Warbird Information Exchange

Here's a question I really should know the answer to (my father was a 27 year AF officer and pilot, I was a 20 year officer)....


We all know initially the USAAF required pilots to have two years of college.
That apparently was dropped during the war to avoid a shortage (which apparently never came to pass since at the end of the war the USAAF was overstocked with pilots and qualified applicants).

-Anyone know when...and if /when the requirement was reinstated?

I was reading a 1959 book about the AF, and it was casually mentioned that the college requirement was dropped.

I know the aviation cadet program existed until the late 50s or early 60s, and I've always assumed the difference between an aviation cadet and a AFROTC or OTS grad and a flying cadet was the cadet did not have a four-year degree. Correct?

Thanks.

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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.
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I went through USAF Pilot training in Class 54G (January 1953-April 1954) 54G was all ex-enlisted men except for one student officer (OCS Graduate, I think). A person could get into Pilot training three ways then 1. Enlist and apply for Pilot training after you were assigned to Basic Airman Training. If accepted and while awaiting a class assignment you were assigned to as a Pre-Cadet to a USAF primary pilot training base as a crew-chief's aide on the flight line refueling the T-6s (which I did). 2. If you had 2 years of college credit or more, you could apply as a civilian and if you were accepted, be assigned directly to a pilot training class (no Pre-Cadet time). If you were already a commissioned officer then you went through as a student officer (flight training only). Status made no difference. You could be washed out of pilot training if you didn't progress satisfactorily--- no RHIP here!
When I graduated I was committed to 3 years of active flight duty which I did as a co-pilot on SAC KC-97 refueling tankers. Then I was off to the airlines for the next 38 years.

Jack Frost

Thanks, sounds like a different time.

At some point the USAF and USN decided that to be an officer and pilot you needed a BA, and today if you want to make the military a career, you need a MA.

When did you train? The a.c. used underwent some changes in the early fifties with T-34s being used for initial training, and T-28s replacing Texans.
Being a multi-engined guy, did you get jet time or did you go directly to a twin (I'd guess a TB -25)?

_________________
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.