 |
One of the greatest accomplishments of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII was the
training of hundreds of thousands of flying and ground personnel for its armada. Coming
from all walks of life, they were molded into the most formidable Air Force the world had
ever seen before the war, few of them had had more than a casual acquaintanceship with
aviation but by VJ-Day in 1945 when Japan surrendered, they had become experts in their
particular fields of endeavor. In March 1944, their numbers reached a maximum of
2,411,294---approximately 31% of the total strength of the U.S. Army.
Navigation cadets were sent to flying school following preflight where they spent from 15 to 20 weeks in training. Emphasis was placed on precision dead-reckoning navigation with basic proficiency in pilotage, radio, and celestial navigation. A navigation cadet logged approximately 100 hours in the air, but for every hour of flight, he spent five hours in the classroom.
The demand for navigators required a constant expansion of the training program through 1943 and by VJ-Day, more than 50,000 had been graduated. The elimination rate was about 20%. Upon completion of training, navigators usually were sent to operational training units to become part of a flying crew being readied for combat assignment.
|
 |
