Fly tight for tight bomb patterns on the ground.

Howard Berkowitz wrote:

I have some mental pictures involved, of an ammunition ship, carrying
bombs to the ETO from an American factory, catching a torpedo.

According to Kramer screw those guys too. Hell, they were Merchant Mariners,
they weren't even in the military.


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

ArtKramr wrote:

They were all great, everyone of them. We
couldn't have done without them.

WOW! Progress! Are you sure you're really Art Kramer?


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

Art wrote:
Nobody is drafted into air cadet program Nobody. Aircrews are a 100%
volunteer
units based on intensive testing and very high qualification standards.. I
was
17 and in high school when I volunteered for the Air Cadets, I took the air
cadet tests. (90% washout rate) I passed both the written and the physical
tests and was called to action the first day I legally could be which was on
my
18th birthday. Next thing I knew I was over Germany flying missions for which
draftees were not quite up to.

Nothing special about that Art. Flying jobs are still volunteer. Since there is
no draft any more, all the military jobs are volunteer in the USA.
What you are telling us is that you were reasonably intelligent, in good
physical shape and tested well, good for you. These are still the requirements
for an aircrew position.
The major difference from you era to the current is that to be a pilot,
navigator, nav-bomb or certain systems operators you have to be a commissioned
officer, therefore you must have a college degree. A prominent exception is the
chopper pilots in the US Army, who can still be Warrant Officers. I don't know
about the Navy or Marines for sure any more, but I suspect they require
commissioned officers for the same positions at this time.
Since there are fewer positions available in the current military there is a
lot of competition for the slots.

Rick

ubject: Fly tight for tight bomb patterns on the ground.
From: (OXMORON1)
Date: 8/26/2004 2:19 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Art wrote:
Nobody is drafted into air cadet program Nobody. Aircrews are a 100%
volunteer
units based on intensive testing and very high qualification standards.. I
was
17 and in high school when I volunteered for the Air Cadets, I took the air
cadet tests. (90% washout rate) I passed both the written and the physical
tests and was called to action the first day I legally could be which was on
my
18th birthday. Next thing I knew I was over Germany flying missions for
which
draftees were not quite up to.

Nothing special about that Art. Flying jobs are still volunteer. Since there
is
no draft any more, all the military jobs are volunteer in the USA.
What you are telling us is that you were reasonably intelligent, in good
physical shape and tested well, good for you. These are still the
requirements
for an aircrew position.
The major difference from you era to the current is that to be a pilot,
navigator, nav-bomb or certain systems operators you have to be a
commissioned
officer, therefore you must have a college degree. A prominent exception is
the
chopper pilots in the US Army, who can still be Warrant Officers. I don't
know
about the Navy or Marines for sure any more, but I suspect they require
commissioned officers for the same positions at this time.
Since there are fewer positions available in the current military there is a
lot of competition for the slots.

Rick


Many are called. Few are chosen. And those who are chosen take special pride in
having been chosen.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

"BUFDRVR" wrote
ArtKramr wrote:

They were all great, everyone of them. We
couldn't have done without them.

WOW! Progress! Are you sure you're really Art Kramer?

WOW! Mark your calendars! Kramer admits his crew didn't
win the war single handed, while everyone else was sipping martini's...

"ArtKramr" wrote

Many are called. Few are chosen. And those who are chosen take special pride in
having been chosen.

Green Beret:
Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret.

Bomber crews:
Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three won't make the grade.

ubject: bomber crews, was Fly tight for tight bomb patterns on the
ground.
From: "Bob Coe"
Date: 8/26/2004 7:09 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id: 8JwXc.14690$ni.1410@okepread01

"ArtKramr" wrote

Many are called. Few are chosen. And those who are chosen take special
pride in
having been chosen.

Green Beret:
Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret.

Bomber crews:
Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three won't make the grade.


Did you make the grade?



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

"ArtKramr" wrote

Bomber crews:
Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three won't make the grade.

Did you make the grade?

Nope. I got passed down to a fricking OV-10 outfit, and
won my wings where no one flunked, or could flunk...

"pull back, houses get smaller; push forward, houses get bigger."
-- OV-10 check-ride.

"Bob Coe" wrote in message
news:T5yXc.14704$ni.12581@okepread01...
"ArtKramr" wrote

Bomber crews:
Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three won't make the grade.

Did you make the grade?

Nope. I got passed down to a fricking OV-10 outfit, and
won my wings where no one flunked, or could flunk...

"pull back, houses get smaller; push forward, houses get bigger."
-- OV-10 check-ride.

Unfortunately, you'd have to be a bit more explanatory when presenting that
to Art--he probably thinks an OV-10 is some kind of overhead cam ten
cylinder engine.

My brother had nice thoughts of OV-10's; spent a night on a hilltop during
Lam Son 719 (IIRC) after his dustoff UH-1 had been shot down and they had to
wait till morning to get evaced out. He said that there was always an OV-10
circling about their crash site throughout the night, ready to help out if
the bad guys got too close, something he was pretty appreciative of. Did you
do a SEA tour?

Brooks

Bob Coe wrote:

I got passed down to a fricking OV-10 outfit, and
won my wings where no one flunked, or could flunk...

"pull back, houses get smaller; push forward, houses get bigger."
-- OV-10 check-ride.

What kind of wings were those you won? Did they have a rampant typewriter on a field of
coffee cups?


Jack