Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

I f
By Capt. Greer Williams
Air SlITgeoll's Office
vou nrc :1 fl\"lT \\110 never m.rkcs a mivt.rk«, you C:1n
sleep through this ouc.
On the other hand, von tu.rv he hl11l1:111,like the joker
who slept through :1 cl.ivs f)JJ ditefling. On th.rt unluckv d:11'
when his airpl.mc had to ditch. he didn't know h ow to opcn
his onc-m.m life raft. lie clrow ned.
Or like the pilot of a B-li in whicl: half the crew, including
the bombnrdicr, were uuconxcrous from o"ygen w.mt
dming the hOinhiug run. The pilot saved their Jiles by IC1\'ing
the formation and di'ing from :2 :;,000 to 5,000 feet.
Bnt that didnt correct the leaking mygen system which had
gin'n his crew trouble on a previous mission, Nor did it
help in a subsequent mission when the whole right half of
the svstcm went out complctclv.
Or like a pilot who got his shot-up fighter back to the base
hut couldn't laud. lIe bailed out all right, but landed facing
Considerable realism 1\ put in lo tim d.monvt rut ron of slccpmg ill
a lr.unmo.}, IIL"!c (If p:n;whllk \II! h\ln(lIl'J, atLle'hn] t o trccs.
1 6
e Careless
Die Early
i ! «. vvi ncl. The ch u te jerked him O\"lT h:lck\l':n(k Tl ishead
struck tile l.mdiru; stnp .mcl he \\:IS k illc«].
Or like the B-2CJ pilot \1'110 tried to \\:l1k hick to his hase
through ')00 miles of 1'\e\l' Cuinc\ jungle with ouf citing. J Ie
elidn't feel 11l1ngr:' after the first two elan .n n] looking for
fooel slowed him down, lie II':IS definiteh' slowed down when
he contacted f ricnd lv natives 1-+ (L1\s 1:Jter.
Or like the :1irm:I;1 wh» n-ed hi< clcct ricallv heated hoots
for ovcrvhocs hec1l1se of the S1l0\l' ancl slush illI the grouud.
I li- toes were frostbitten wlun the battered wirc-, f:1iled at
high :11ti tude,
Or like the four crewmen of :1 B-17 \lhich ditched in the
South Pacific. They failed to :IS"lIue ditehiug positiollS .md
were never seen again. The other si, got into tlu Lifts .md,
as soon as thcv were hon:I!jde casta\\':1\S, .itc :111their cnurgellC'\'
r.it ious ;;nd drunk all their w.itcr. Thcv wc«. shot with
luck hecallSe, although 110 one h:«l thonght to bring the
Cibson Cirl or a Very pistol, a PBY spotted them after
seven hours.
:\LJyhe the burdens of discipline and the h:lI:m]s of comhat
flight m.ikc you feel like lea,iug ellTlthlng to luck,
Luck is :1 good thing but any g:unhlcr \I'i11 tell you that to
stretch it you have to gi'e it a li ttle expert gni(1:Jnee.
'111e mun the A,\j. has delegated to help you becomc an
expert in stretching your luck is the Pcrvou.rl I':quipmcnt
Othccr. The Air Trau-.port Conuu.uid calls him a I,'light
bllergencl' Olliccr and the ?\aly has u.uncd him the Avi.tbon
Lquipmcnt ()flicer, but whatever you call him. PEO or
This nAn type lean-to shelter 1\ IlL](!c (If P(l!c\ 1)(>111\(1 wit h palm
lihns .nu] «()\LTcd wit l: m.it, \I (lIT II (If p.rhu [mil']" It IS w.rtcrproof',
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