Adel Amin Hafez

Adel Amin Hafez (عادل أمين حافظ; 1 March 1919 – 27 August 2010) was Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force from 1964 to 1966. In September 1949 he became the first Egyptian aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an Egyptian aircraft. In October of the same year, he was granted the Golden Medal of Merit by King Farouk I of Egypt for the accomplishment.

Early life and family
Adel Hafez was born in Cairo on March 1, 1919, to parents Amin (a police officer) and Shafiqa. He had seven brothers and two sisters, all currently deceased: Mohamed, an engineer; El-Sayed, a police Major-General; Ibrahim, a medical doctor who was the Deputy Director of the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority, Ministry of Justice; Mahmoud, a police Major-General; and Saad, an accountant, in addition to Salah, Hassan and Hussein who died in their youth. The sisters were Amina and Fatma. He married the late Enaya Aly Moussa in 1946 and had a son, Mohamed, and a daughter, Hala. Besides his son and daughter, he is also survived by his grandchildren Hisham Besheer, Karim Hafez, Mostafa Beshir and Khaled Hafez, and his great grandchildren Layla Beshir, Yaseen Beshir and Malek Hafez.

Education and military career
Adel Hafez joined the Egyptian Military Academy in 1937 and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor’s degree in Aviation Science. He earned a training certificate on fighter planes while serving in the British Royal Air Force during World War II, in 1945 and 1946. He volunteered to participate in the 1948 Palestine war as part of the Royal squadron, to undertake night raids and to transport troops.

After the Egyptian revolution of 1952, he was appointed commander of the transport fleet at Almaza Airport, and in 1953 he was appointed commander of the Heliopolis Air Force Base. In 1954, he was appointed commander of Almaza Air Force Base. During the 1956 Suez crisis, Adel Hafez and some of the officers and servicemen of Almaza Air Force Base refused orders to vacate the base which was being subjected to fierce raids. They continued fighting in spite of the orders. He earned the Combined Advanced Studies Degree from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow in 1957, and graduated from the Higher War College at Nasser Academy in 1965 while continuing serving his duties.

Adel Hafez was appointed Head of Air Force Operations from 1958 to 1962, Commander of the Air Force East Region from 1962 to 1964, and finally Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Air Force and Air Defence from 1964 to 1966. He received the First Class Distinguished Service Medal after he retired in 1966. In 1967, he volunteered during the Six-Day War as an ordinary serviceman, assisting in removing bombs from the runways, which allowed some air force fighters to engage with Israeli jets.