Unfortunately that seemed to be the reason for a lot of wartime promotions.
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Unfortunately that seemed to be the reason for a lot of wartime promotions.He said by the second half of his tour he was Squadron Commander, and always flew lead, so everyone formated on him. He advanced so quickly, unfortunately, due to high attrition amongst the leadership and few experienced replacements. Ten months from 2nd Louie to Brevet Light Colonel.
And when his tour was over, they made him a brevet full bird and put him in command of a B-24 training squadron at Westover AAB. There he violated the curriculum and taught a form of crew coordination not unlike modern CRM, and achieved an accident rate that was among the best in Training Command and THE best in the northern bases. Demobilized in 1946 as a Major.Unfortunately that seemed to be the reason for a lot of wartime promotions.
So for us civvies does "brevet" also mean "acting" as in "acting colonel" even though he does hold the actual rank?And when his tour was over, they made him a brevet full bird and put him in command of a B-24 training squadron at Westover AAB. There he violated the curriculum and taught a form of crew coordination not unlike modern CRM, and achieved an accident rate that was among the best in Training Command and THE best in the northern bases. Demobilized in 1946 as a Major.
Cheers,
Wes
You're right, it means acting or temporary, sort of like Commodore at sea. Any officer in command of a force of vessels for a specific mission or time frame has the title of Commodore, regardless of actual rank. Commodore McDonough who won the Battle of Plattsburg Bay in 1814 was a lowly Lieutenant. Likewise, historically a brevet officer wore the rank and had the responsibility of his brevet rank, but had the pay and privileges of his permanent rank. Brevets were relatively uncommon in peacetime, except in periods of budget crunch or personnel shortage. So Dick had the responsibility of a full bird, but the social privileges and pay of a Major.So for us civvies does "brevet" also mean "acting" as in "acting colonel" even though he does hold the actual rank?
Sounds true to me.A late neighbor of mine was a B-24 pilot (Ploesti 2x), and he used to chuckle over that myth. He said that saying implied you could one-hand a Liberator in a tight box formation, which as far as he was concerned was a joke. He said especially if you were tail end Charlie, it was a two handed affair and you left the throttle jockeying to your copilot and flight engineer at your command. He said that (and plenty of "stick time") sharpened copilots up pretty quickly and improved them to the point they could become replacement aircraft commanders. Not the way it was taught in training command, where the skipper drove the bird and the copilot operated the gear and flaps, sat on his hands, and stood by for emergencies.
He said by the second half of his tour he was Squadron Commander, and always flew lead, so everyone formated on him. He advanced so quickly, unfortunately, due to high attrition amongst the leadership and few experienced replacements. Ten months from 2nd Louie to Brevet Light Colonel.
Cheers,
Wes
So all the "cons" but none of the "perks". That sucks.Likewise, historically a brevet officer wore the rank and had the responsibility of his brevet rank, but had the pay and privileges of his permanent rank.
It sounds like they were sent to the kids table at an adult party.Another curiosity was "mustang" LDOs, senior or exceptionally talented enlisted folk who were sent to "knife and fork school" for 90 days to "acquire couthness" and pass for an officer and a gentleman. They became "very" Limited Duty Officers whose authority only extended to the subspecialty in which they performed as enlisted. They were at the bottom of the totem pole when it came to privileges such as base housing, parking, attendance at social functions, etc.
They could hit a pickle barrel from 30,000 ft, but only a pickle barrel. Cities were beyond the spec.
Actually, you're both right and wrong...
The pilot I was referring to enlisted in the USAAC in the late 30's and was transferred to the Pacific, seeing action against the Japanese for the duration.
As far as the Air Corps goes, after Congress established the United States Army Air Force in 1941, the Air Corps remained as a branch of the Army until few years after the war.
There was a huge amount of political in-fighting over this long before the war and afterwards...
That's funny. I have a soft cover book at home about the P-38 titled "the fork tailed devil." Where did that name come from, and what did the Germans call it?
Re read this thread from the beginning. That myth was debunked several pages back. My German is a little ragged, but I believe "blitzen" (lightning) is the word.In German the said
"Gabelschwanzteufel"
So all the "cons" but none of the "perks". That sucks.
It sounds like they were sent to the kids table at an adult party.
Ahh, the enduring romance of the American west, with its bandits and its bogies! BTW, does anybody know if there's any truth to the oft-told tale that "bogies" referred to unbranded cattle of unknown ownership?mission, Luftwaffe pilots often times called "Indianer" which was a reference taken from "Cowboys and Indians".
I believe bogeys comes from the bogeyman and first used by the Royal Flying Corp in WWI.Ahh, the enduring romance of the American west, with its bandits and its bogies! BTW, does anybody know if there's any truth to the oft-told tale that "bogies" referred to unbranded cattle of unknown ownership?
Cheers,
Wes
In German the said
"Gabelschwanzteufel"
Very very frightening! Galileo! Galileo! Galileo! Galileo! Will you do the fandango!Thunder(bolt) and Lightning!
Aka #FakeNews!