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Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Покры́шкин; March 6, 1913November 13, 1985) was a marshal of the Soviet Air Force. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three separate occasions (1943, 1943, 1944). Pokryshkin was, in addition to his three Hero of the Soviet Union golden stars, awarded four Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov (2nd class), two Orders of the Red Star, a number of other medals, and foreign orders, such as the USAAF (US Army) Distinguished Service Medal which he is seen wearing below his other medals in some photographs, such as the one of him for this article, in which it is the lower-right-hand medal seen on him in the photo. Pokryshkin was the great tactician of the Soviet Air Force during the Second World War, a Russian Werner Mölders. He almost singlehandedly fought to change the obsolete Soviet tactics that were in place in 1941 when the war started. Going against the establishment and openly defying the party-approved combat doctrine almost cost him his career and possibly his life. After openly criticizing the official tactics that led to huge losses and teaching his fellow pilots new tactics he invented himself, he was grounded and scheduled to be court martialed. However the word of his inventions reached some superiors in Moscow, and instead of a court martial Pokryshkin was awarded and promoted. By the end of the war, his writings had been published and distributed to all Soviet pilots, and he toured fighter regiments extensively lecturing young pilots on his techniques.