Fogleman was shot down in Vietnam in 1968, while piloting an F-100. He was rescued by clinging to an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter that landed at the crash site.[3]
In early assignments he instructed student pilots, performed combat duty as a fighter pilot and high-speed forward air controller in Vietnam and Thailand, taught history at the Air Force Academy and conducted flight operations in Europe—including duty as an F-15 Eagle aircraft demonstration pilot for international airshows. He commanded a USAF wing, an air division, a numbered air force, a major command and a unified combatant command.
Fogleman was the first graduate of the United States Air Force Academy to advance to Chief of Staff of the Air Force. During his tenure, he introduced a simplified code of conduct for airmen, which remains in use today. Called the "Air Force Core Values", the code demands "Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do."
During the Bosnian War, Fogleman was - in his position as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force - involved in the planning of a rescue operation of Scott O'Grady, an American pilot who got shot down by Serbian forces in June 1995.[4] Fogleman's decision to share news of the signals that O'Grady had allegedly sent before the rescue operation was complete, led to criticism at the time.[5] Despite Fogleman releasing this "extremely sensitive piece of information",[6] O'Grady was rescued.[7]
In 1996 Fogleman created the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force (CSAF) Professional Reading Program in order to "develop a common frame of reference among Air Force members -- officers, enlisted, and civilians -- to help each of us become better, more effective advocates of air and space power."[8] The list has been enhanced by subsequent CSAF's and includes books by Rolf Dobelli, Simon Sinek, and Victor Davis Hansen.
Fogleman said in a December 1997 interview—published by Aerospace Power Journal in the spring of 2001—that his retirement was to allow the Secretary of Defense to make a decision on the future of Brigadier General Terryl J. Schwalier, the senior officer in Riyadh at the time of the Khobar Towers bombing, on the merits and facts of the case rather than in response to a perceived protest by a service chief. He did not resign in protest over policy; this would have encroached on civilian control of the military.[9][10]
Fogleman speaking at the dedication of the Medal of Honor Monument, Lackland Air Force Base, 1996.Fogleman preparing to fly a training mission in an F-16 Fighting Falcon, 1995.Fogleman arriving in Hawaii for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, 1995.
On November 11, 2009, Fogleman was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors at Alliant Techsystems Inc., following the retirement of ATK Chairman and CEO Dan Murphy.
As a Boeing consultant, Fogleman said that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II will not be a combat proven aircraft until it receives the Block 3F software in the early 2020s.[14]
