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

THE ABC OF D-DAY
t Cont inu.xl [r om P:l~e :;:; I
tern, the complete ort;:lniz:llloll ill the I'~TO
w.rs est:lhhshed.
Did the svstcm P:l\' off? It worked so
well. that on D.da\'. less th.ui onch.ilf of
OIlC percent of :III t:ictica] aircraft of the St h
.md 9th Air Forces were grollilded for l.uk
of parts.
:\'cxt c.unc thc translatioll of supplv int o
.utiou. l ut clliecncc provided inforru.it ion
Oil what tan;ets would be neutralized wl uu ,
while the Air Staff decided Oil how much
time the pre-invasion "prcxcssiui;" xliould
take. However. quest ions were .tlwav. bobhing
lip, like "\\'hat will be the :l\cra~e
.iltit udc of attack and the nut icip.itcd bombillg
accnracv at that al t ituclc?" "11m\' m.mv
bombs will have to be dropped to ~ct the
required number of hits?" "110\\' n1:lIIV
bombers will have to bc put O\'lT the tar~l:t
to drop the required number of bombs,"
To settle thcse .mcl ot lur tille poinf -. it
\\'as evident th.it oulv :1 complc«: chcck on
c(jlnb:lt opcrat ious O\'lT :1 lorn; period coul.l
possiblv provide the data required. Yet St:l-
IlStical Cont rol , with :1 li£;ht flick of its
1,orm i-f reports. served Ill~ the Ilt;ll\c, in
short orrlcr.
\lodiflcatirl11 rcprcscuts another t:m~k f rcuucutlv
unrave-led with t imclv a\Sist:llllc In'
Stat COlltroL In .thc ETO' hIck ill C:lrI;'
I ')-f i, for cx.unplc. it \\,:IS dccided to iIIClC:l'C
1\ 17 arm.uncut bv installing twin :;()s in the
nose in order to counter cncmv fighter plalles
'\hich were attacking hC:ld01I. Ollh.:;:; percent
of the bombers ill a grollp nee.led this
c1r:lIIgC, since a formation is so cleplmcd t li.rt
the noses of aircraft in ccrt.iiu positions arc
adeqllateh- protected bv the tail £;mlS of
01 her planes. It \\'as the job of the modifJc:ltiolls
officer to dircct the Arm' of 1\ l-s
from the airbascs to the depot .md back
again, without cit he; strippillf.; the airb.ivc
lx.low combat strcuuth or o\'lTcrm\'lling the
service f.rcilit ic«. \\'I1:lt \\':IS more, he had to
kecp track of those bombers under his jmisdiction
which had lxcn armcd in this w.rv.
xiucc it was this f.ntor wh ich decided \\'h:'lt
plane would lead each clcmcut. This seemed
simple cnouah, but when the air forces bet;:ln
massing ships for bif.; offensi\'l's, the situat
ion became so involved with details that
modifications officers were on the \crf.;c of
throwing lip their hands.
Here, too. Statistical Control stepped in
.u.d c.uue up with the right idea-on the
nose. An appendix was added to the rcgul.u
aircraft status report and an arr:mgcmcnt
was made for fOf\\'ardillg it to higher levels.
Under this plan, gronp knew bv serial number
what aircraft had been modified, air
division knew bv quantity, and command
knew by perccntaf.;cs, But any time command
wanted to know bv serial numbers,
the necessary iuforuiat ion could be supplied
within the hour.
Preparation for Dxlav in Europe was a
big order. Stat Control took off its tabulators,
rolled up its index files and went to
work. Preparation for Dvday in the Pacific
will be an equally large undertaking, But
Stat Control has its machinery set up. its
report system ora.mizcd and its comprchcnxivc
data reach, for action, *
6D
"All right, Cathey-dress it up!"
Answers to Quiz on Page 53
1. (Il) \.000
2, (A \ Dominator
;. (A) TTIle
4, (D) Shanghai and lIong Kong
S. (B) 5'/e
6, Personal :\ffairs Officer
(c:) :\\;1\' 6. I 'J-+2
fl. (ll) Expcr irncntul
9, (c) 2,000 vards
10. (c) \\'ilmington. Del.
11. (Il) Delaware to India and China
I :. (,\) Sepa ra tc gas \':1pors
I;. (Il) False. Lcvt e. with approximatch'
2.800 sqn:lre miles. is the
eighth largest of thc islands. Luzon.
:\lmd.uiuo, Samar. 0:egros.
Panav, Palawan and M indoro arc
largcr in that order.
14, (B) False, Direct communication
is authorized.
1:;. (Il) False. The 1\29 win~sp:ln is
approximately l l l fcet; the H19.
212 feet.
16, (B) Vivcositv
1-. (c) 4:;0 '
18. (Il) F:J1se. Union of Soviet Soci:ilist
Republics
19. (,\) TTIlc
20. The C -fli Commando (left) and
t hc C47 Skvtr.un.
Rendezvous
(Coutinued fro II I I'a