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Release #10

U. S. ARMY ENLISTMENT BROADCAST

JUNE 24, 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 tenth of the 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 our air soldier friend, Larry Foster, enters upon a new phase of his career as a "Soldier of the Air". For the last six months, Larry has been studying hard, to acquire the necessary college credits that would enable him to take the examinations for the Flying Cadets. Larry is standing by to tell us about the many things that have happened in the meantime, and, of course his Buddy, Bill "Butch" Harris is right along with him. Larry still relies on you to help him cut in our informal meetings. Doesn' t he Bill?

BILL: Guess he's so used to having me along, he feels lonesome without me.

ANNCR: That right, Larry?

LARRY: We've been palling together so long now that it just doesn't seem right if Bill isn’t around.

ANNCR: However, it's mighty nice having you both here again. I look forward to hearing you ribbing each other occasionally.

BILL: Oh, that goes on all the time.

ANNCR: Larry, tell us about getting into the pilot class.

LARRY: I couldn't begin to tell you how thrilled I am. It was work, I_ can

tell you that.

BILL: Dodo sure made a good job of it. What with all his orhter work and

studying in his spare time, he sure was going some.

ANNCR: Worth it, wasn't it, Larry?

LARRY: It sure was.

ANNCR: What becomes of your Crew Chief job and Master Sergeant stripes?

LARRY: That's all a thing of the past now. As soon as I was notified that

I had made the grade, I was given my honorary discharge from the army and immediately after I enlisted in the Flying Cadets.

ANNCR: Just what studies did you have to take up to meet the requirements?

LARRY: Arithmetic, English composition, algebra including quadratics, trigonometry, geometry, American history, chemistry and one foreign language.

ANNCR: You had to go some to get that all in in six months,

BILL: He sure did burr, midnight oil.

ANNCR: All these subjects were necessary to get the required college credits'

LARRY: Yes. You see I never did get to college, but having graduated from high school I w: s allowed to take up the subjects that would make up the required ;v.-glitp. and allow me to take the examination for the Cadets. One of Lhe officers of the air corps at the Portland Base gave me a lot of help, and he sure was swell about it.

BILL: There is an interesting story about that guy, Dodo. He started the

same as you did. vet ell the ground work and made the Master Sergeant grade. But he wanted to become a pilot. They were doubtful about him because he Lad a physical defect, but offered him all the help they could.

ANNCR: Evidently they couldn't discourage him.

DILL: No sir. In his spare time he kept studying, and at the same time

took up gym work and overcame his physical defect. Today he is one of Uncle Sam's crack pursuit pilots.

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ANNCR: Can’t keep a good, man down, can they?

BILL: No, and they don't want to. Any boy that is willing to work has

all the chance in the world. In fact the government encourages him to do so.

ANNCR: Evidently the government can't get enough of the right kind of men. LARRY: That's a fact. The government is looking way ahead because of the opportunities opening up in commercial aeronautics. Not only for pilots, but engineers, navigators, radio men, and all sorts of other jobs.

ANNCR: And those boys get a good salary, don't they?

LARRY: I'll say. In the commercial field first class pilots average $950

a month with additional expense paid while away from the home port.

BILL: Sxperts say th? t in. the next few years all towns of 5,000 or more

will be served, with at least feeder lines for mail, express, freight and. passengers.

LARRY: Yeh, and they'd.'. need from two to six men in each crew.

ANNCR: And. Uncle Sam is willing to give any air-minded boy an ed.ucation that will make him eligible for one of these jobs? Seems to me they'd jump at the chance*

BILL: They're waking ux> to the, fact that the army is the place to get it.

ANNCR: Any other boy° at the Base try out for the exams besides you, Larry? LARRY: Yes. Two of then. Kind of funny too.

ANNCR: Why funny?

LARRY: One is a grea4 try ^ellow and the other is a little shaver. All the time we were studying the big guy kept telling little fellow he didn't have a chance.

ANNCR: Why?

BILL: Just because this little guy, Frank Chrisman, didn't go in for athletics,

he wouldn't be able to pass the physical exam.

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LARRY: Didn't phase Frank any. He just couldn't he bothered with athletics, but how he could eat up mathematics and languages. Sure is a whizz at that stuff.

ANNCR: Just how much do you have to weigh and how tall or short must you be to get by.

BILL: a cadet can weigh as little as 115 pounds and be as short as 64 inches, and he can be 6 feet 4 inches tall but he can't weigh over two hundred pounds.

LARRY: Well everything went fine until the "final shake down".

ANNCR: What do you mean by "final shake down"?

BILL: That's the physical exam.

LARRY: Little Frankie came through with flying colors and big William weighed five pounds over two hundred and had to come down to two hundred to make it.

SILL: We sure got a kick out of that. William was "blasted" right off his high horse.

LARRY: People have an idea that being an athlete is the sure way of getting in the Flying Cadet Corps.

ANNCR: I kind of had that idea myself.

LARRY: The majority of pilots never competed in athletics.

BILL: At the start Uncle Sam wants men with good minds. He improves them physically himself.

ANNCR: How do you stand for the physical requirements, Larry?

LARRY: CK. Six feet tail and weigh 175 pounds.

ANNCR: Are the "final shake downs" pretty stiff?

LARRY: I'll say they are. By the time I got through with the "finals" I knew I was good.

ANNCR: How does it differ from the other physical exams you took.

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LARRY: To begin with they are more particular. Eyesight for one thing. If

you are color blinc! you haven't got a chance. Hearing must be perfect You are tested in precision and co-ordination.

I ILL: And that isn't all by a long shot. They check up on a guy in other ways. Character references. They look into your pedigree and tell you about relatives you never heard of before.

LARRY: You know how long I had to wait until I heard how I came out?

ANNCR: How long?

LARRY: Two months.

ANNCR: Why that long?

BILL: Just to make sure there wasn't going to be a mistake. Uncle Sam can't afford to make mistakes. Wen he spends $7,000 on a man's education he wants to know all about him.

LARRY: And believe you me, he does. I'll never forget the day I got my OK. Little Frank got his at the same time.

ANNCR: Bid you celebrate?

LARRY: If you can call flip flops a celebration, that was it.

ANNCR: How about the Big Loy?

LARRY: He was sick. He looked at Frank and said: "I should live to see this day."

ANNCR: What's your next move, Larry?

LARRY: I've been assigned to the Palo Alto Air Base at Kind City, California.

ANNCR: How long will you be stationed there?

LARRY: Ten weeks, and then ten weeks at Randolph Field, The West Point of the Air and then a finishing ten weeks at Kelly Field for my advance flying.

ANNCR: Going to make a flyer out of you in that time?

TILL: That means a lot of flying hours when they get started. That thirty weeks is divided up into three periods, primary, basic and advanced flying. 5-5-5

ANNCR: Going to miss your Buddy, Bill?

BILL: Sure will. But I got to get used to it.

LARRY: Time will go fast down there.

BILL: I'll be pulling for you, Dodo.

ANNCR: By the way, Larry. You're going to miss that nice little salary you got as Master Sergeant, aren't you?

LARRY! No» As a Flying Cadet I'll get $75 a month with a dollar a day allowance. I get my clothings equipment, medical and dental care.

BILL: After his training is completed, he graduates as a Second Lieutenant

of the Air Corps Reserve, with a rating as pilot. Then his salary jumps to $205,50 a month plus living quarters. No bad, Eh?

ANNCR: I'll say not. I suppose the next assignment is your ship and crew?

LARRY: Yes. The pilot is put on "Extented active duty" from one to three years.

BILL: One year ! You can't make a real pilot in a year,

LARRY: That's why I'm in for three years - and more.

BILL: In that case you can take a "Competitive examination" for regular

Army Commission.

ANNCR: Just no limit to advancement.

BILL: As I said before, "The sky is the limit, and there is lots of sky".

LARRY: And I'm getting in on everything Uncle Sam's got to offer.

ANNCR: When you get back into civilian life, Larry, you'll be ready to take up commercial aviation.

LARRY: I'm pretty sure there isn't going to be any civilian life for me.

I'm in the army and I'm going to stay. "It's a great life".

ANNCR: What about the boys that flunk their exams, are they through for all time.

LARRY: They are not. If they're "stubborn" about it they keep at it until they do pass. Uncle Sam gives them three or four chances.

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BILL: No discouragement in this man’s game. It’s encouragement from scratch.

ANNCR: You fellows are certainly strong for the army.

LARRY: Who wouldn't be? Take a trip out to the Portland Air Base and see those pilots from all over the country.

BILL: Yeh I It's a great sight. Makes you realize what young America is really like.

LARRY: Gosh I I can hardly wait to get started. I can just see myself in one of those pursuit shins, opening her up and letting her go. Oh I 1 oy !

BILL: Snap out of it, Dodo. There's a lot of things you think your going to do. Maybe you've got another think coming. Don't be like the guy who was so eager to make the dirt fly he was fired after he had filled the first wagon load.

LARRY: How come?

BILL: The boss knew he couldn't keep up the pace. So he hired another guy that wouldn't be dead at the end of the day. He wanted live workers, Not dead ones.

ANNCR: Larry's just letting off a little steam, bill.

LARRY: Sure, I'm all pepped up.

ANNCR: And that's the way to be. Here's to you Larry until we see you again as a Second Lieutenant of Uncle Sam's Army Air Corps Reserves. Ladies and gentlemen, we have another guest with us tonight whom you will enjoy meeting. We have asked him to come up to our meeting and add a few words of his own on the subject of the Army accepting recruits for the Air Corps and Foreign Service branches of the service. Ladies and gentlemen, may we present

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OFFICER: The other day I was asked, 11 Is it true that the Army has an organized educational system? I've always been rather skeptical about it." A wise question and a timely one, too. Perhaps the layman has had a reason to be skeptical. However, I think it is high time his skepticism be put to rest.

The army has always had a well organized system of education, but, true enough, it was not until the question of "National Defense" became paramount in the daily thoughts of our people that Army schools have been brought to their attention and it is hard to conceive that a WELL organized educational system could spring up over night.

I should like to discuss some of the technical training provided young Americans who enlist in the -^ir Corps, Our Air Corps needs, Airplane mechanics, instrument specialists, machinists, radio operators and repair men, and experts in culinary arts, cocks and bakers. The army teaches upwards of 250 trades, but those mentioned are seme of the most needed ones.

Courses in these Army Technical schools vary from 6 weeks to many months. The Airplane mechanic course is conducted at Air Technical Schools at Scott Field, Ill., Chanute Field, Ill., and. Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, Cal. These courses are of 12 weeks or 770 hours duration. They train the men in all phases of airplane and airplane engine repair and maintenance. Ratings given those who satisfactorily graduate from the course are Air Mechanics 1st Class or 2nd Class. The pay is $84.00 for 1st Class and. $72.00 for 2nd Class, air mechanics are required to take part in flights for which they receive what is known as "flight pay" amounting to an increase of one half their base pay.

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(Cont1 <i) OFFICER: Pay would then he $84, plus $42.00 or a total of $126.00 per month for an air mechanic 1st Class and $118.00 per month for an air mechanic 2nd class. In addition, he receives his quarters, food, clothing, both work and dress, and medical and dental attention and last but far from least, retirement assurances at an early age. This will compare quite favorably with the average civilian Air Mechanics pay, which at government air fields, runs approximately $200 per month and from which he must pay for his quarters, food, clothing etc. and must provide for his retirement. There are many problems to be met and to be overcome in the mass production of pilots, and of the especially trained enlisted personnel necessary to man the many new planes the many new pilots will be flying. "You will understand that it just isn't possible to pour so many young men into some sort of super-hopper, and have them drop out on the assembly line 20 minutes later, complete with wings and ready for aerial combat. "We are dealing with individuals, and while a general plan of flight training may be laid down and followed fairly closely, and the Army knows from experience that if we take in so many promising young men we will be able to turn out an approximately predetermined number of pilots from among them, our training of necessity is HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED. "You will understand that in view of the rapid expansion of everything connected with the Army, we were rather busy when on April 3rd the War Department announced an increase in the rate of training as follows: "Pilots - from 12,000 a year to 30,000 a year. "Mechanics - from 45,000 a year to 100,000 a year. goo

(Cont1d)

OFFICER: With corresponding increases for training Navigators, Bombardiers, Observers and Gunners, which are required in the combat team. Now to take care of all these pilots and all these specialist, it is necessary to have an augmented number of enlisted technicians. After an enlisted man who applies for this training passes aptitude tests, he is assigned to an Air Corps School.

The regular courses include those for airplane mechanics, aircraft armorers, aircraft machinists, aircraft metal workers, air craft welders, Air Corps supply and technical clerks, Link Trainer instructors, parachute riggers, photography, radio operators, and mechanics, teletype and weather observers.

And then the advanced courses include bombsight maintenance, carburetor, electrical, instrument and propeller specialists, advanced photography and weather forecasters.

In addition to this, some 3,000 enlisted men are being trained as administrative clerks at commercial business schools selected by "local commanding officers, the training period running from 13 weeks to 16 weeks."

Opportunity is really knocking at the door of young men today. Any Army Recruiting officer will gladly talk to you about it. The headquarters of the Oregon Army Recruiting District is located, at 323 Main Post Office Building, in Portland.

ANNCR: Thank you very much, sir, you have just heard ______________________

who was kind enough to come to our studio and adda few words to our program. You are all invited to come up to the studio again next Tuesday night if you can and we'll have another informal chat about what's doing in the army to b°come a "Soldier of the Air".

MUSIC THEME (475) UP AND FADE TO BACKGROUND.

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ANNCR* These programs are produced in cooperation with the Portland Regular

Army Recruiting Station, and the Oregon Writers' Project. Tune in next Tuesday evening at the same time when "Soldier of the Air" will again be broadcast from the studios of KOIN, the Journal, Portland.

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