Warbird Information Exchange

56th Fighter Group ace Major Robert S. Johnson flew with the 61st and 62nd squadrons and scored 27 aerial victories. General Henry H Arnold Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, the only U.S. Air Force general to hold five-star rank, and the only officer to hold a five-star rank in two different U.S. military services. Richard I Bong, who was assigned to the 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, V Fighter Command, Fifth Air Force, was the nation’s highest-scoring ace in World War II.

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Zero Surprise!!...

Awesome photo! For those interested in Robert S. Johnson's story, his book "Thunderbolt" is a must read.

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Matt

Note Johnson and Bong lack Senior pilot wings....showing despite their combat experience, they were fairly low-time pilots.
Also, don't Arnold's Command pilot wings, I'm surprised by that since he quit flying fairly young after an incident.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

I think it can be explained by the 4 (soon to be 5) stars on his shoulders.

So perhaps a mid to late 1944 photograph? Johnson and Bong would have been around 24 years old, and only 2-3 years out of training.

He "retired" from flying after something like 15 years of flying actively, so getting the required 2000 hours in 20 years of service required to wear the Command Pilot wings when the 3-tier system was enacted in '39-'40 seems pretty doable. It's also interesting to note that hours as Navigator were also counted at 100% and "military flight hours in any other capacity are counted at 50% rate."

However, I can't find any online source that gives his total hours, so nothing to confirm it.