Halbert Alexander was born on June 12, 1922, in North Carolina.
On November 20, 1944, Alexander graduated from Tuskegee's Class 44-I-S, receiving his wings and commission as a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the 99th Pursuit Squadron.[2][3]
In January 1949, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force sent out a directive to each Air Force group requesting their participation in an aerial weapons competition. Four months later in May 1949, Alexander was selected as an alternate pilot for the 332nd Fighter Group Weapons three-member pilot team that won the U.S. Air Force's inaugural "Top Gun" team competition held at the Las Vegas Air Force Base (now Nellis Air Force Base).[4][5][6][7]
A grueling 10-day event, the competition comprised six events: aerial gunnery at 20,000 feet, aerial gunnery at 12,000 feet, dive bombing, skip bombing, rocket firing, and panel strafing. Alexander and his team led from start to finish.[3][8]
The results and the 3-foot-tall silver winning trophy, stashed in a Wright Patterson Air Force Base Museum storage area for 55 years, were absent from the U.S. Air Force archives until 1995. Flying F-47Ns, a variant of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Temple and his team defeated U.S. Air Force fighter group teams in far more advanced aircraft. His teammate, James H. Harvey remarked, "They knew who won, but did not want to recognize us."
On March 25, 1953, Alexander, then 30 years old, was killed instantly when his F-51 Mustang nosedived out of a seven-plane formation and exploded in a heavily forested area near Chelmsford, Massachusetts. His plane tore through the treetops for almost 100 yards before exploding and strewing over a half-mile. Police authorities who found his body identified him as 1Lt Halbert Alexander, a married pilot from Plymouth, Ohio.[13][3]
