Former Academy superintendent, POW, dies

  • Published
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. A.P. Clark, died March 8, 2010 at the age of 96.

A resident of Colorado Springs, Colo., General Clark was the sixth superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, from Aug. 1, 1970, to July 31, 1974.

The general was a 1936 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, and went on to a flying career after graduation. He went to England in June 1942 with the 31st Fighter Group, the first American fighter unit in the European Theater of Operations. He was shot down over Abbeville, France, in July 1942, and spent 33 months as a Prisoner of War.

After World War II, he progressed through key staff assignments with Tactical Air Command, Continental Air Command and Air Defense Command prior to a tour of duty at Headquarters U.S. Air Force. General Clark commanded the 48th Fighter Bomber Wing at Chaumont Air Base in France, in 1955-1956, and then served as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

His next assignment was as chief of the U.S. Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia. He was director of military personnel at Headquarters U.S. Air Force for four years beginning in 1959 and was then assigned to Okinawa as commander of the 313th Air Division. In August 1965, he was named vice commander of the Tactical Air Command. He assumed duties as commander of Air University in August 1968, and in August 1970, he was appointed superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Purple Heart.

After retiring from active duty, the general stayed active with the Air Force Academy. He headed up the Friends of the Library, which benefits the Cadet Library, concentrating on the library's Special Collections. General Clark on was instrumental in creating an extensive collection of materials and histories from his POW days in Stalag Luft III. Memoirs and histories from an escape from Stalag Luft III became the basis for the film, The Great Escape.