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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1944-06-00 Byrd Wing (1)honor and a special mass was given for the thirteen St. Thomas graduates who have al- ready given their lives in this war. Group '5 Continuing many interviews with prospec- tive cadets for possible recruitment in the CAPC. Two training missions were flown this month on May 7 and May 22 with eighteen planes participating in each. Lt. Hanson from Brooks Field is now aiding in the instruction of navigation to the squadron. Extra classes are being held in military drill and members are rapidly becoming adept in this field. Group 6 Old Jupiter Pluvius played a dirty trick down at Benavides May 27, 28 and 29. A nine -and -one -half-inch rain cut short the maneuvers planned by the Group for CAP members from Corpus Christi, Alice, Kings- ville, Robstown, Calallen, Refugio and Ben- avides. Plans called for the elaborate ma- neuvers to include mass flight and exhibitions by officers and for a strict Army schedule to be followed, but the heavy thunderstorm forced Capt. McDaniel, commanding officer of the Group, to ground all planes and to cancel most of the other ground work. The fifty boys who came from Corpus Christi, Alice and Kingsville and other surrounding towns were moved into the Benavides school gymnasium late Saturday afternoon after the high water flooded the small pup tents to which they were assigned. The girls were assigned to three large tents, protected from the downpour by hastily constructed drain- age ditches, while the officers bunked in the supply and medical tents and in the Army trucks. The rains started soon after the last plane was flown into the camp Saturday afternoon and by 5 o'clock the kitchen was ankle deep in water. The parade grounds were partially flooded during the night and early morning hours, and the cadets and officers sometimes waded through water waist deep to carry out camp details. Planes at the maneuver had to use the highway as a runway in order to take off late Sunday. Members of the Wing Staff, who attended the maneuver were Major R. L. Bowen, Ex- ecutive Officer; Capt. Jim Camp, Operations and Training; Capt. Mary Royse, Wing Ad- jutant, and Capt. James Sorenson, Army Air Liaison Officer to the CAP. Group 7 Fifty-five CAPCs were given rides in the liaison ships this month and regular classes in navigation and meteorology are continuing as in the past. Through the efforts of Lt. Sobrino, Group training officer, the entire ground school work has been incorporated in the school system and is now a regular ac- credited subject in the schools. Group 8 Regular ground school classes are being held in each squadron. A survey of the sur- rounding towns has revealed the possibilities •e4p CAP HEADQUARTERS EIGHTH SERVICE COMMAND 1209 Jackson St., Dallas, Texas TEXAS WING STAFF OFFICERS Wing Commander - - - - - - - - - LT. COL. D. HAROLD BYRD Executive Officer - - - - - - - - - - MAJOR R. L. BOWEN Adjutant - - - - - - - - - - - CAPT. MARY ROYSE Special Service Officer - - - - - - - - CAPT. MARION CHURCH Medical Officer - - - - - - - - - MAJOR W. GORDON MADDOX Operations and Training Officer - - - - - - - CAPT. JAMES L. CAMP Assistant Operations and Training Officer - - - - - LT. HOWARD N. SMITH Public Relations Officer - - - - - - - MAJOR GEORGE E. HADDAWAY Supply Officer - - - - - - - - CAPT. LONNIE O. WILKERSON Assistant Supply Officer - - - - - - - - - W. H. MANSFIELD Transportation Officer - - - - - - - - CAPT. S. G. VANDERWEIDE Communication Officer __ - - - - - - - CAPT. JOHN M. ASHBURN Personnel Of {icer - - - - - - - - CAPT. E. WILSON GERMANY Engineering Officer - - - - - - - - - CAPT. CHRIS C. STRONG Intelligence Officer - - - - - - - - - CAPT. P. B. GARRETT of increasing the cadet membership and a recruitment drive is being put into action to visit approximately seventeen towns in this Group. Group 10 Schools at Hillsboro, West, Reisel, Marlin, Clifton, Lorena, Bruceville, Eddy, McGregor, Gatesville, Hamilton; Valley Mills, Meridian and Iredell were interviewed this month. A definite interest was shown by members of each of the schools in these towns and many new cadet units are in the process of being formed. A detached flight has been organized at Hamilton with A. G. Thompson acting as Flight Leader, and V. M. Santy as Deputy Flight Leader. Training programs are continuing on reg- ular schedule. Contacting the various schools and giving screening tests to cadets has en- livened the activity of this Group. Good work, boys! Group 14 Receiving a lot of help f rom the Army in Cadet recruitment drive and reports show a nice gain in membership. One forty -plane raid was flown against the State Guards, which proved very effective as well as exciting. The supply columns were completely destroyed and the effect of air power was strongly im- pressed on the members. The urgent request for the `Strength Re- port" of individual units is still not complete. Unless you have sent in these reports, as re- quested by National Headquarters through Wing Headquarters, your unit will not be placed on the mailing list at National Head- quarters to receive the new training aids to be released soon! BARE FACTS The Texas Wing needs 12,500 Cadets by December, 1944! At present our reports show that we have about one-fourth of the amount of Cadets that we need. According to the latest group strength reports, we have 3,158 CAP Cadets and 265 Army Air Corps en- listed reservists, making a total of 3,423, just one-quarter of the amount that we should have. There are forty-four towns in the State of Texas active in CAP programs. According to the population, this is only 10 per cent of what we should have. The enormous wealth of population of this State has hardly been touched. Recent radio broadcasts, sponsored by the Army Air Corps, announcing the CAP training programs in many cities, have brought letters from many interested persons in various communities that have never heard of the Civil Air Patrol here- tofore. It will be the duties of Group Com- manders in the vicinity of these towns to contact these people and explain the purpose of CAP. In some towns there are not enough prospective members to form a squadron, so it may become necessary to form detached flights. At any rate it is imperative that these people be contacted and made CAP conscious. With the wonderful co-operation that we have from the Army in furnishing us training aids and also liaison officers to give us con- structive ideas and putting forth a little effort of our own, it shouldn't take us long to reach our quota. Let's get to work today, time is short. 4 BYRD WING