ROWE MISSION #8 - 3 October, 1944, Tuesday

14
army air forces
training
Following Pearl Harbor, in February, 1942
while employed at Bank Of America at Los
Angeles, California I made application for
enlistment in the United States Army Air Force for
pilot training, but was informed that I had to have
my parents consent. On my
next scheduled vacation in
July 1942, I went to Iowa
and obtained the required
signatures and was accepted.
I took the U.S. Army oath
July 31 1942 in the old
Pacific Electric Building at
Main and 6th Street in Los
Angeles and was given a
physical examination at the
Lockheed facility on the
airport off from San
Fernando Road in Burbank.
Many others and I were put
on hold because the number
of applications exceeded
capacity for the current
training facilities and
available instructors. In
February 1943 I received my
call to report to the San
A n t o n i o A i r F o r c e
Classification Center in
Texas along with a host of
other flying hopefuls. I
arrived on February 12, 1943
and we were first billeted in the Gunter Hotel for
several days. It was here that your future as a Pilot,
Navigator or Bombardier was decided and you
were appointed an Aviation Cadet. As American
factories produced thousands of planes, the Army
Air Force Central Flying Training Command used
assembly line techniques to provide pilots,
navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, radio
operators, and gunners to fly them. Each
crewmember was an important member and
contributed to the crew’s success. Pilots were
needed but it would be a failure if the navigator
didn't get you to the target, if the bombardier did
not hit the target, if mechanics didn't properly
service the aircraft and the
accuracy and skill of the
gunner could mean the
difference between success
or "lost in action".
O n o r a b o u t
February 24, it was
determined that this round
peg did indeed fit into the
round hole and I received
my classification as a cadet
pilot. After further testing
by the latest apparatus and
trained psychologists, we
were marched across the
street for Pre-flight
training on or about March
22. Here we brushed up on
mathematics, military
customs, some physics,
history, geography, civil
air regulations etc. and
received conditioning
exercises. "Hazing" was
CADET JOHN ROWE - PRIMARY AT
the norm and upper
COLEMAN, TEXAS - JUNE 1943
classmen also had their
rules and regulations’
governing the mess hall, drill, and barracks life.
Upper classmen could make life miserable, but it
was part of our conditioning to accept authority.
On or about May 24, 1943 Class 43K departed for
pilot training. In 60 weeks Class 43K cadets
would move through three flying schools
(primary, basic and advance) to receive their
wings and a 2nd Lt.'s Commission and then on to
a transition training center and into the cockpit of