by his superiors for pursuing the enemy alone rather than offering leadership to his less experienced squadron. Upon the recommendation of his commanding officer Aleksandr Pokryshkin, Rechkalov was replaced by Boris Glinka of the 100th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment as commander of the 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment for (according to Pokryshkin) "losing control, indecisiveness and lack of initiative". Throughout the war Pokryshkin clashed with Rechkalov over his lack of discipline. On 15 July 1944, Glinka was seriously wounded when he bailed out of his badly damaged P-39 and struck the tailplane. Rechkalov again took over as regiment commander, but left command of it in February 1945 and was appointed Inspector for Flight Training of 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. By the end of the war he had flown 452 sorties and engaged in 122 dogfights; operational documents credit him with 56 solo and 6 shared kills, while certification documents credit him with 61 solo and 4 shared. He flew the I-153, I-16, MiG-3, Yak-1, and P-39, but a vast majority of his tally was on the P-39. His award nomination did not mention his three victories from 1941, although there have been allegations that Pokryshkin tried to steal some of Rechkalov's kills. Postwar In 1951 he graduated from the Air Force Academy in Monino. He then commanded a regiment, and various air divisions. In 1957 he was deputy commander of the fighter aircraft separate Far Eastern Air Defense Army. Rechkalov went on to become a Major General of Aviation in the Soviet Air Force in 1957 before leaving the military in 1959. He wrote two books about his wartime experiences: Дымное небо войны (English: The Smoking Skies of War) and В Небе Молдавии (English: In Moldavian Skies). Rechkalov lived in Moscow until his death on 20 December 1990. Awards and honors Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (24 May 1943 and 1 July 1944) Order of Lenin (24 May 1943) Four Order of the Red Banner (30 December 1942, 5 May 1943, 22 October 1944, and 14 August 1957) Order of Alexander Nevsky (2 October 1943) Two Order of the Red Star (26 October 1955 and 14 May 1956) campaign and jubilee medals Footnotes References Bibliography 1920 births 1990 deaths People from Irbitsky District Soviet Air Force generals Soviet major generals Heroes of the Soviet Union Russian aviators Russian people of World War II Soviet World War II flying