the Leningrad Military District. He participated in the Soviet-Finnish War as chief of the operations section of air force headquarters for the North-Western Front[1].
At the start of Operation Barbarossa, Rybalchenko was deputy chief of staff for air forces of the North-Western Front. He was later promoted to chief of staff, and in February, 1942 he was made commander of air forces for the Leningrad Front. In November, 1942, he became commander of the 13th Air Army and remained in that position for the remainder of the war[1].
[edit] Sources
- Rybalchenko, Stepan Dmitirevich at Khronos.ru (in Russian)
