Release #11

U. S. ARMY ENLISTMENT BROADCAST

JULY 1, 1941 - KOIN - 10:30-45

ANNCR: KOIN presents......................"Soldiers of the Air".

MUSIC THEME "SECOND CONNECTICUT REGIMENT" (475) UP AND FaDE TO BACKGROUND

ANNCR: This evening KOIN is pleased to co-operate with the United States

Army Recruiting Service in presenting the eleventh of a series of regular weekly Broadcasts, Bringing you the informal, informative and interesting story of the "Soldiers of the Air".

MUSIC THEME UP AND OUT.

ANNCR: Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have with us a full fledged pilot with a Second Lieutenant’s commission in Uncle Sam's Army. It is our young friend Larry Foster, who has returned to us again after a thirty-week period of training at the Palo Alto Training Field, King City, California, and at Randolph and Kelly Fields, Texas.

He is standing here Beside me, resplendent in his officer's uniform and he sure looks the part. Of course his Buddy, Bill "Butch" Harris is with us too. There's a grin on Bill's face, hut-his-eyes.

BILL: Don't sa.y it Mr.____________________. Don't say it. I know I'm

too old a soldier to he emotional, But this is one time when I don't know whether to laugh or snivel, I'm so proud of old "Dog Face" here.

aNNCR: Soldiers are human after all, aren't they Bill?

BILL: I hope so, But we learn to take things for granted. Kind of fills

me up when I know my Buddy has made the grade.

LARRY: What are you two guys trying to do, make me feel like a sweet girl graduate or something?

BILL: Yeh: Or something.

ANNCR: All right boys, we'll go into that later. But right now, Larry, we are anxious to hear about your experiences at the West Point of the Air. I suppose you were greeted with open arms?

LaRRY: Nothing like it. I was greeted the same as hundreds of other fellows in a very business like way and inducted into the Air Corps.

ANNCR: How do you mean inducted?

BILL: He means, if he had any notions about himself he was all wet.

ANNCR: I thought by induction there might have been a little hazing — you know.

LARRY:. You might call it that. The government's pretty strict about that sort of thing, but the boys manage to have a little fun.

ANNCR: Sort of collegiate, I suppose.

LARRY: Not exactly. One of the stunts is to make a fellow wear his goggles around his neck until he makes his first solo flight.

BILL: Now don't tell me you call that hazing.

LARRY: In a way. It makes a guy feel self conscious.

BILL: Sure does — but that's just to remind you —

LARRY: Of what?

BILL: There's been a lot of other guys before you.

ANNCR: After that little reception I suppose you got down to business.

LARRY: Sure did. The first day we went through the drill routine and setting up exercises.

ANNCR: Drilling still on the program?

BILL: That's one thing the soldier never gets away from.

LARRY: Then we were assigned to our classes.

ANNCR: How do they arrange about classes, Larry?

LARRY: Each instructor gets about four or five boys. That's why the student makes such fast progress. The work is personalized as much as

possible.

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BILL: And you'd be surprised, how much rivalry there is among the boys.

LaRRY: There sure is. Each one wants to be the first to make a solo flight, and. no one wants to be the last.

ANNCR: Why is that?

LARRY: It makes a lot of difference in the "chili bowl" you get.

ANNCR: What's a "chili bowl?"

BILL: Hair cut.

ANNCR: What's a hair cut got to do with it?

LARRY: The guy that makes the first solo flight gets a close crop. The last man to make it gets a clip.

aNNCR: How did you come out?

LARRY: I wasn't first or last, so I wasn't hazed.

ANNCR: What's the first thing the instructor does after the classes are formed?

LARRY: First the student slips into a pair of coveralls and the instructor takes him for a "joy ride."

ANNCR: Sort of an introduction to the sky?

LARRY: Not that so much as getting the Cadet acquainted, with the country where he will do his flying. When you get up around ten thousand feet you get a good view of where you're going to do your work.

aNNCR: Bid the instructors pull any stunt on you?

BILL: Not at all. Flying is strictly business. The student is made to realize that he isn't playing with a toy.

LARRY: Listen Butch, do you have to butt in on all the questions?

BILL: When I think I see a wise crack coming I do, yeh I

LARRY: How do you know I was going to wise crack?

BILL: Listen young man, your bars haven't changed you a bit.

ANNCR: I'll bet there is one thing that joy ride did for you, Larry.

LARRY: What's that ? 3-3-3

ANNCR: Made you. want to take over the controls?

LARRY: It sure did. The way the instructor handled, that ncrate" made it look almost as easy as walking.

SILL: Yeh 1 Until he handed you the controls and told you to de the same

thing.

LARRY: That's right.

BILL: I’m always right.

LARRY: You know, Mr.________________________, when a Cadet takes over the

controls, he's being continually razzed. He never gets a chance to think he's good.

BILL: When a pilot gets to the place where he thinks he's good, he'd

better stop flying.

ANNCR: That goes for most anything, doesn't it, Bill?

BILL: Yes I But especially for a pilot. Because when he starts coming

down, how he does come.

ANNCR: Bill, you talk as though you knew something about flying.

LARRY: Sure he does I He used to be a stunt flier with a circus.

BILL: You would spill that one,

aNNCR: Bill, you've been hiding your light under a bushel.

BILL: You're wrong ! I hid it under a barn the last time I went through

one. Those were the days, Buddy, when we flew on nothing. We had. to guide ourselves by ordinary road, maps, hoping the rivers and the railroads were leading us in the right direction.

LARRY: Didn’t you have a compass?

BILL: Not unless we thought of putting one in our pockets.

LARRY: How did you get around?

BILL: We usually knew the country, and it was just too bad. if we didn't.

Then when the engine got "full of bugs" —

LARRY: What do you mean "full of bugs?"

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BILL: Motor trouble, Dodo, motor trouble. We’d land in some corn field and try to fix her up. If visibility was poor we'd "hedge hop."

ANNCR: What's "hedge hop?"

BILL: Well — when it got nice and foggy we'd land in some farmer's field Then when it cleared, we'd hop off. When it got foggy again, we'd land. Then hop off again, land again and hep again.

LARRY: (Laughing) Loy that's good! Sounds like you were playing leap frog

RILL: With trees and fences, yeh !

LARRY: Did you have a gas gauge?

BILL: Nothing as fancy as that.

LARRY: How did you figure out how far you could fly?

BILL: By the amount of gas the tank held.

LARRY: What did you do, keep pooking in the tank?

BILL: No, just a lot of guess work and a little mathematics. And as for altimeters, we just kept going up, and then we'd look d.own and. say, "We must be about so high."

LARRY: (Laughing) That's what I would call blind flying.

RILL: Thinking back, I'd call it dumb flying.

LARRY: Bill, de you think you could fly one of our newest "crates?"

BILL: What are you trying to do, kid me?

LaRRY: No, I'm serious.

BILL: I might fly one of those "push buttons" you started on.

ANNCR: How about that, Larry? How long was it before you started soloing?

LARRY: The second week I was at the Field.

aNNCR: Pretty quick work wasn't it?

LARRY: Oh no ! The first week we do all ground, work. We get into the "crate" and. study the instruments.

BILL: A Cadet gets acquainted with his ship that way.

5-5-5

LARRY: Thon we study fundamentals of flying. Theory of flying, areo dynamics. The second week the instructor takes the student up and begins to put the theory into practice.

BILL: Then the Cadet gets his big thrill when the instructor tells him

to take over the controls.

LaRRY: It kind of gives you a funny feeling in the solar plexus.

ANNCR: How didyour first landing turn out, Larry?

LARRY: Well, I hit the ground with such a bump, it seemed to me I went back to where I came from.

BILL: (Laughing) What did the instructor say?

LARRY: Nothing just then. He just took over, made a perfect landing, got out very quietly and said: "I'm not ready to die yet, but if you want to it’s all right with me. Now try it by yourself."

BILL: What happened?

LARRY: I opened her up, pulled back on the stick and nosed her up. Then

I thought I’d ease her down for a nice landing and fool the guy,

but changed my mind and thought maybe I’d go a little higher, wishing I could stay there for the rest of my life.

BILL: (Laughing) That's the worst thing about a plane, you know you've

got to come down sometime.

LARRY: That's just what I was thinking. So I said 'here goes,'1 cut the motor, turned into the wind and sailed down and made what I thought was a very smooth landing. I saw the instructor watching me, and he was smiling. So I smiled back and waited for the compliment.

BILL: What did he say?

LARRY: LOUSY.

uILL: Did he make you do it again?

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LARRY: No ! He said I was through for the day. He wanted me to think about it for a while.

ANNCR: I’ll bet you did.

LARRY: But till I got to my bunk I didn’t know how all-in I was.

BILL: And next morning you were raring to go.

LARRY: And how I

ANNCR: About how many flying hours did you actually do by the end of the primary period?

LARRY: About 100 hours. By that time I was getting pretty confident.

BILL: Until the flight commander took him up for a final check.

ANNCR: I suppose that's the time the boys really get stage fright.

LARRY: You mean that's the time they shouldn't get it. That final check-up is poison.

ANNCR: Why poison?

LARRY: After you make what you think is a swell flight, and the commander begins to call you on the flukes you made, you'd know why.

BILL: But it's not sc bad after it's thumbs up.

LARRY: That's the big thrill, when you know you've passed, then, Boy, you're happy.

ANNCR: I take it that meant getting ready for the next period of training?

LARRY: The very next day.

ANNCR: Well, boys, we'll have to wait until next week to hear about that, and thanks a million for coming up. Ladies and gentlemen we have with us another guest that I am sure you will enjoy meeting. He will add a few words to our program that will no doubt be of interest concerning the subject of the Army accepting recruits for the Air Corps. Ladies and gentlemen we present Lt. C. W. Ralph, Army Recruit-

ing Service,, Portland, Oregon.

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Lt. RALPH: Thank you. Mr._________________. I would like to say a few

words about a branch of service that is little heard of, but is one of the most important branches of service in the '.Army. That service is the Ordnance Department. The Ordnance department, whose enlisted personnel are few in number as compared to the strength of the entire Army, is not often in the limelight; possibly its very existence as a separate service is not known to some generally well-informed citizens. Yet it plays a major role in the drama of national defense, for upon this branch depends the success cr failure of entire campaigns in war. Men may be poorly clad and still fight, they may be hungry and still fight—sometimes all the more tenaciously, but if their weapons and ammunition are inferior to those of the enemy, they cannot fight successfully.

The Ord.nance Department is charged with the supply and maintenance of both weapons and ammunition. This department also has the responsibility for the development of new and improved types of weapons and accessories, either in the Army's own arsenals or through the medium of commercial manufacturing plants. With this theoretical phase of the science of the ordnance, however, the enlisted, man is not directly concerned. His talents find an outlet in the many skilled trades involved, in maintenance and supply work. He does, however, in connection with his regular work, have an opportunity to study at close range the latest scientific discoveries and developments in his field, If he is fully awake to his advantages, he can thus increase materially not only his skill as a workman but also his knowledge.

After the recruit has become familiar with routine Army life and given instruction in the basic training of a soldier, he is

assigned either to an Ordnance organization, a depot,

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(Coat'd) RaLPH! an ammunition or maintenance company, or to an Ordnance detachment

or a post or station where his services are most needed. It may be said, however, that the opportunities for travel, both in the United States and. in cur overseas possessions apply to the soldier of the Ordnance Department as fully as to soldiers of other arms and services.

In carrying out its mission, the Ordnance Department requires the services of the following skilled, workers: Armorers, automotive mechanics, artillery mechanics, instrument repairmen, carpenters, electricians, machinists, munition workers, welders, toolmakers and many ether specialized jobs. Like other branches of the Army the Ordnance Department maintains schools for the training of its men in special work.

The Ordnance Field Service School at Raritan Arsenal, New Jersey is one of the best of its kind, in the world. At Raritan the students are given a nine months course in the specialty which they have chosen. Upon graduation the student is returned to his station and is in line for promotion and an increase in pay. I might add that the trained Ordnance man is needed in the Aviation as well as other branches of the service. Besides the vacancies for Ordnance, all young men with a high school education should inquire about the new "Enlisted Men's Pilot Training." You do not need two years of College to pilot one of Uncle Sams fighting planes. "Don't delay" this is your opportunity not only to serve your country, but to fit yourself for a lifetime profession. For further information I would suggest that you make your application tomorrow at any of the following recruiting stations in Oregon and. Idaho. 323 Main Post Office Building, Portland or in the Post Office in, Eugene, Salem, Medford, Ontario, Klamath Falls, Pendleton and Tillamook. In Idaho apply at the Post Office Boise. Thank you and good evening. 9-9-9

ANNCR: Thank you, sir. You have just heard Lt. C. W. Ralph, who was kind enough to come to our studio and add a few words to our program. You are all invited to come up to the studio next Tuesday night to hear more about the experiences of our flying officer, Larry Foster, in his interesting series on the ’’Soldiers of the Air".

MUSIC THEME (475) UP AND FADE TO PACKGROUND.

ANNCR: You have just hoard the eleventh of a series of programs, "Soldiers of the Air". These programs are produced in co-operation with the Portland Regular Army Recruiting Station, and with the assistance of the Oregon Writers' Project. Tune in next Tuesday evening at this time when "Soldiers of the Air" will again be broadcast from

the studios of KOIN, the Journal, Portland.