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Mustafa Mohamed Moalim ( so, Mustafa Maxamed Macalin, ar, مصطفى محمد معلم) (b. 25 March 1943 – 27 December 2009) was a prominent
Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...
aviator.


Early life and education

Mustafa Moalin was born in
Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
,
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
to a
veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
father and a housewife mother. His one older brother Abdulkadir Mohamed Moalim became a well known veterinarian. Because of his father’s constant move to different regions, he and his brother grew up in different cities in Somalia including Mogadishu,
Baidoa Baidoa (, Somali: Maay.html"_;"title="f-Maxaa:_Baydhabo,_Maay">f-Maxaa:_Baydhabo,_Maay:_''Baydhowy)''_is_the_largest_city_of_the_South_West_State_of_Somalia. Between_2002_and_2014,_Baidoa_was_the_capital_of_the_South_West_State_of_Somalia.html" ...
,
Afgooye Afgooye ( so, Afgooye, ar, أفجويى, it, Afgoi) is a town in the southwestern Somalia Lower Shebelle (Shabellaha Hoose) region of Somalia. It is the center of the Afgooye District. Afgooye is the third largest city of Southwest State. Afg ...
and
Beledweyne Beledweyne ( so, Beledweyne, ar, بلد وين, it, Belet Uen) is a city in central Somalia. Beledweyne District is the capital city of the Hiran region. The city is situated in the Shebelle Valley riverine near the Ethiopian border, 210 miles ...
. According to a cousin and some colleagues, Mustafa used to draw airplanes during his childhood, and young Mustafa becoming interested in flying and wanting to be a pilot. After earning high marks in his elementary school in
Baidoa Baidoa (, Somali: Maay.html"_;"title="f-Maxaa:_Baydhabo,_Maay">f-Maxaa:_Baydhabo,_Maay:_''Baydhowy)''_is_the_largest_city_of_the_South_West_State_of_Somalia. Between_2002_and_2014,_Baidoa_was_the_capital_of_the_South_West_State_of_Somalia.html" ...
, at the age of 11, he was chosen to attend Italian schools including the ''Liceo Dinesa'' in Mogadishu. In 1959, Mustafa graduated at the top of his class from the ''Collegio Magistrale''. Moalin would later earn a Master of Military Arts and Science degree from Kyiv, Ukraine, the Soviet Union Air Force Academies. Mustafa held Laureate of Jurisprudence from the Somali National University Faculty of Law and a Diploma of Linguistics from Italian Linguistics Academy. He was a polyglot who specialized in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian and Russian languages.


Military career

At age 17, in newly independent Somalia, Mustafa volunteered and was chosen to become a
fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...
. He trained first at
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
with
Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all mili ...
, where he made his first solo flight in a military aircraft. Sometime in 1961 he attended the Soviet air force pilot training school in Moscow where he was trained on the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...
,
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 ...
. As a young officer, Mustafa served as a fighter pilot and was later appointed as fighter air squadron commander and flight training officer. In 1966 he trained at the ''Scuola AVvanzato Base Elica'' in
Latina, Italy Latina () is the capital of the province of Latina in the Lazio region, in central Italy. , the city has 126,612 inhabitants and is the second-largest city of the region, after the national capital Rome. It was founded in 1932 under the fascist ...
, eventually becoming a licensed flight instructor for military transport aircraft such as the C-45 Expeditor and
C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
or Dakota (Douglas DC-3). In 1969 he was trained as pilot and flight instructor for a jet bomber
Ilyushin Il-28 The Ilyushin Il-28 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-28; NATO reporting name: Beagle) is a jet bomber of the immediate postwar period that was originally manufactured for the Soviet Air Forces. It was the Soviet Union's first such aircraft to ent ...
while he attended and graduated from Cosmonaut Academy in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
in the former
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
. Upon returning to Somalia in 1973-74, he was promoted commander of the Balidoogle Air Force base, where he built Somalia's first Air Force School and became the first Chief of the Somali Air Force School. In 1975, Mustafa earned a Master of Military Arts and Science diploma from the Cosmonaut Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine in the former
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
. During the Somali-Ethiopian conflict in 1977-78, his military career reached its zenith when he became Chief of Somali Air Force Operations and Commander of Air Force for Northwestern Somali Regions, Air Force bases in
Hargeisa Hargeisa (; so, Hargeysa, ar, هرجيسا) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland. It is located in the Maroodi Jeex region of the Horn of Africa. It succeeded Burco as the capital of the British Somaliland Protector ...
and
Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. I ...
and was credited to have led the establishment of Somali’s air superiority during the war. In Somali-Ethiopian conflict Mustafa is also credited to have shot down two enemy aircraft over Ogadenia territory and carrying out numerous strategic long distance bombing. In November 1978 Mustafa became the Air Force Academy's commander and a year later with request from the office of the presidency he was transferred and employed by Somali Airlines where he taught different courses and supervised many Pilots.


Commercial pilot

In 1979 Mustafa Mohamed Moalin was employed at Somali Airlines where he oversaw the growth of the Somali Airlines into an international airline. He help bring first commercial jet planes
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 2 ...
to Somali Airlines serving as Captain pilot and flight instructor after studying at American Air Academy in
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, US. In 1987, he became a licensed
flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
in
Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...
after studying at Airbus training center in
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In total, he had 33 years and more than 27,000 hours of flying experience. He served as an airline pilot instructor and a national technical member. His flight experience destinations ranged across
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
,
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.


Personal life

Mustafa Mohamed Moalin is married to Khadija Abdulkhadir Mohamed, a former
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
and
Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...
instructor and expert in
Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
, with whom he has six sons and two daughters (Kamaludin, Zahra, Nuradin, Shamsudin, Rahma, Mohamed, Sakhawadin and Fakhrudin). He also had 28 grandchildren. Mustafa always refused to participate in any form of the
Somali civil war The Somali Civil War ( so, Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; ar, الحرب الأهلية الصومالية ) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the Military dictatorship, military junta wh ...
by maintaining a neutral ground and staying away from clan politics. He loved his country and people and spent his last moments in exile in Moorhead,
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...
, US, with his wife, children, grandchildren and other extended family members. Mustafa died on December 27, 2009, and was buried in Fargo Islamic Cemetery in
Fargo, North Dakota Fargo (Help:IPA/English, /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the ...
.


See also

* Somali Air Force


Notes and references


Taariikh nololeedka G/Sare Duuliye sare Mustafa Mohamed Macallim
''Hiiraan'', December 2009


External links


Somali Aviation Resource Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moalim, Mustafa Mohamed Ethnic Somali people 1943 births 2009 deaths Somali National University alumni Commercial aviators Somalian aviators