Naval Air Training - Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

Page 25 text:

A. G. NEAL M. S. WHITENER Lieufenanf Commander Lieufenanf Commander Superinfendenf Mainfenance Training Assisfanf fo Executive Officer A. M. SHAUB Ensign Public lnformafion Officer P,--annul!!! c,,'v .ill by G. H. N. LUSSIER Lieutenant Adminisfrafive Officer A

Page 24 text:

a r Q 5 ' A ' 14 mini tration Q xx X In X N 9170, XoT fs Xl U 7 Q - f A f 5 4 x A 4 G. P. KOCH 'Commander Executive Officer T. M. ADAMS C. R. DODDS Commander Commander Superintendeni' Electronics Training Direcfor of Training

Page 26 text:

The C'ente MPHIS IIUMES UI' BE 'kikf 'kip 'A' 'A E'A' if .qllllllla 5 2 PP Will Somefhing has happened aP Memphis! The greaP air base and Pechnical Praining cenPer of Phe Prairie Navy -like Phe old gray mare of song and sPory-iusP ain'P whaP iP used Po be. To be PriPely accurafe, somefhing has been added Po Phe vasP Naval Air SPaPion along Phe Mississippi. lP's a far cry from Phe sprawling offspring of Naval Aviafion- spawned when B-25 became somefhing more Phan an aparPmenP ad- dress-Po Phe vasP Memphis gianP PhaP has come of age. Memphis has come a long way, buf Phe span of Pime has been brief. In less Phan seven years, Phe Brobdingnagian aviaPion mainfenance Praining planP of Phe Navy has sprouPed, grown, and blossomed, Pransforming Phe brown corduroy of plowed fields where men and mules made coPPon inPo Phe world's greaPesP Pechnical Praining insPiPuPion. lP was mid-I942-while Phe explosions aP Pearl Harbor yeP rever- berafed-when Phe rhyPhmic kePPledrums of warPime hammers began, Phe firsP buildings were reared on Phe flaP plains reaching back from Phe Mississippi River. Memphis was sPill a-building when Phe firsP classes of AviaPion MachinisP's MaPes, Ordnancemen, and Radiomen were graduaPed. Pearl-gray barracks, long messhalls, and inspecPion buildings-designed in keeping wiPh grim, marfial expediency and barren of leisurely decoraPion-grew on Phrough Phe auPumn of '42 and winPer of '43, When Phe Pides of spring seP Phe cyprus swamps whispering along Phe swelling mid-SouPh bayous, Phe arid newness 'Naval Air Technical Training Cenfer, Naval Air SPaPion, and Naval Hospifal. was gone. Grass grew beside new-laid sPreePs Po replace Phe red, raw mud of consPrucPion, The hundreds of whiPe haPs sfreaming Phrough Phe gaPes from Phe odds and ends of civilian life saw a brand new insPiPuPion of learning operaPing efficienfly as any ivy- covered college wiPh a hundred-year head sParP. New as iP was, Memphis was already acquiring a characfer of iPs own-a characfer reflecPed in Phe men iP sPriped of Phin, civilian skin and Purned ouP as aviaPion Pechnical experPs. Faced wiPh Phe urgency of Phe Pimes and Phe magniPude of Phe iob ahead, graduafes desfined for Phe seven world-wide Fleefs lefP Memphis filled wiPh a sense of responsibilify and imbued wiPh Phe Pradifional Navy excellence of per- formance. The growPh of Memphis kepP pace wiPh Phe inexorable advance of Phe fighfing Navy on iPs way back Po Corregidor by way of Tokyo. Ever greaPer numbers of men received Praining in Phe PradiPions, salPy iargon, and Pechnical funcfions of Phe mainfenance branch of Naval AviaPion. lnPense was Phe word for Memphis' educafional principles and Pechniques, and iP is inordinaPely proud of producing a lion's share of nearly a half million Pechnicians creaPed by Naval Air Tech- nical Training during Phe war years. ROUGH SAILING Because of iPs ouPsPanding warPime record, iPs cenPral locafion, and Phe complex equipmenf and incomparable Praining machinery iP evolved in supplying PwenPy Pechnicians for every Navy plane alofP, Memphis was slaPed Po remain in commission when Phe war ended.