Aleksandr Pokryshkin was a highly intelligent and outstanding fighter pilot, to some very outspoken to others a great leader and very loyal. These attributes won him respect from fellow pilots but not from political leaders. Pokryshkin was born on the 6th of March 1913 he joined the Soviet Army in 1932, graduating from an air school for aviation technicians and mechanics. After a chance meeting with the great Soviet fighter pilot Suprun this lead Pokryshkin to attend flying training, he graduated in 1939. Pokryshkins first taste of action was on the opening day of Operation Barbarossa flying the Mig-3, he later went on to the P-39 Airacobra with great success. Alexsander Pokryshkin would take part in over 600 sorties and met the enemy on 156 occasions he finished the War with 59 kills. After the war Pokryshkin remained in military aviation, and mastered jet engineering. He was one of the first to fly a MiG-9, and contributed to the development of other types of jet, as well.