Air Crew: Combat Crew, 1943/44 - The Pilot

This Major still looks as if he doesn't have to shave with regularity-but he brought a plane home with 700 machine gun holes. He has flown better than 300 combat hours in the South Pacific, Near East, and North Africa, carrying out every type of mission, in the face of every type of opposition.

He does not regard himself as exceptional-his crew does. He thinks the same way about his crew. Back in '40 he was a sophomore at Columbia, planning to he a pharmacist-and jerking sodas at night to pay his way. He confesses he signed up for flight training because it sounded glamorous. Later, flying against the Japs in Java, and nursing along a case of dysentery, he remembered why he had joined up. It gave him at least one good laugh.

His career followed usual lines. First, Randolph. He thought a couple of times he was due to wash out; but, "I wiggled by."

Then wings, and a few months with a regular outfit before he shifted to instruction. December 7th came-and went. Two weeks after the outbreak of war he was still sitting around, wondering if somebody had forgotten he was alive.

"Then I got a call. Did I know how to handle a four-motor ship? I didn't-but I cheerfully swore I was the original expert. They said okay. I was told to meet the crew and plan to take off that night for Hamilton Field-and points westward.

"I didn't do much worrying. After all, the rest of the crew would know their jobs. Then my crew, yanked together in the previous half hour, reported to me. The co-pilot was four weeks out of school, none of the gunners had ever fired a .50 calibre gun in the air-and the bombardier and navigator were just about as raw.

"By the grace of God, or whoever takes a personal interest in the fate of screwball pilots, the crew chief turned out to be an old timer, with four hitches in the air force.

"I knew one thing, if I confessed, there wouldn't exactly be a lot of confidence floating around that plane. So I said hello, grabbed a tech order on the B-17, and ducked for the cockpit. I spent six hours studying-and got her to Hamilton. We all pitched in and started to learn our jobs. We kept on learning them through the Philippines, Java, Coral Sea, Midway-and a lot of by-ways. Sounds as if a crew can get by without pre-combat training. They can if they are lucky-awfully lucky. The men who went our with me, that first batch of guys who were scraped together and tossed into action, ready or not, because there was a job to be done-did that job. But most of them didn't come back. I was lucky-a lot of good friends of mine weren't.

"Men being trained now get a break. You'll know your job-and that is a lot more comfortable than leaning on luck. That is, you'll know your jobs if you make up your mind to learn-here and now."

The Major is now a group commander, with the job of passing on combat experience to forty crews. Somewhat to his dismay he finds forty pilots, plus forty co-pilots, on his hands. Some of these pilots scare him more than any Jap ever did-and between you and the Major, some of those Japs did a pretty good job of scaring him at times.

It is not their abilities as pilots that worry him. The men who reach him are top-notch flying material.

His big problem is to drive into the skull of every pilot entering the 2nd Air Force the fact that flying, while absolutely essential, is the pilot's secondary job. His number one job is being a commander-assuming the responsibility of commanding an air crew.

ln a heavy bomber there has got to be a boss-on the ground and in the air. The Pilot must take over that responsibility from the moment he meets his crew. He is responsible for seeing that every member of the crew, including himself, is on his toes, mastering his job.

"I've seen pilots since I've been back in the States who seem to think that they are just 'along for the ride' as they go through 2nd Air Force training. They do their piloting-and let it go at that. Their crews coast right along with them.

"I've seen two crews enter training here the same day. When the time came to head for the real thing, one outfit was a combat team. Veterans before they ever heard a shot fired in earnest. All I can say of the other crew is that I hope the fates give them more lives than a cat. They're going to need them before they learn their business. The answer, always, is the pilot.

"Here is the straight, unvarnished truth about the training the 2nd Air Force hands out. lt's the best combat training in the world-but not one ounce better than the effort a crew puts into getting it-we can expose you to training. But you have to catch it.

"It is not always easy. For example, the navigator, especially in the first phases, will find few opportunities for actual navigation. The plane will be flying short legs over familiar terrain, ground that both you and the navigator know like a book. Pilotage is all you need at the moment-but some day you are going to need a good navigator.

"So work with him. Have him chart a course, give you an estimated time of arrival, and ignore the familiar landmarks below. Get in the habit of navigating.

"Make sure that your radio man puts in unlimited time brushing up on code. He is probably fast enough on the ground, but taking code over the Pacific, with lead spattering past your ears, is another matter.

"Keep every gunner on the alert. Get eyes into the combat habit of endlessly sweeping the skies. Seeing the enemy first is life insurance.

"You and your crew will be briefed before every practice mission. lnterrogations will follow the mission. The procedure will be exactly the same as in actual combat. Take it seriously-and learn how to cooperate with your intelligence officer. It pays off overseas-in successful missions-and neck. Sometimes they're your necks.

"Check your plane and crew-check them before, during and after every flight. lt is the best habit a pilot can develop. Each member of the crew has his individual checks to make. See that they make their checks-your job is to double-check.

"Encourage your crew to double in brass. Every man should know a little about the other guy's job. In training it may not seem important that the radio operator know a bit about navigation, that the armorer can fill in as the engineer, or the navigator be able to cope with the bombsight-but some day on a combat mission it may be all important.

The other night I had dinner with a buddy-met his wife and the baby. We didn't talk about it in front of the wife-but he wouldn't have been sitting at that table if he hadn't taught his engineer something about handling the ship. A 20 mm shell, exploding in his cockpit, put him and his co-pilot out of action. The plane was crashing towards the jungle-when the engineer wiggled forward and grabbed the controls. He had been taught enough so he was able to bring the ship home and land her. It wasn't a three-point landing-but he got her down in one piece."

Aside from the value of having someone able to take over in emergencies, understanding other crew member's jobs develops confidence and promotes teamwork. Men know one another's problems-and can anticipate their need of help.

The pilot should develop the habit of talking to the crew on the interphone-and have them talk hack. Understanding conversation over the inter-phones is often difficult. The throat mike has a tendency to distort the voice. Plenty of vocal practice in training is the only way you can be sure of communicating clearly in battle-and in battle the interphone becomes the pilot's eyes.

"Here's an example of what I'm driving at. We're making a run over a formation of Jap transports off Java. I'm watching the troopships when the tail gunner yells through the interphone that two Zeros are coming in at six o'clock. Then the ball turret gunner sees a ship-and a moment later the waist gunner chirps in with a Zero coming from another angle. lt was a sneaker play. We had to do some fast maneuvering to keep our guns bearing-and theirs a little off bearing-without messing up the run. I keep my eyes on the controls and the ships below-but I had 18 eyes watching the Japs. We dropped our eggs in the right basket-and chalked up a brace of Zeros. But it took twenty eyes, plus the interphone, to handle the job."

No pilot and crew ever goes through training without doing some high-power griping. A favorite gripe is that a plane is not ready when it is the crew's turn. The reason usually is that some other crew overlapped the time -and your crew becomes the goat. There have been times when crews, notified that they were going on a high altitude flight, have shown up in suntans-and lost an hour changing clothes.

Time-both in the air and in the class room-is precious in this war. Save it, by having your crew:, equipped and ready to go, on the right spot   at the right time.

Two things no crew gets too much training at, are high altitude flying and gunnery practice. A pilot finds opportunities, if he watches for them, to see that his ship gets more than the routine amount of high altitude flying.

In many theaters of operation combat operations are going to be at an extremely high ceiling-30,000 feet is not unusual-and fighting a plane up there has tricky problems. It is a sound idea, any time orders give you lee-way, to get up high in the sky. When you get there, don't let your crew be passengers-make them function.

Handling your assigned job, cluttered up with heavy gloves and oxygen mask, isn't the same as going through the motions at a comfortable 10,000 feet.

In particular, high altitude gunnery presents new problems. Gun barrels heat up and go haywire. They won't stand the number of rounds they do at lower levels. Short accurate bursts are the only answer. Another point, at 30,000 feet a gunner hasn't got the energy he had at 10,000-riding that gun is like sitting on a bucking broncho. Practice is called for.

Practice is the answer to gunnery problems at any level. No combat crew ever gets too much work on the guns. Fire every round of ammunition you can lay hands on-if possible at air-to-air targets. Every man in the crew who mans a gun is responsible for that gun. Officer or enlisted man, he should be able to tear it down and re-assemble it, under such conditions as pitch darkness, hand-numbing cold, and sizzling bullets-and the job must be done in split seconds. "In addition to being a slave driver, you've got to he a papa to your crew. They will be moved from base to base. Generally, pay is on time-but occasionally there is a slip-up. It isn't your job officially to see that the crew gets their money on time-but good commanders do a lot of things not in the official line of duty.

"It is up to you to watch out for colds and running noses-you don't have to wipe them-but report them to the flight surgeons. A lot of things shrugged off normally can be serious at 30,000 feet. Soldiers don't like to complain of petty ills-but a crew must he physically perfect for high altitude flying. That's the reason why, during training, one night's leave a week is standard. You can't sleep off too many 'mornings after.' The human system isn't built to take additional strains at heavy bombardment flying altitudes.

"So far your own job hasn't been mentioned at all. Piloting a bomber is the biggest and toughest assignment on the ship-but I've never known a pilot who accepted his responsibility toward his crew who sweated and welded them into a combat team, who in the process didn't find he had developed into a top pilot.

"But I will make one point-formation flying. It has been stressed a lot to you-it will be stressed a lot more. No man who has ever fought a heavy bomber in battle thinks it can be over-stressed. A formation of U.S. heavy bombers packs enough fire-power to smash any attack fighter planes can launch-as long as the bombers hold formation.

"Enemy tactics are designed to break that formation. The only way you can hold formation in combat is to fly formation in training until it becomes second nature."

lnstrument flying must become so instinctive that the pilot is free to give all his attention to other responsibilities. He must develop the ability to make instantaneous decisions relative to route, weather, or enemy opposition, based on data which may often be incomplete or doubtful. Every practice mission should be carried out in the spirit of actual combat. The target route and general plan should be explained to the crew. Navigational aids should he studied along with signal data pertaining to his own and enemy procedure. Meteorological conditions along the route, bomb load, relative factors must he considered. The pilot must be sure there is no delay at take off. Exact timing is essential. Poor timing can throw an entire mission off.

"Perhaps this is beginning to give you an idea of what is meant by the pilot's responsibility as a commander.

"The 2nd Air Force takes the responsibility of showing your crew the right way to do the job. But only the pilot, by countless drills, endless combat rehearsals, and building the crew's pride in themselves as a fighting unit, can turn his men into a combat team. The job calls for every ounce of initiative, drive, and ability you've got-but succeed, and men and plane will go in action as a combat team. A team able to successfully carry out its assigned mission-and U. S. Air Forces' definition of a successful mission includes a return trip.