Description

ORLANDO ARMY AIR BASE — 902nd AAF BASE UNIT
AAF Tactical Center • World War II •

132 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.

Document Overview:
This is a digital download of a scanned copy of the World War II pictorial yearbook for the 902nd AAF Base Unit, the base complement of Orlando Army Air Base and the Army Air Forces Tactical Center (AAFTAC) in Orlando, Florida, published around 1944 by the Army and Navy Publishing Company of Louisiana with editorial help from the War Department’s Bureau of Public Relations. It opens with a message from General Henry H. Arnold, a gallery of Air Force generals and a chronology of Air Corps records from 1920 to 1939, then gives a greeting and full biography of Major General Edwin J. House. A narrative history follows the base from its start in March 1942 as an Air Defense Operational Training Unit, through the Interceptor Command School, the Fighter Command School and the AAF School of Applied Tactics, to the AAF Tactical Center and the June 1944 Base Unit reorganization. That reorganization made the 902nd the base’s housekeeping command, with 14 squadrons. The rest of the book is photo pages of training, photography, medical, mess, maintenance and communications work, followed by officer portraits and row-by-row named group photos of each squadron, including the Regional Station Hospital, the WAC squadron and the base band.

Campaigns: None (stateside training and support command). The text covers General House’s earlier air-support service in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno and Anzio; the base’s training work for overseas task forces; the first AAF night fighter pilots; and the AAF’s only night fighter school.

Commanders: Maj. Gen. Edwin J. House (Commanding General, AAFTAC); Brig. Gen. Hume Peabody (AAFSAT/AAFTAC, 1942–1944); Col. Willis R. Taylor (Interceptor/Fighter Command School); Lt. Col. William A. Moore (Headquarters Commandant, 902nd AAF Base Unit); Col. William H. Crom (Chief of Staff); Col. J. M. McCulloch (Chief of Staff); Col. Harlan W. Holden (Commandant, AAF School of Applied Tactics); Col. Marshall N. Jensen (Regional Station Hospital); Maj. Celestina McKay (Squadron W, WAC); Maj. Warren C. K. Sullivan (Squadron A)

Field newspaper: unknown

Table of Contents
Acknowledgment
Message from General Henry H. Arnold
Air Force Commanders
Army Air Forces Accomplishments: Pre-Pearl Harbor
Message from the Commanding General, AAF Tactical Center
Major General Edwin J. House
Chief of Staff and Directors
History of the AAF Tactical Center
Air Inspector and Statistical Control
Director of Administration
Director of Materiel and Services
Director of Operations
Women’s Army Corps
AAF School of Applied Tactics
Instruction and Training
Photography
Base Offices and Operations
Guard Squadron
Medical and Dental
Camouflage and Terrain Models
Mess
Maintenance
Communications
Squadron Orderly Rooms and Supply
Squadron A
Squadron B
Squadron D
Squadron E
Squadron F
Squadron G (Military Police)
Squadron H
Squadron M (Regional Station Hospital)
Squadron S
Squadron W (Women’s Army Corps)
Base Band
Additional Personnel

“When the war is won, I hope each man who has served under the insignia of the winged star will be proud of his AAF and his job at AAFTAC.”
— Major General Edwin J. House, Commanding, AAF Tactical Center