MEMOIRS PART 16 - ARMY TRAINING

On June 1, 1941, I had completed my ROTC training and although I didn't know it art the time, since the papers didn't catch up with me until November, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant, field artillery, in early June. I left the University in early June, and I may have gotten incompletes in some of the courses.

I left Salt Lake City by train soon afterward, headed for Hemet, CA. Nothing about the trip or the arrival at Hemet comes to mind, but I do remember some things of my stay for about two months at the Primary Flying School there. The training planes were single-engine Bi-wing PT-17s. I was an aviation cadet at that time and was issued the appropriate gray uniform, including cap, shoes, socks, and underwear. The housing consisted of detached cabins surrounded a parade ground, with four cadets to a cabin.

I already had a pilot's license and four years of ROTC, so in effect I had already completed the training that this school provided; learning to fly and learning military drill and customs. That didn't matter to the Air Corps. I had to learn their way of flying, do close-order drills, stand inspections, keep my part of the cabin neat, and make my bed. The pay for an aviation cadet was about $30 per month.

I was able to pass the course without incident, and was transferred to Gardner Field, near Taft, CA, in mid-August. Somewhere between 30 - 50% of the cadets at Hemet washed out.

Gardner Field was what the Army Air Corps called Basic Flying School. The training plane was a BT-13, which was a low-wing "monoplane" with a 400 HP engine. It was a little more difficult to fly than the other planes I had flown. For example the landing speed of the Piper Cub and the PT-17 was about 40 mph, but the BT-13 was about 50 mph. I didn't have any trouble that I can recall. We cadets lived in barracks of about 40 men and again I had to do my own housework and stand inspection.

In October of 1941, while I was till at Gardner Field I learned that I had been a second lieutenant since June 7, and that the orders would be arriving soon. Since a second lieutenant's pay was $125 per month, and I was told that it would be retroactive, the first thing I did was go to a used car dealer in Taft and buy a car. It was a 1937 black Ford 2-door coupé. It cost $250, so I paid $50 down and agreed to pay $50 a month for four months. If there was any interest I don't remember anything about it. I also applied for and received a Standard Oil credit card.

In Oct 28, 1941, I was transferred to Stockton Field, CA (outside Stockton). I was still an aviation cadet and lived in a barracks as usual. The plane we trained in was an AT-6, which was a low-wing "monoplane" with a 600 HP engine. It was a little more difficult to fly than the previous planes, because the landing speed was about 60 mph, and the landing gear was narrower, which made it have a little more tendency to ground-loop upon landing. We now had to learn formation flying, night flying, and gunnery. The AT-6 had a 30-caliber machine gun mounted in front of the pilot which was coordinated with the propeller so that the gun didn't fire when a propeller blade was in front of it. Very rarely did I see a hole in a propeller blade. We did some firing at the ground targets and some firing at a towed banner about 20 feet long.

I don't recall much about ground school or flying, but I do remember several things about my stay. First we had Saturdays and Sundays off, and I was able to explore some of the area in my car. I visited San Francisco, Sacramento, Yosemite, and other places. The trips couldn't last more than a day because as a cadet I had to be back on base at night.

Second, I remember Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. I was in the barracks and it was late morning. Someone had a radio and the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor came on. We all wondered what was going to happen to us. Until then we were permitted to wear civilian clothing off base, but now we had to wear our uniforms at all times. I had recently bought a new suit and only wore it once. I gave it to Jack Millward when I passed through Grantsville in January of 1942.

Third, on Dec 22, 1941, the orders that I had been a second lieutenant since June came through and shortly thereafter a few hundred dollars in back pay. I paid off the balance on my car, and, until I left Stockton in late January, I had a private room in the officers' quarters and an orderly to take care of it.

Fourth, on Jan 9, 1942, I completed the advanced flight training school and received my Army Pilot's rating. On Jan 15, my second lieutenant's rank in the Field Artillery was transferred to the Army Air Corps. On Jan 26, 1942 I received orders to go to the Army Air Corps advanced flight training school at Craig Field, outside of Selma AL, and was given 11 days to get there.