Mister: The Training of an Aviation Cadet in World War II

In Fletcher's Gang , the author described commanding a 10-man crew on 35 combat missions over Europe during World War II. Here he details the training that enabled a 22-year-old to lead those forays: a yearlong regimen that included pre-flight training at Santa Ana, primary flying school at Oxnard and basic flying school at Lancaster, all in California; advanced flying school in Douglas, Ariz.; and B-17 transition training at Roswell, N.M. The abundance of detail--about tests in class and in the air, frequent quarantining because of childhood diseases among the cadets, exacting flight instructors and officious ground officers--will be only mildly interesting to those who were not Army Air Force officers 50 years ago. The book also contains a number of conventional and undistinguished photos. (Aug.)