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

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By \\'I1n:u:ss- FIGHTER CONTROL • • • ter of battle TIlE war in \\'Dtern Luropc nlO\TS so f:!,t that prob.rblv the only place in this sector where the situation of the moment is known is in the fighter control tents of the
Here's how controllers direct the planes that are blasting a path into Germany Fifteen minutes later 1\ lark had taken his look and rcported enough enemy trucks and horso-druwn equipment for an army. "lIc says he went clown and looked, and that the stuff has cross~s on it," the controller said. Squadrons hung OITr the ground procession at :\!ons nntil new squadrons came in and briefed them. E,ery few minutes, word went out from fighter control that idcntifieation must he poxit ivc. Later the Army liaison officer reported that the stnff Il'as enemy, :dthough in a fell" places it was only a fell" hundreds of yards from our own armor which Iyas on the move. Lt. Jack Russell, one of the chief controllers, looked ut the status board of the groups and squadrons .md casually diverted some of their missions, The schedule on which they were flying had been made in the office of i\laj, Cen. E. R. Ques:lcla, eOllllnanding the 9th Tactical Air Commaud. "\\'hile on dub' :IS controllers, a lot of captains .md [icutcn.mts here," Lt. Rnssell said, "have more rCII nuthoritv than m.mv colonels." ' Over t(le VI II,' phone one could hear :1 f.iiut voice, that of a squadron leader, "Cct your can up here," it Il'as saying. "For once damn it, get your can up here whcr« you bclona!" llc didn't repeat the message so it II':\S assumed that a pilot had brought his plane np to its proper place in the forma t ion , As the duv went on, xmnc of the controllers told me about the ae'ti,'ities of the I,'ing and the squadron which runs figh tcr con trol. "It was like workins; in a store with sales slips," CI]Jt. Vance Il. Taylor said of the big brc.rk-th rough days. "We were handling from 1,300 to ] .son sorties ada\'. .\ fellow would mention a target and I would hand a sl~]J of paper to another man and then in :1 fell" minutes back would come the slip of paper reading 'target destroyed'." After the breakthrough at St. 1,0 and the mnking over of the luluisc pocket. the American, Cunadi.m and British .mnics swarmed OITr Europe, ovcrruuniug Ccrm.mv's nell empire as the J'\azis had run over Europe four ye:Jrs before -and fighter-bombers of the 9th were leading the way, The operation of fighter control appears relatively simple when you sec it. Planes arc in the air and their pilots call back by radio to tell what they arc doing, what they sce and where thcv arc. Or if thcv arc not certain exactly where they :Jre: controllers can c;sih' find out bv means (if a radio ':fix" through Direction f,'incling sL,t!ons, Men rcccivins; this information think it OI'lT and if things seem to be doing all right they say "Roger" and get off the air. In case there is something nell' for the pl.mcs to do the pilots arc told about it, like this Sund.iv xtul] .rt Mons for example. Bnt actually, fighter control represents one of the most complex air \":Jrning and connuunic.u ions nets in wurf.irc, and its men arc among the most .rblc and best trained in the Armv. 'Lhut's whv, lyitlJ(~ut batting an eye, a captain will depart from the orders set clown by a major gener:d and send airpLlnes far from the places they were origin:dh' assigned to go, In case the decision calls for a definite change of policy, the captain naturally consults higher authorities, but 9th Air Force leaders have considerable confidence in their controllers, Moreover, the LItter have utmost confidence in tlu-msclvc« and in the pilots with whom they work. Capt. Lucius C. Tirey, who came in on the LIte shift, began talking of rccoun.uss.mcc. "You've got to remember one group, a t.rctical rcconnaixsa ncc outfit," he said, "You've seen them flling around, twopl.rnc teams, one maybe flying ]ell'! while the other goes up on one Il'ing and then on the other to look things OITr. Those hoys arc beautiful pilots and beautiful soldiers, and the fll'ing thcv do would knock you out, Irom daylight to d.irk, they arc the best there is on recognition, and when they tell you something is cncmv. it's cucmv If they don't know it's cucurv thcv II00d t~'ll yOU it is: And "i,en the weather is b.ul. the~' go out on' weather reconnaissance flights jnst to find on't how bad things really are," ]\ raj. Joseph J. Cody, senior controller, came OI'lT ;llld leaned agaimt a wall. They say he is u-uullv le:lning ag:limt something or sitting on something, "The hoys get so (Cout inucd Oil )':I£;C () ') ) +-- for; ..'ARD EATTlE Z.C~~ -----------------------------_. ------ ---------ENE.Ml 80MB UN!: ------r lIN~S---------------_. 'l JIM" .. ~;:,; ..::;;;~~~ ~ I RADAR INfANTR¥ COMMAND POST
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: oads and bridges and military imtal
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 38 and 39: The AAF's homing pigeons are recogn
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
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ever .nrivc at a fir',t ~Iid stut i
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p:rinted on the outvi.lc wrt l: ,ih
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tanks and truck-borne infantry and
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FIGHTER CONTROL (Colltilltled from
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Property of tDe Library ARMY INDtJS
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For the Record I)e:lr h!Jtlll Rende
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he Allie's into German-held of the
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H Combat may make you Lazy By Maj.
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..... -; ... The results of two yea
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Production charts show the disaster
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all key points of the factory's 3-+
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HE Fortresses T wings to the took o
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';:'4"'~' .~~~c ~)'~ ~J ~~~ ~" . "
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'l'h is was a YClr ago, but these a
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Pulling in His Ne-:I:. Reeelit de,c
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When a radio operator makes a mista
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Lifeline to the US,S R BY HERBERT R
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Ten o'clock of a December morning a
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THE MAN WITH THE PRIVATE BREEZE By
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THE AIR WAR IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFI
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STANDARD FLIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL E
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It 11c:l!,illg l.ot h sidc
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, , ,CO:-iTI:-iUI:D ]'\o\\', pacbgi
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technique ••• CO]\;Tl:"UED Ne
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INSTRUMENT PANEL (Continued from Pa
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LIFELINE TO THE US S R ( Cout iuucc
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F\lr:RCF'\~CY FOUrp\lr:,\'T luvpcct
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50 COMBAT MAY MAKE YOU LAZY (Contin
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EN of the AAF-including the hundred
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.I In. ]~rhO:S-':cl the'mll-it:IIT
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August 7. Patton kept moving his he
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l'Iiavigation Training En Masse. Th
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"WE arc not going to bubble over wi
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A wood block support; injured legs
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Burma. A Japanese light antiaircraf
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~ ~,C"= =~=.~7~~ ---,- .... _._. __
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HOW ,SHARP ARE YOU? A 'hoto Test of
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.. ' Back to the Philippines PART I
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Tacloban strip \\";IS not sC'ITicca
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All Tile Illftl, \\ ,(("d If iii, ,
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: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 .
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I f By Capt. Greer Williams Air SlI
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Flaming debris (If njllI, ])1]]1:ll
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ground fire the pilot should look f
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two weeks: Cincinnati. one week: Pi
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At 5.000 fed. the pilot opened the
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cardboard bombs on their choice of
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turn to Traffic Scction, Crcnicr Fi
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Oil refineries arc gooel targets, T
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Tile air campaign to choke off fuel
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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
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THE ABC OF D-DAY When an invasion i
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By all AIR F( )RCl-: ()\"t'rsc;/s S
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The fighters called for help and th
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A jeep, laden with leftover explosi
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THE ABC OF D-DAY t Cont inu.xl [r o
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By Capt. E. E. Churchill co, isu. A
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- ~ --'fftJMlGa ~II.I - , • - '--
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We're more than 2,300,000 individua
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