 He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska in 1975 and a Master of Arts degree in Management and Supervision from Central Michigan University in 1979.He completed Squadron Officer School in 1966, Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1980 and the program for senior officials in national security at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1985.Allen was commissioned in December 1959 and assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, as a B-47 co-pilot.