[Milsurplus] More LBG re: radio ops

[telegrapher@att.net]

Radio News of June 1943 has an article "Radio Operators for our
Bombers".

Operated under the "Technical Training Command", the largest
installation was unit No. 1, (formerly the Stevens Hotel), Unit No. 2
(formerly the Congress Hotel), The Coliseum, The Eighth St. Theater, The
Wetten Building, and the Electric Garage, all in Chicago.  

Started in Sept. 1942, the complete radio course taught in the Army Air
FOrce techincal schools consists of 18 weeks of intensified training in
which half of the day is given to radio mechanics and the other half to
radio operating.

The first 10 weeks of this course is called the basic instruction course
and the remaining 8 weeks is called advanced course.

The first 10 weeks pf operating consists of simple code instruction. 
The last 8 weeks of radio mechanics are devoted entirely to operation
and maintenance of the signal equipment.  The last 8 weeks of radio
mechanics are broken up into the following components: 2 weeks of
instruction and operation of the high power liason equipment; 2 weeks
are spent with the multi-unit command set; 1 week with the Ultr high
frequency command set; 1 week with the radio compass equipment and the
last 2 weeks a review of the operation, testing and repairing of all
aircraft equipment.  

After satisfactorily completing this course the student is given his
corporal stripes and sent to a duty staion.  Etc etc..

Lots of stuff in the middle that i didn't mention.  Reading the course
agenda could lead one to believe that perhaps this was nothing more than
a crash course to get folks out in the field, doing a lot of OJT and
while it may have been fairly comprehensive in content, understanding
all that you saw and heard in a short period of time doesn't mean you
have a real good retention of all its functional capabilities, not that
you can actually make something work just because you spent a few days
tinkering with it. For those headed into the air, it must have been
little more than a familiarization of equipments and i'd be willing to
bet that some of them viewed it as just that, not realizing what was in
store for them. 

This could be asking some questions of the folks who were involved with
LBG on her last trip.

Larry
W0OGH