Winning Your Wings

Transcription

(engine running) (singing the U.S. Air Force Song) off we go into the wild sky yonder Keep the wings level and true If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder Keep the nose out of the blue! Flying men, guarding the nation's border, We'll be there, followed by more! In echelon we carry on. Hey! Nothing'll stop the Army Air Force! (The U.S. Air Force Song music playing) Well, hello! Looks like I'm back in the movies again, doesn't it? well as a matter fact I like to do some talking. Don't go away until I get this thing off Now it isn't as if it was a chore for me to talk to you because I want to speak on my favorite subject: the Army Air Force. I can't speak from long experience I've only been on the service a year, but I've learned a lot about what the Air Forces have to offer That's what I wanna talk to you about Right now, the greatest mass mobilization in the history of the world is taking place. Men from cities towns, farms, married men, and single men brothers, sweethearts, husbands, fathers, and sons, businessmen and workers from the factories and students from colleges and high schools all over America, they're mobilizing, joining up or having their numbers pulled out of a fishbowl. And this war we're fighting today and tomorrow and the next day until we win, is a war of the air. The whole world knows that. Our factories know that. So interceptors, pursuit ships, light bombers, medium bombers and Flying Fortresses are rolling out of those factories 65,000 fighting planes this year a hundred thousand fighting planes next year and to keep 'em flying two million men. Now, now that's where you come in. The Army Air Forces need 15,000 captains, 40,000 lieutenants 35,000 flying sargeants. Well, how about it? Well let's talk it over. Now make no mistake about this thing fells, we're all gonna be in this war soon, sooner than a lot of you realize and nearly all the officers of this great Army Air Force that they're building today are gonna be drawn from the ranks of you men from high schools and colleges those who join as aviation cadets now uh, well now, before I go any further are there any questions? Yeah, sure I got a question Okay, shoot. Well I'd like to join up, but I've got about a year of college left and I'd kinda like to get that diploma well why not? the Air Forces want you to get your diploma fellows like yourself either in high school or college can enroll in the Air Force Reserve continue with your studies and at the end of the term or when you get your diploma you'll be taken in as a regular cadet. If you pledge now well, thanks. Okay, don't mention it. Say, I'd like to make the Air Force but I'm to brainstorm. My grades aren't exactly what they should be I hear it's tough to get in. Not anymore it isn't. And, that blocked letter you're sporting, that tells me a lot. Basketball, football, baseball, or some activity were coordination, control and the ability to work together with the rest of the team that, that's important The same in the Air Force, they're one big team and they need men who can pull together and play the game So, you and your teammates should be a cinch in this the biggest all-American team we've ever had. Now here's a fellow who works in a filling station He looks as though he's got something special on his mind Say, uh, how about it, fella? You know, I've been interested in the Air Forces for quite a while I'm 26 years old and I got a wife haven't had a chance for too much education what about me? Well from where I'm standing you look like you're ready to sprout wings any minute hey, wait a minute (laughts) You see, formal education is no longer a basis for determining a man's intelligence in the Air Forces and married or not you'll receive seventy-five dollars each month while training and board and lodging and all the necessary uniforms and equipment and you have as much chance as the next fellow of becoming one of those 15,000 captains and forty thousand lieutenants or 35,000 flying sergeants I was telling you about yeah? Say, that sounds great I think I'll go tell my wife. I'd like to get something straight in my mind. I'm one of those high school students you've been talking about but I'm not old enough I wasn't planning on going to college so where does that leave me as far as the Air Force is concerned? Funny, you sound like the forgotten man but if you're close to eighteen and you're over five feet in altitude, you can be one of us just as quickly as anybody else. Okay! just make out that application for the Air Force Reserve. now your physical examination. Well, that's not gonna be so tough if you're an average guy and normally healthy you'll make the grade alright. so, one day you say good-bye to mother and dad, and they're pretty proud and happy too especially dad, his suspeders are about to bust yeah, you say good-by to sister Jane and mabye Aunt Minnie, and oh yeah, Uncle Ben and brother Joey Those first few steps down the walk are the beginning of a great adventure. Oh, uh, just wait. Wait a minute now, you're not going to forget that sweet little bit of something next door And you're on the train with a lot of other fellas. Probably many from your own school or a neighborhood oh yeah I forgot to say, Uncle Sam bought your ticket and your destination reads any one of a number reception centers maybe in California maybe down in Texas its here that lasting friendships are made because you and your teammates are aiming for the same goal that big, beautiful, wonderful "V" that spells Victory. And now it begins. Now, here's a sort of a composite picture of what happens to you in the first few weeks of your aviation cadet training. you find your room, meet your roommate get a haircut, army style, and try on a new pair of shoes and a new uniform that really fits. And time to eat, those chops are on the fire eat with a few hundred other guys just as hungry as you are. In ground school, officers with years of experience patiently explain what makes 'em fly and then one day when class is over you get all rigged out on what the well-dressed birdman will wear. You feel like quite a guy as you meet your flying instructor but always on your memory will be the thrill of that first beautiful morning when you took off for the first time Now, uh, what you're gonna see next isn't exactly part of the regular training course. But your a chump if you don't include it in your curriculum and you find out the effect those shiny little wings have on a gal it's phenomenal (dance music playing) And now mister, take the air! And he did Now, time has marched on. Here you are cruising along in a BT, that's basic trainer to you, and twisting your tail into a few acrobatics and loops and barrel rolls and snap rolls. That's some fun, eh? And a few more weeks roll by. You find yourself in still another plane, and advanced trainer this time Yes indeed, you're really getting up in the world at the rate of nearly two hundred miles an hour but you think this is something, well just wait Fellas, shake hands with Mister B-17 and a few of his big brothers Now, watch out now, he's tough. Those four motors roaring through the sky like a thunderstorm, you can't fool with them American workmen the finest master mechanics in the world but those motors together made 'em live, made 'em breathe, made 'em roar Yes, sir a whole army of workmen, designers, engineers, and just plain guys who wanted to do something for their country they put that B-17 together. A few thousand of these babies will win this war for us, and a few thousand guys like you in there flying it. And remember we said something about a team well, nine men are inside that plane, each with an important job to do so let's go and take a look around. Let's meet the team. Yes, sir, nine fellas like yourself working together as closely coordinated as a precision watch Now, let's get this straight. The pilot is not the most important fella inside this plane. All nine members of this crew are equally important. For example, the pilot and the copilot can take the plane off the ground and set it back down again but where they be without the navigator? Now, meet him. He's the gentleman sitting right there with his pencils, his calculators, he's responsible for getting the giant bomber to its destination and back again. Now, you might like his job. Now this fella's a second lieutenant draws 245 dollars each month and although he was good at mathematics he didn't graduate from college but he learned that the Air Force's could use his talents and now he is a necessary part of the team. And now let's go up into the nose of Mister B-17 and meet somebody who has an important job in that department. This is the Bombardier, the boy who doesn't miss. You see, flying the plane is wasted motion unless this lad hits the target on the noggin the finest pilots in the Air Force would be behind the eight ball if the Bombardier couldn't hit straight. And he's a full-fledged Commissioned officer too wears his wings, draws the same pay as the pilot and the copilot. Now back in the main body of the plane we've got some more important positions. This fella is the number one engineer, he keeps the motors turning and the thousands of working parts all through the bomber inspected and in repair and then comes the radio operator, who keeps the bomber in constant communication with its home base and the photographer who keeps a photographic record of what takes place on the earth below while the bombers on its mission he's sort of an official scorekeeper checking up for future reference. Now the remaining members of the flight crew are number two engineer and number two radio man. So you see, being in the Air Forces isn't all piloting or all navigating, or all Bombardier-ing it's teamwork and each member of the team is just as important as the next one Now listen, it takes 38 men on the ground to keep this bomber in the air so let's go downstairs and meet the ground force jobs, why there's one to fit every kind of fellow who wants to play on this all-American team meet the armament officer. Now, he's in charge of 12 bombers, more or less like the ones we just looked over. It's his job to see that the bombs are loaded and the machine-guns and a general all-around checkup. See that bar on his shoulders? He ranks just the same as the pilot or the copilot or the navigator or the Bombardier and to get this fellows position, a little engineering or physics in college would be a great help and there's a fellow who's job takes a backseat to nobody, the communications officer. Those bombing and fighting planes up there They depend on his work, he's part of a team, and how does a fellow get a sign like that on his door? Well, engineering officer Captain CD Burns had three years of college he studied aerodynamics. Those qualifications quickly awarded him his commission He's in charge of all the mechanical details and has a full crew of technically trained enlisted men to supervise. Now, another opportunity for you specialty-minded fellas is to be a meteorologist. If you do you'll be assigned to a post were all military missions will be guided by your reports Yep, and you'll get those gold bars alright after thirty weeks free training and some leading Technological Institute photographers and chemists, now there's a spot for you on the team in charge of one of the hundreds of fixed or mobile photographic laboratories the Air Force must have. Now this job too gets you a commission as an officer so whether you're flying a plane as a pilot or a copilot, charting its course as a navigator, acting as Bombardier, or in any one of the many technical jobs in the air or on the ground wherever it is in the United States Army Air Forces you're part of a team. Now remember that. So listen to the roar of those motors, you men of America, and heed their call. Soon the skies will be filled with the greatest air armada the world has ever seen, our own Army Air Forces. The best planes ever built - 65,000 planes this year 100,000 more next year. That's why we'll lick the Axis, and that's how we'll lick the Axis. Your commission in the Air Forces is waiting. You don't have to have a diploma to become an officer join now on the enlistment reserve basis, and then finish your present school or college term before your called upon for actual duty And if you're between the ages of 18 and 26 with a good bill of health, you can make as high as 245 dollars a month with a bonus as high as five hundred dollars for each year of service in the Air Forces or if you become one of those fifteen thousand captains we need right away you'll receive 430 dollars a month while you serve your country and you'll be well trained for a good job in civilian life when this war is won Now, here's another thing now, it's kinda hard to explain but believe you me it's important. You see, while you're getting all this wonderful technical training in the Air Forces you'll learn about other things too, things that are gonna pay off in big dividends you're learning to be alert, you're learning how to handle men and how to do that job with a lot of pride Yeah, you're learning about courage too but you'll know what I mean, and I hope soon because the Air Forces are proud to think that you might be with them. And by the time you finish your training, America will have overwhelming superiority in the air You see, the way the Air Forces feel about it, they're fighting and they're flying for the safety of our people at home, our mothers and fathers, and our sisters and brothers and to keep the terrible war of destruction that swept Poland and Belgium and Holland and blasted homes of good people in London and Coventry and maimed hundreds of innocent women and children in Nanking and Burma and Bataan peninsula and Pearl Harbor to keep that war from our own shores our cities and our homes. The roar of a thousand motors sing they're song, and theirs is a song of freedom. Their wings outstretched in the cause of decency. And each spinning prop drones in vengeance against those who would destroy our way of life but somebody's gotta fly 'em a lot of somebody's have got to fly 'em Now, this is your place this is where you'll serve America best. Young men of America, your future's in the sky Your wings are awaiting. (The U.S. Air Force Song music playing)