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

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The AAF's homing pigeons are recognized as soldiers. and good ones, with guts, endurance and a high record of performance when the going is tough AIR rORCE of the xlipxt rc.uu holds his wings clo«, to his bodv until the slip is gone. Then the bird fights his "ay out of the bag, spirals clown to his favorite ceiling of from )00 to 400 feet and sets out for home. Pigeons can be released without thc paper sack, but it is betlcr for them to hale protection. Oclcllv, thc l.ick of ox\'gen ,mel the intensc minus-:;O-clegree cold at 3:;,(JOO feet doesn't seem to bother the birds. The a\Tragc speed of a homing pigeon is from ):; to 40 111ph. The Caribbc.m \\ ing, an 1\1\1
Bulldozers and Bullets By MAL HERBERT O. JOHANSEN AIR FORCE OlTTSC1S Staff O,\;E night, while the ground fighting for Saipan was still in progress, a lieutenal.l.t in the aviation engineers drove his jeep to the end of an airstrip and spotted one of our planes burning. Two enemy snipers had fired it. As the [aps sprinted toward the safety of a eanefield, the lieutenant grabbed his carbine, but the gun jammed. The [aps were nearing cover, so he stepped on the jeep's throttle and lit after them. He caught up with one of the [aps and slapped the jeep into him. The Jap went sprawling, hut jumped to his feet and kept on running. "l'he jeep whirled around and slammed into him again. The Jap was buried the next morning. \Vhen the aviation engineers of the 7th Air Force Service Command landed on Saipan on June 30, D-day plus 5, their job was to build airstrips. In order to do that job. they had to fight [aps, dodge artillery fire from nearby Tinian and withstand three strafing attacks. The situation was so tense they encircled their tent area with .50 caliber machine guns. No sunTying party went to work without an accompanying band of engineer-riflemen. Engineers in half tracks maintained a constant patrol. For a short time, the engineers' guns were the field's only antiaircraft defenses and their half tracks provided the only close-in ground defenses. When 38 11.1 C~TR:\TIO:"JS BY CPL. LOUiS S. GLANZMAN they started surveying a fighter strip on the southeast end of the island, a tank battle was raging in full view half a mile ;1\\'ay. The actual front line was just one mile to the north. Saipan is no longcr news. It is now a full-scale operational airbasc. The aviation engineers did not gct in on the battle headlines, but they huilt the airfields that bring us closer to the headline of headlines: Japan's defeat. The battle for airbuses is ahl'ays news, and the capture of an island is only half that battle. Operational airbuses such as we arc now using on Saip.m and dozens of similar islands in the Pacific are not captured. The:' are built-often under enem:' fire, alwavs against unbelievable obstacles, with inadequate equipment, by men fighting time, nature and the cncmv, The joh of Saipan was done hy fi'T battalious of the 7th AAF Service Command cnginecrs. \\Then their work was finished, our bombers and fighters started using the fields to continue their operations along the nirwavs to Tokvo. A natural question is, "\ Vhat about the Japanese airfields we captured? True, they were prcttv well bom b-battcrcd in the process, but why not just fill the craters, move in our aircraft and start operations?" That's a natural question, oulv don't put it to the aviation engineers \\,110 were there. If AIR FORCE
Page 1 and 2: ~J 1 AIR FOftCES * OCTOBER 1944
Page 3 and 4: Rendezvous Who Is He? Dear Editor:
Page 5 and 6: [us: ,dlat is tIle AAI'I'DC~ It is
Page 7 and 8: oads and bridges and military imtal
Page 9 and 10: Here's how controllers direct the p
Page 11 and 12: sengcr and courier service in areas
Page 13 and 14: GET WISE Here are a few of the easi
Page 15 and 16: Airborne soldiers. shown here durin
Page 17 and 18: Smoke in background is fruin [up.ui
Page 19 and 20: It has pronounced step characterist
Page 21 and 22: TIIC{"II""IIIi; ;lItidc j, till' I/
Page 23 and 24: OCTOBER,1944 The first thing the a\
Page 25 and 26: YOUR ENEMY All ;Iirer;!ft fllillg o
Page 27 and 28: ->",i" .""tJnil'et hj/'- By Col. Do
Page 29 and 30: 28 011 BOll~aiIldk is quicklv unloa
Page 31 and 32: the plane landed, a jccp would driv
Page 33: THE PHiliPPINES DISTANCES SHOWN IN
Page 36 and 37: The economic system of the Philippi
Page 40 and 41: Our aviation engineers had to fight
Page 42 and 43: ---- technique • -- - --- . RUNWA
Page 44 and 45: High Intensity Controlled Lighting
Page 46 and 47: Attached to a flyer's ear, the Oxim
Page 48 and 49: Automatic Pilot Trainer-A new train
Page 50 and 51: 3 5 7 Surprised by the friendliness
Page 52 and 53: TIM ELY A D V ICE FRO M THE A I R I
Page 54 and 55: R.6 I:>:CJ: the AAF S helicopter, t
Page 56 and 57: SS I. You on the left, Buddy, appea
Page 58 and 59: ever .nrivc at a fir',t ~Iid stut i
Page 60 and 61: p:rinted on the outvi.lc wrt l: ,ih
Page 62 and 63: tanks and truck-borne infantry and
Page 64 and 65: FIGHTER CONTROL (Colltilltled from
Page 68 and 69: Property of tDe Library ARMY INDtJS
Page 70 and 71: For the Record I)e:lr h!Jtlll Rende
Page 72 and 73: he Allie's into German-held of the
Page 74 and 75: H Combat may make you Lazy By Maj.
Page 76 and 77: ..... -; ... The results of two yea
Page 78 and 79: Production charts show the disaster
Page 80 and 81: all key points of the factory's 3-+
Page 82 and 83: HE Fortresses T wings to the took o
Page 84 and 85: ';:'4"'~' .~~~c ~)'~ ~J ~~~ ~" . "
Page 86 and 87: 'l'h is was a YClr ago, but these a
Page 88 and 89:
Pulling in His Ne-:I:. Reeelit de,c
Page 90 and 91:
When a radio operator makes a mista
Page 92 and 93:
Lifeline to the US,S R BY HERBERT R
Page 94 and 95:
Ten o'clock of a December morning a
Page 96 and 97:
THE MAN WITH THE PRIVATE BREEZE By
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THE AIR WAR IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFI
Page 100 and 101:
STANDARD FLIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL E
Page 102 and 103:
It 11c:l!,illg l.ot h sidc
Page 104 and 105:
, , ,CO:-iTI:-iUI:D ]'\o\\', pacbgi
Page 106 and 107:
technique ••• CO]\;Tl:"UED Ne
Page 108 and 109:
INSTRUMENT PANEL (Continued from Pa
Page 110 and 111:
LIFELINE TO THE US S R ( Cout iuucc
Page 112 and 113:
F\lr:RCF'\~CY FOUrp\lr:,\'T luvpcct
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50 COMBAT MAY MAKE YOU LAZY (Contin
Page 116 and 117:
EN of the AAF-including the hundred
Page 118 and 119:
.I In. ]~rhO:S-':cl the'mll-it:IIT
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August 7. Patton kept moving his he
Page 122 and 123:
l'Iiavigation Training En Masse. Th
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"WE arc not going to bubble over wi
Page 126 and 127:
A wood block support; injured legs
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Burma. A Japanese light antiaircraf
Page 130:
~ ~,C"= =~=.~7~~ ---,- .... _._. __
Page 134 and 135:
HOW ,SHARP ARE YOU? A 'hoto Test of
Page 136 and 137:
.. ' Back to the Philippines PART I
Page 138 and 139:
Tacloban strip \\";IS not sC'ITicca
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All Tile Illftl, \\ ,(("d If iii, ,
Page 142 and 143:
:lIe fbttle of Hrit.un. IC\i" intru
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Underground. ,'~ group of worried m
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volunteers between the agcs of II .
Page 148 and 149:
I f By Capt. Greer Williams Air SlI
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Flaming debris (If njllI, ])1]]1:ll
Page 152:
ground fire the pilot should look f
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two weeks: Cincinnati. one week: Pi
Page 157 and 158:
At 5.000 fed. the pilot opened the
Page 159 and 160:
cardboard bombs on their choice of
Page 161 and 162:
turn to Traffic Scction, Crcnicr Fi
Page 163 and 164:
Oil refineries arc gooel targets, T
Page 165 and 166:
Tile air campaign to choke off fuel
Page 167 and 168:
fallen into Allied hands, thus maki
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Hamburg i lPolilz IMagdeburg 1 I r
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He's the guy who holds the life of
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46 V4ba\'s vnong V4itbtbis pictUfe1
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j ._3 Thirteen days after the 13th
Page 184 and 185:
THE ABC OF D-DAY When an invasion i
Page 186 and 187:
By all AIR F( )RCl-: ()\"t'rsc;/s S
Page 188 and 189:
The fighters called for help and th
Page 190 and 191:
A jeep, laden with leftover explosi
Page 192 and 193:
THE ABC OF D-DAY t Cont inu.xl [r o
Page 194 and 195:
By Capt. E. E. Churchill co, isu. A
Page 196 and 197:
- ~ --'fftJMlGa ~II.I - , • - '--
Page 198:
We're more than 2,300,000 individua
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