Graduate, U.S. Military Academy, Class of January 1943.

Colonel Rippin was a decorated veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was the pilot of a T-33A Shooting Star fighter with the Headquarters Squadron 49th Fighter Bomber Group. On 13 November 1950, while returning from a combat mission, the aircraft's fuel exhausted and the plane crashed on the east bank of the Han River, 29 miles northwest of Airfield K-14 (Kimpo).

For his leadership and valor, Lieutenant Colonel Rippin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 16 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.