This is the story of one of those past Air Commandos one of the greatest Air Commandos in history: Major General (retired) John R. Alison, the father of the lst Air Commandos and Air Force Special Operations. Remarkably, Alison's Air Commandos began their legendary operations nearly 59 years to the day before the IRAQI FREEDOM mission, doing exactly the same types of operations -- transporting and escorting British Special Forces deep behind enemy lines enabling small-scale tactical operations to have strategic effects.