Bill:

Thanks for the comments.

The Air Force Museum in Dayton has a display on enlisted-man pilots.
If I recall correctly, it says the last one retired around 1955--is
that, then, specifically the ones who made the transition to Air Force
in '48, and the Army kept a contingent?

David

Billzz wrote:

I'm another Bill, but thank you, very much, for looking out for the "old
soldiers." The story is very much true. If you see the film, "The Longest
Day," Henry Fonda plays an intelligence person who gets a ride on an
artillery spotter plane to hunt for attacking German tanks. They are in the
vicinity when he asks the pilot to cut the engine so he can hear the
unmistakable sound of the tank treads. He hears them, and then the pilot
re-starts the engine, at tree level. I was told that the story was true and
I do not doubt it as I flew as a spotter in the 1960s in an L-19 "Birddog"
(made by Cessna) the follow-on to the L-4 (and later) series aircraft made
by Piper and their civilian name was Piper Cubs. The object was to fly as
low and slow as possible, to avoid anti-aircraft fire, while maintaining a
stable platform for the observer (it was usually two people, the pilot and
the observer.) At the time of WWII he was in the US Army, and even though
the 1948 act made a separate USAF, the artillery spotter planes remained
with the US Army, in the field artillery. In Vietnam I was the operations
officer (advisor) for a province and we had both Army and USAF L-19s
spotting for airstrikes, and artillery strikes, respectively. At that time
we kept them above 1500 feet to avoid small arms fire, there being no Viet
Cong airplanes or serious air defense. But they were true to their code and
never hesitated to dive right in on some suspected position - and I am sorry
to say that we lost one USAF FAC that way. It is a very strange person that
can operate that close to the ground, looking this way and that, while
marking a map, calling on the radio, and estimating changes in trajectories
for artillery that is not seen. He has my respect. You have to see the
movie.