Description

December 1942         Vol. 25 No. 7               44 pages

Cover: The cover scene for this issue was selected as typifying what might be called the most dominating action of the Army Air Forces during the first year of war—high-level bombing with aerial gunners aboard our heavy bombers shooting down enemy interceptors. The cover is a reproduction of a painting by Walter Herrington, a New York artist who received his art training in Chicago and applied his brush in Texas before-coming East.

Articles Inside:

A Smart Man’s War

Our Air Offensive in the Aleutians
This article was compiled from material submitted in informal reports by Colonel H. W. Shelmire, Headquarters, Army Air Forces; Major Ben H. Pearse, Air Transport Command, and Lieutenant George Bradshaw of this staff. Illustrated by Captain Raymond Creekmore.—The Editor.
(Major Wilbur Miller, Brigadier General William O. Butler)

Roll Of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross
Majors: G. E. Glober, Floyd J. Pell*. Captains: James J. Bevlock, Jack E. Caldwell, William J. Cummings, Walter Putnam, John P. Randolph, Charles R. Sneed, Henry G. Thorne, George W. Thronbrough*, Donald R. Strother*. Lieutenants: John Brownell, Perry L. Franks, Raymond M. Gehrig, John G. Glover, Charles W. Hughes*, R. H. Johnson, Samuel Marett*, Robert F. McMahon, Jack R. Pares*, Elton S. Perry*, Burt H. Rice, Edward T. Sconiers, H. W. Smith, Richard F. Starks (Also Purple Heart), C. B. Walker, William R. Walker. Master Sergeants: Alva S. Hascall, Charles Reeves. Staff Sergeants: E. M. Caton, H. R. Inman. Technical Sergeant C. B. Phillips. Sergeant J. T. Sanford. Corporals: R. A. Fries, R. L. Holliday, J. D. Lillis.

Distinguished Service Medal
Lieutenant General Henry H. Arnold.

Silver Star
Major General Ira C. Eaker. Colonels: Frank Armstrong, Harry A. Halverson. Majors: Alfred Kalberer, Frank Sharp. Lieutenants: William R. Auman*, Robert C. Brown*, Dean Davenport, P. Dimmit, James Egan, Oliver R. Franklin, Chester J. Kacmarik*, Donald Mitchel, Cecil E. Paterson, Elzae Shahan, Warren Williams, Herbert F. Wunderlich. First Sergeants: Elwood F. Miller, Carl N. Mosher. Staff Sergeants: Jim L. Bragg, Freebourn E. Durrett*, Leonard A. Gallant, Melvin C. Staerk*, James B. Winey. Sergeants: Worth A. Epling, Joseph Gagnon, Perry Gusic, Robert Kessler, Howard L. Krantz, Robert E. Pledger*, Cecil A. Rogers, Walter J. Sidler. Corporals: Philip D. Barton*, Clifton C. Heath*, Floyd J. McCormick*, James E. Wood*. Privates First Class: Robert D. Chapman, Martin T. Grady, Francis J. Teehan*. Privates: Kenneth W. Berry, Sanford L. Caviness.

Purple Heart
Colonel Newton Longfellow. Major Paul W Tibbets, Jr. Captain Kermit Messerschmitt. Lieutenants: Irving Berman*, Charles Chuteridge, Edwin Cihak, Francis Cornwell*, James P. Ferry, Roy Gallaway, Charles B. Guthridge, Maurice Horgan, Arnold Johnson, Eugene M. Lockhart, Frederick A. Loehrl*, Joseph P. Moore, Winfield E. Mcintyre, Jr., Russell O. McKray, Joseph D. Nave*. Master Sergeant Fred Peoples* Staff Sergeants: William A. Adams, Eugene Davis, John M. Hughes, William W. Schimke, William J. Watson*. Technical Sergeant Harry M. Hayes. Sergeants: Jack E. Falatic, Kenneth R. Gundling, Herman S. Hagg, Harry O. Hill, Farris M. Humphries, Julius L. Kleiman*, Raymond Mayo, Ralph E. Mouser,  Orval V. Paul*, Robert F. Price, Frederick J. Rich.

*Posthumous

Distinguished Flying Cross
Colonels: Truman H. Landon, Arthur W Meehan. Roger M. Ramey. Lieutenant Colonels: Richard H. Carmichael (Also Silver Star), Loren B. Hillsinger (Also Purple Heart), Russell Waldron. Majors: Jack W. Berry, Paul C. Davis, Marion N. Pharr. Captains: Harry N. Brandon, John Daugherty, Thomas F. Mansfield*, David C. Rawls (Also Silver Star), Harold G. Slingsby, Jack F. Todd*, Warren Wilkinson. Lieutenants: Milton C. Barnard, Frank R. Beadle, Roy R. Bright, Barrie Charles Burnside, Carroll J. Cain, John Jarvis Cape, Jr.*, Lester M. Chester, James Alexander Dale, Myron J. Grimes, Harold P. Hensley, Samuel Junkin, Jr. (Also Purple Heart), Paul M. Lindsey, Clarence W. Lipsky, Morris E. Mansell, Jr., Kenneth W. Northamer, Benjamin Pashall, 3d, Levon L. Ray, Hubert P. Sage, 2d, Robert O. Scheible. Staff Sergeants: Roy. T. Halley, James C. Simmons (Also Purple Heart). Technical Sergeant Kirby W. Neal. Sergeants: Christy A. Faith, Gilbert C. Goar (Also Purple Heart), Zackie T. Gowan, Adam R. Jenkins, Jr., William E. Mcintosh, Roy T. Nalley. Felix A. Trice, Rudolph Turansky. Private Joseph M. Walsh.

Soldiers Medal
Lieutenant Colonels: Bernt Balchen, Morris J. Lee. Captains: Philip G. Cochran, Charles R. Fairlamb, J. E. Walther. Lieutenants: William N. Boaz, Wesley F. Cummins, Everatt Davis, James A. Hilton, John H. Rose, Ralph G. Taylor, Jr. First Sergeant Ben W. Quarles. Staff Sergeants: Ralph F. Asbury, Joseph F. Augustyn, Joseph E. Denning. Technical Sergeant Billy Gribble. Sergeants: Morris E. Hicks, Russell J. Lillet, Howard C. Muse, Russell E. Robbins, Charles C. Rupert. Corporals: Merrill R. Hyde, Fred D. Parler, Marvin H. Potts. Privates First Class: John W. Hamilton, Edwin Mcc. Fultz, Monroe D. Johnson, Franklin H. Neumann. Privates: John Bilinski, Dean W. Bredenkamp, Joseph D. Healy, F. Q. Palombi, John Polychron, Jr., C. F. Santo.

Air Medal
Brigadier General St. Clair Streett. Colonels: C. P. Cabell, William L. Ritchie Majors: C. A. Peterson, Robert Alva Ping, Charles F. Stanall. Captains: Robert F. Arnoldus, Marshall A. Elkins. Lieutenants: John T. Beals, Edward P. Clark, Carl A. Hansman, Guy C. Kinter, Robert S. Porter*, E. A McCabe. Staff Sergeants: James W. Hemenway, Robert A. Rhodes, William T. Sexton. Sergeants: Curtiss G. Burgdorf, Robert Fulton, Ritchey H. Thompson, John H. Works. Corporals: Irving J. Eagle, Robert Kanepi, Bernard F. Hovelmen, Samuel J. Taylor. Private First Class Walter D. Conerly.

Here’s How We Got This Way
By Major Falk Harmel
(Lieutenant Harold R. Harris, Lieutenant Colonel Horace M. Hickam, Lieutenant General H. H. Arnold, our Commanding General; Major General H. R. Harmon, Brigadier General LeG. Walsh, Colonel Henry W. Harms, Captain Burdette S. Wright, Lieutenant Colonel Ira Longanecker, Major General Walter R. Weaver, Colonel John D. Reardan, Colonel Harrison H. C. Richards, Brigadier General Robert C. Candee, and Colonel Arthur I. Ennis. Major General Ira C. Eaker, Brigadier General Lester T. Miller, Colonels William H. Crom, David S. Seaton, Roland Birnn, Thomas M. Lowe and Ross G. Hoyt, and Captain Corley P. McDarment (Ret.), Major Falk Harmel, Major Ben H. Pearse, Aviation Cadet Robert Gibson, )

Cross Country
(Private Arthur W. Rodrick, First Lieutenant Lew Jordan, Harry T. McCormick, Lieutenant Lawrence A. Rogers)

Alaskan Offensive
Fighting weather and Japs with our Air Force in the fog bound Aleutian Islands.
This article was compiled from material submitted in informal reports by Colonel H. W. Shelmire, Headquarters, Army Air Forces; Major Ben H. Pearse, Air Transport Command, and Lieutenant George Bradshaw of this staff. Illustrated by Captain Raymond Creekmore.—The Editor.

Biography of a Globe-Trotting B-24            (Old Bag of Bolts)
The Saga of a faithful old B-24 that asked no quarter while making history during the early days of the war
(Second Lieutenant C. W. Dean, First Lieutenant James W. Anderson, Second Lieutenant A. H. Anders, Staff Sergeant James A. McVicar, Staff Sergeant D. D. Greenwait, Ambassador William C. Bullitt, First Lieutenant Ben Funk, Major General Lewis H. Brereton, Major General George H. Brett, Staff Sergeants Leo Zulkowski and Frank Sayko, Captain Hewitt T. Wheless, First Lieutenant Charles Bowman, General Sir Archibald Wavell, Lieutenant John Bulkeley

Psychologists Classify Our Air Cadets
Square Pegs In Square Holes
Here’s how psychologists use scientific heckling to select the bombardiers, navigators and pilots of the Army Air Forces
By Lieut. Allen C. Rankin, Jr.
(Cadet Lionel Humphries, Cadet Milan Law, Cadet William A. Denniston)

How Dutch Indies Airmen Fought the Japs
“We’ll Go Back Some Day”
Airmen of the Dutch East Indies, with one campaign behind them, rebuild an air force in the U.S. for a comeback at the Japs.
By Captain Robert B. Hotz
(Lieutenant General L. H. Van Oyon, Lieutenant Fritz Den Ouden, Lieutenant Henry Simon, Lieutenant Herman Arens, Lieutenant General H. H. Arnold)

Major Principles of Precision Bombing
The Scope Of Precision Bombing
By Colonel Edgar P. Sorensen

Health Hints for the Libyan Theater
Notes from the Air Surgeon’s Office: How to Keep Well in the Libyan Theater
With the successful prosecution of the war effort depending so heavily on the health of every officer and enlisted man, Air Force has requested the Office of the Air Surgeon to prepare a series of articles on health conditions in the various theaters of operation, with emphasis on precautions vital to maintaining physical fitness. The following article is the first of the series.—The Editor.
By Brigadier General David N. W. Grant

Uncovering the Impostors in Uniform
Catching up with the phonies who masquerade in military dress to ring the bell socially and financially.
By Lieut. George F. Bradshaw
(Major General Harold L. George)

Tips on How to Fly with One Engine Dead
Single Engine Operation
By Lt. Col. J. B. Duckworth

Flight Training Progress at West Point
Wings of West Point
Cadets take to the air as the Military Academy inaugurates flight training program at Stewart Field.
By Capt. Charles D. Frazer
(Major General Francis B. Wilby, Colonel John M. Weikert,

Jungle Rescue, Told by a Flight Surgeon
A flight surgeon gets a look at the rough side of Dutch Guiana and helps bring a bomber crew back alive.
By Captain Oscar Schneller
(Captain Ernest Ljunggren, Captain Richard Gunckle, Captain Charles H. Ross, Lieutenant Roy A. Webb, Lieutenant Charles L. Jones, Technical Sergeant Louis Castro, Sergeant Gerald Forman, Sergeant Herman Goldstein, and Privates Albert K. Will and Andrew W. Budinsky)

Americans in Britain —by a Britisher
The American Contingents
A Briton’s Message to British Airmen
By Fletcher Allen

A Study of Wright Field in Wartime
Wright is a Battlefront
(Brigadier General A. W. Vanaman, Major General O. P. Echols, Brigadier General K. B.
Wolfe, Colonel F. O. Carroll, Colonel A. E. Jones)

Elements of Air Warfare in the Desert
Prelude To Desert Combat
America’s air and ground forces are learning to adapt the fickle ways of the sand country to the requirements of modern warfare.
By Major John McL. Redding
(Colonel R. H. Lee)

Technique Substitutes
A Short-Cut to Victory
A Monthly Review of Technical Developments in the Air Forces
Flexible Radio Unit
(Lieutenant W. R. Sturges, and Lieutenant R. J. DiMartino)
No More “Burn-Outs”
(Captain William Hamrick, and Staff Sergeant Bernard Wiplinger)
Park Trainer Aids Aerial Photography
(Lieutenant Colonel W. Sidney Park, Sgt. Jack Angell)
New Photo Fluid
(Corporal Steve Gouzeas and Pfc. Clarence Leino)
B-17s Get New Filter
(Colonel Leslie G. Mulzer)
(Master Sergeant David Samiran, Captain L. B. Whitfield)

What Women Are Doing in the Air Forces
The distaff side is fighting too—shoulder to shoulder with men workers in air depots and offices throughout the nation.
By Charlotte Knight
(Miss Jeanne Brady, Miss Jackie Hoschall, Mrs. Nancy Harkness Love, Miss Jacqueline Cochran)

Booby Traps —Hidden Weapons of Death

Combat Experiences of a Radio Operator
You Can’t Ride the Beam in Combat
(Lieutenant General Brett, Major Paul F. Davis, James A. FitzPatrick
By Aviation Cadet Robert D. Gibson

The A-20 as a Soviet Flyer Sees it

On Shining Shoes
By Pvt. Dennis Wiegand

Is there a MEKIWI* On your field?

What’s your Air Force I.Q.?

Don’t pay for your ride with Careless Talk!

Air Force is printed each month by authority of Army Air Forces Regulation No. 5-6, Sept. 6, 1942, and with the approval of the Bureau of the Budget, Executive Office of the President. Air Force is published by the U. S. Army Air Forces at the Air Force Editorial Office, 101 Park Avenue, New York City; Tel., Murray Hill 5-1951; Teletype No. NY 1-2530; Director, Major James H. Straubel, A.C. Direct communication with this office has been authorized on matters of editorial content, circulation and distribution of Air Force. Army field publications may reprint from Air Force without permission.