Naval Air Training - Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

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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.

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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

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2 five red, Sffeaming ii: saw a s any ivy- :'er ol ils Mian skin we urgency rg cleslinecl Q sense ol me of per- ,Jvance ol of Tokyo. gm, sally i ol Nml Principles ,9 3 li0ll'5 Air Tech- zfioni and ,anim hm alolil var 'Med' Buf when fhe lasf enemy had sfacked his arms, Memphis ran head-on info frouble. Four shorf years ago Memphis, like fhe resf of fhe Navy and all fhe armed forces, began wrifhing in fhe foils of demobilizafion. The peace was won, and everyone wanfed fo go home. Men who had played a role in ending fhe shoofing were inferesfed nof a whif in seffling fhe fhing on paper-freafies were for diplomafs wifh brief cases. For men in uniform-men sfafioned in Memphis as well as fhose all over fhe world-fomorrow meanf iobs and picking up where fhey had leff off. They were fed up fo fhe back feefh and fhey wanfed fo go home-by sea--by air-by magic carpef -any way af all as long as if was home. Buf-when separafions and discharges frickled fhrough like sfeaks in warfime bufcher shops, fhe sweef necfar of vicfory soured info a dark brown fasfe. Morale sank lower fhan fhe boffom of fhe Soufh Pacific and plumbed even darker depfhs when fhe decision fo make Memphis a permanenf base reached fhose aboard and 'lhose assigned fhere for dufy. The Navy gripe-vine flourished like fhe proverbial bayfree and fempers grew iaded wifh disconfenf. ln fhe fall of l945, -Memphis, enfangled in fhe slow skein of con- version from war fo peace, was essenfially a barracks-base. For fhose married officers and enlisfed men defailed fhere, if was a place of soiourn wifhouf habifafion-fhe ends of fhe earfh wifhouf so much as a peg on which fo hang a haf. The Air Base lay iusf beyond fhe coffon-counfry-Safurday-nighf ham- lef of Millingfon where family facilifies were al' a premium. The cify of Memphis, a mefropolis of 364,000 inhabifanfs, was approximafely fwenfy miles disfanf, and equally barren of housing. True fo hospifable fradifions, fhe civilian populace in areas surrounding fhe Tri-Sfafions moved over and made whaf room fhey could, buf such quarfers were for fhe mosf parf pififully inadequafe and quife beyond fhe reach of mosf service billfolds. This sfafe of affairs leff buf fwo avenues of acfion for personnel assigned fo Memphis-send families home fo relafives or friends, or crowd 'logefher in such shelfers as could be found. ln fhe spring of I946, fwo houses sfood in solifary splendor on fha Naval Air Technical Training Cenfer-one fhe Capfain's residence, fhe ofher for fhe Execufive Officer. The Naval Hospifal boasfed a verifable cify of fhree houses, while fwo governmenf dwellings and several converfed farmhouses consfifufed residenfial facilifies af fha Naval Air Sfafion. A handful of officers and enlisled men wifh dependenfs were forfunafe in capfuring frailers af a camp iusf oufside fhe base. They were lucky-unless one fook info accounf fhe uffer lack of sanifafion facilifies and a garbage difch infesfed wifh rafs. Ofhers coagulafed in miserable liffle nuclei in an abandoned Army Air Base housing proiecf fiffy miles disfanf af Halls, Tennessee. They were lucky, foo- Navy personnel paid fiffy cenfs a day for fransporfafion fo and from fhe base in a bus which leff Halls af 4:30 in fhe morning and refurned fhem fo fheir firesides af seven or lafer each nighf. ll' was a greaf life, and while if was unmilifary fo weaken, few were