BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Robert E. Alexander, Jr., was born on December 20, 1918, to Robert Edgar Alexander and Daisie Marks Alexander. For most of his childhood, he worked on a family farm in Bedford County, Tennessee. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Alexander attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. While there, he majored in finance and played in the UT Band. During the summers of his college years, he was able to work in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration Farm program. The work consisted of checking the farms on the program for compliance with the amount of corn, beans, cotton, tobacco, and other agricultural products that was allotted. Aerial photographs were used to determine acreage and other related issues.

In June of 1942, Alexander joined the Army and visited training facilities at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia; Keesler Field, Biloxi, Mississippi; and Isaac Delgado Trade School near New Orleans, Louisiana.  After Delgado, Alexander’s next assignment was the Consolidated Vultee in Nashville, Tennessee. While there he took six weeks training on the A31 Dive Bomber that was being manufactured at that location. Subsequently, Alexander was assigned to the Officer Candidate School in Miami Beach, Florida. On March 2, 1943, Alexander was assigned to enter the Photo Intelligence School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  In April of 1943, Alexander was assigned to the Will Roger Field near Oklahoma City. On May 14, 1943, he arrived at the Army Air Base near Birmingham, Alabama, and was assigned to the Headquarters of the 42^nd Bomb Wing. On July 21, 1943, he was released from duty with the 42^nd  Bomb Wing and assigned to Shipment AK705 at the Port of Embarkation in Los Angeles, California. On October 9, 1943, Alexander along with other photo intelligence officers, went to Calcutta, India. While at Calcutta, Alexander took many photographs and wrote about his experiences and observations. In addition to Calcutta, Alexander and other photographers visited Tibet, New Delhi, Simla, Raniket, and Nainital, India. In 1945, Alexander returned home to the United States. During the Korean War, he and other officers who had been photo interpreters during World War II were recalled to active duty. Alexander was assigned to Lawson Air Force Base at Ft. Benning, Georgia. On December 13, 1951, Alexander was transferred from the 117^th Photo Recon Tech Squad at Ft. Benning to the 118^th Photo Recon Tech Squad at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. On June 20, 1952, Alexander was discharged from the Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base.  After he was discharged, Alexander held jobs at Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma, Tennessee.