Vorozheikin, Arsenii

Vorozheikin, Arsenii Vasil’evich 

Born Oct. 15 (28), 1912, in the village of Prokof evo, in present-day Gorky Oblast. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (Feb. 4, 1944, and Aug. 19, 1944), major general of aviation (1954). Member of the CPSU beginning in 1932. Born into the family of a peasant.

Vorozheikin was in the Soviet Army in 1931-33 and from 1934. He graduated from a military aviation pilots’ school in 1937, from the Military Academy of Commanders and Navigators of the Air Force in 1942, and from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1952. In 1939-41 he did political work in air force units and participated in battles on the Khalkhin-Gol River and in the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-40). During the Great Patriotic War he commanded a squadron of the 728th Aviation Fighter Regiment and was deputy commander of the 32nd Guards Aviation Fighter Regiment, making more than 240 combat flights and personally shooting down 52 enemy aircraft (on the Kalinin, Voronezh, and First Ukrainian fronts). After October 1944 he held high posts in the air force administration and then command and staff posts. Since 1957 he has been in the reserve for reasons of health. Vorozheikin has been awarded the Order of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov Third Class, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, two Orders of the Red Star, and medals.