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Philip D. Caine was a United States Air Force Brigadier General and a pilot with more than 4,500 hours of flying time in various military aircraft. He was commissioned as a Distinguished Military Graduate from The University of Denver in Air Force ROTC. He earned both his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in History from Stanford University. General Caine's assignments included mission pilot and instructor pilot at several Air Force bases; tenured professor and acting head of the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) History Department; acting head of Project CHECO in Vietnam; Professor of Strategic Studies at the National War College; Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University; and Deputy Commandant of Cadets for Military Instruction at the USAFA. He was the first Permanent Professor in the history of the Air Force Academy to be assigned to the role of Commandant, in which he was responsible for all cadet military education including SERE (Survival, evasion, resistance, escape) training.

Upon his retirement from the Air Force in 1992, General Caine turned his attention to writing and serving the Air Force Academy in other ways. As President of The Friends of the Air Force Academy Library he assisted in the gathering and preserving of the history and heritage of the Academy, which included an oral history project that recorded dozens of Academy personnel and many others who played important roles in the founding and development of the Academy. General Caine is the author of five books:

Aircraft Down!: Evading Capture in WWII Europe

American Pilots in the RAF: The WWII Eagle Squadrons

Spitfires, Thunderbolts, and Warm Beer: An American Fighter Pilot over Europe

Eagles of the RAF: The World War II Eagle Squadrons

The RAF Eagle Squadrons: American Pilots Who Flew for the Royal Air Force