October 13, 1944

Roswell Field

Oct. 13, 1944

Dear Mother:

I just received the first letter that has come directly from home and not come via Luke Field.  I am writing this letter at noon on the first day we have had any spare time since we have been here.  we are going to get 12 hour passes and feel swell about it.

The way it works is that you work 7 days and get a half day off on the 8th.  Aren't we lucky!  I don't know if they are rushing us through or this is a regular schedule.  All I do know is that 12 hour passes once a week are something new to me.

Here is what my address means if you think it can help you to remember it.  It is not very complicated as far as I can see.

Rank             Name                  Army Serial No

Student Officer Class 44 (year) - 4(semester I guess) I (class of grad.)

Roswell (town post office)  New Mexico.

As you see I am in I class which should graduate on the 18th of this month.  If I had gone from Luke upon graduation with no gunnery or anything I would have been in G class and graduating now from Roswell but as it is I am 2 months behind my class as is 60% of all the fellows here.  Very few have come directly from an advance school to this field.

Yes I feel lucky to be flying instead of riding as Ralph will have to do.  Even so look at the time I have had, and still will have to put into this before I will have full control of my operation. No one in my crew including the co-pilot will have put so much time into his training.  Bombardiers and Navigators put in about 4 months after pre-flight and we put in almost 8 mod.  In fact before I leave this school a successful airplane commander I must know how to take the place of any crew member and perform his job satisfactorily for flight operation. I must be a pilot - copilot - engineer - radio operator, navigator, bombardier and know how to operate all the guns.  That is quite a job for one guy to learn in 8 weeks or less.  After that I will have to be both mother and father to the crew.  This job looks almost too big for me to handle.  Well I guess the end of 8 weeks will tell if this school is any good or not.

Speaking about Radios etc. we are getting a swell radio course here.  If I ever fly over our home I am going to salvo all my radio equipment on the back yard for use after the war.  We have all kinds of radios and equipment.  We can send and receive on any frequency in the United States except he Standard Broadcast band.  William and maybe Dad would love to tinker with what I have to play with.  The only trouble is that I don't low half enough about it to work it right.  You know you can be up in the sky lost a hundred miles from here and turn on some swell music from Roswell and a little needle will tell you right where you are and you follow the needle while listening to Benny Goodman and in no time you are over the town of Roswell.  Or you can turn on some good music in Chicago and follow a little needle and be in Chicago in 4 hours.  Radio really is wonderful.  Radio is a lot of fun especially when you begin to wonder what happens when you do this or that.  I even think I could get interested in it my self.

You can tell Pop I am taking code again and just passed a 6 word check by the skin of my teeth.  I need practice but not the kind that comes in the mail.  -.--    ---  ..-     -.-    -.    ---   .--

Well I must get ready for P.T. and then I can have the afternoon off and do what I please.  I start to fly tomorrow so I am hoping for the best in the way of instructors and patience.

With love

the not so hot pilot        Austin