General Chen Yi-Fan, the 6th Commander-in-Chief (term of office: July 1, 1970 to April 4, 1975)
General Chen was a native of Liaoning Province, and was born in Haicheng Country in October 1908. He was the eldest son of Chen Wen and Madam Chong in a family with 7 children. He studied at Shenyang Primary School, and Pei Ying English School at a young age, and then furthered his study at Hong Da Junior High School and Hui Wen High School. General Chen was the top of the class in academic performance. It was at the time of the “September 18 Shenyang Incident.” Infuriated by the aggression and the humiliation to the country and the impact on his family, he turned to soldering and was admitted to the 1st General Corps of the class of the 10th Term of the National Military Academy. General Chen was dedicated to serve the country as a soldier since then. In July 1934, he was chosen to study aviation in the class of the 5th Term of the National Aviation Academy due to his outstanding performance. This unveiled his career as an air force solider. He then furthered his studies at the Air Staff University, US Army Aviation School, US Army Air Transport School, US Allies Joint Force Action School, US Senior Naval Officers Amphibious Combat Training Course, and continued his education at the Doctrine Practice Society and Senior Military Officer Training Course at the War College of the Joint Forces University. General Chen is an expert in military studies.
General Chen was promoted as the Commander-in-Chief of the ROCAF on July 1, 1970 and became a three-star general at the same time. He then launched a reform of the force with the intensification of preparedness including combat planning drill, combat control capacity expansion, replacement of military equipment and training, improvement of the radar system, construction of military installation for combat readiness, development of the aviation industry, and incubation of technology personnel with full efforts. Under the supervision of General Chen, the ROCAF has achieved complete improvement in one year. The contributions of General Chen were highly recognized, and was decorated with the Cauldron Medal, Sky Command Medal, The Venation Medal, Celestial Kindness Medal, Rejuvenation Medal and Victory Medal and also the White Elephant Medal of Thailand.