Editing Hafez al-Assad (section)

==Air Force career: 1950–1958==
[[File:Hafezalassad.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Group of soldiers next to a plane|Hafez al-Assad (above) standing on the wing of a [[Fiat G.46]]-4B with fellow cadets at the Syrian AF Academy outside [[Aleppo]], 1951–52]]
After graduating from high school, Assad aspired to be a medical doctor, but his father could not pay for his study at the Jesuit [[Saint Joseph University]] in [[Beirut]].{{sfn|Alianak|2007|p=128}} Instead, in 1950, he decided to join the [[Syrian Armed Forces]].{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=31}} Assad entered the [[Homs Military Academy]], which offered free food, lodging and a stipend.{{sfn|Alianak|2007|p=128}} He wanted to fly, and entered the flying school in [[Aleppo]] in 1950.{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=53}}{{sfn|Alianak|2007|p=129}}

Assad graduated in 1955, after which he was commissioned a [[lieutenant]] in the Syrian Air Force.{{sfn|Tucker|Roberts|2008|p=168}} Upon graduation from flying school, he won a best-aviator trophy,{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=53}}{{sfn|Alianak|2007|p=129}} and shortly afterwards was assigned to the [[Mezzeh]] air base near Damascus.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=49}} He married [[Anisa Makhlouf]] in 1957, a distant relative of the powerful [[Al-Assad family#Makhlouf family|Makhlouf family]].{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=34}}

In 1955, the military split in a revolt against President [[Adib Shishakli]].{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=32}} [[Hashim al-Atassi]], head of the National Bloc and briefly president after [[Sami al-Hinnawi]]'s coup, returned as president and Syria was again under civilian rule.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=32}} After 1955, Atassi's hold on the country was increasingly shaky.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=32}} As a result of the 1955 election, Atassi was replaced by [[Shukri al-Quwatli]], who was president before Syria's independence from France.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=32}} The Ba'ath Party grew closer to the Communist Party not because of shared ideology, but a shared opposition to the West.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=32}} At the academy, Assad met [[Mustafa Tlass]], his future minister of Defence.{{sfn|Leverett|2005|p=231}}

In 1955, Assad was sent to Egypt for a further six months of training.{{sfn|Seale|1990|pp=50–51}} When [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] nationalised the [[Suez Canal]] in 1956, Syria feared retaliation from the United Kingdom, and Assad flew in an air-defense mission.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=33}} He was among the Syrian pilots who flew to Cairo to show Syria's commitment to Egypt.{{sfn|Seale|1990|pp=50–51}} After finishing a course in Egypt the following year, Assad returned to a small airbase near Damascus.{{sfn|Seale|1990|pp=50–51}} During the [[Suez Crisis]], he also flew a reconnaissance mission over northern and eastern Syria.{{sfn|Seale|1990|pp=50–51}} In 1957, as squadron commander, Assad was sent to the Soviet Union for training in flying [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17|MiG-17s]].{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=53}} He spent ten months in the Soviet Union, during which he fathered a daughter (who died as an infant while he was abroad) with his wife.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|p=34}}

In 1958, Syria and Egypt formed the [[United Arab Republic]] (UAR), separating themselves from [[Iraqi Republic (1958-1968)|Iraq]], [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Turkey]] (who were aligned with the United Kingdom).{{sfn|Zahler|2009|pp=32–34}} This pact led to the rejection of Communist influence in favour of Egyptian control over Syria.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|pp=32–34}} All Syrian political parties (including the Ba'ath Party) were dissolved, and senior officers—especially those who supported the Communists—were dismissed from the Syrian armed forces.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|pp=32–34}} Assad, however, remained in the military and rose quickly through the ranks.{{sfn|Zahler|2009|pp=32–34}} After reaching the rank of captain, he was transferred to Egypt, continuing his military education with the future [[president of Egypt]], [[Hosni Mubarak]].{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=53}}