Pstygo, Ivan

Born Apr. 10, 1918, in the village of Sukhopol’, in what is now Arkhangel’skoe Raion, Bashkir ASSR. Soviet military leader. Marshal of aviation (1975). Hero of the Soviet Union (Apr. 7, 1978). Honored Military Pilot of the USSR (1967). Member of the CPSU since 1941.

Pstygo joined the Soviet Army in 1936. He graduated from the Engel’s Military Aviation School in 1940, higher tactical flight courses for officers in 1947, and the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1957. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 he served as a flight and squadron commander, chief of the airborne rifle service of an air division and corps, and, from 1943, commander of the 893rd Ground Attack Air Regiment. He fought on the Southwestern, Stalingrad, Briansk, First and Second Baltic, Third Byelorussian, and First Ukrainian fronts, completing 96 combat missions. After the war, Pstygo held various command positions. From 1967 to 1977 he was deputy commander in chief of the air force. In June 1977 he was named chief of the Central Inspectorate for Aviation Flight Safety of the armed forces of the USSR.

Pstygo has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, seven Orders of the Red Banner, the order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War First Class, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals. He has also been the recipient of various foreign orders and medals.