Space Pioneers Allen, Engle:

Next month Air Force Space Command plans to induct retired Gen. Lew Allen Jr. and retired Maj. Gen. Joe Engle into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame. Allen, who retired as Chief of Staff in 1982, started his Air Force career as a heavy bomber pilot, but after earning a doctorate in physics, he moved through various DOD and non-DOD government positions, where he worked on nuclear weapons experiments and space and intelligence programs. He also served as director of the National Security Agency and headed Air Force Systems Command. Engle served as a test pilot in the X-15 program, during which he exceeded 50 miles in altitude, qualifying him as an astronaut before NASA selected him to become an astronaut in 1966. He was one of the two astronauts to first fly the space shuttle in its orbital configuration and logged more than 225 hours in space. Engle retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1986, but received an immediate appointment to the Air National Guard, where he retired as a major general.