Original subtitles

Off we go

into the wild sky yonder.

Keep the wings level and true.

If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder,

keep the nose out of the blue!

Flying men,

guarding the nation's border,

We'll be there, followed by more!

In echelon, we carry on.

Nothing'll stop the Army Air Force!

Well, hello!

Gee, looks like I'm back in the movies again, doesn't it?

Well, as a matter fact, I like to do some talking.

Don't go away until I get this thing off.

Now it isn't as if it was a chore or me to talk to you

because I want to speak on my favorite subject:

The Army Air Forces.

I can't speak from long experience.

I've only been in the service a year.

But I've learned a lot about what the Air Forces have to offer.

That's what I wanna talk to you about.

Right now, the greatest mass mobilization

in the history of the world is taking place.

Men from cities towns, farms, married men, and single men.

Brothers, sweethearts, husbands, fathers, and sons.

Businessmen and workers from the factories.

And students from colleges and high schools all over America.

They're mobilizing, joining up

or having their numbers pulled out of a fishbowl.

And this war we're fighting today

and tomorrow and the next day until we win,

is a war of the air.

The whole world knows that.

Our factories know that. So...

interceptors, pursuit ships,

light bombers, medium bombers and Flying Fortresses

are rolling out of those factories.

65,000 fighting planes this year.

A hundred thousand fighting planes next year.

And to keep 'em flying,

two million men.

Now, now that's where you come in.

The Army Air Forces need 15,000 captains, 40,000 lieutenants.

35,000 flying sergeants.

Well, how about it?

Well, let's talk it over.

Now make no mistake about this thing. Fellas.

We're all gonna be in this war soon.

Sooner than a lot of you realize.

And nearly all the officers of this great Army Air Force

that they're building today

are gonna be drawn from the ranks of you men.

From high schools and colleges.

Those who join as aviation cadets now.

Uh, well now, before I go any further are there any questions?

Yeah, sure I got a question.

Okay, shoot.

Well I'd like to join up.

But I've got about a year of college left.

And I'd kinda like to get that diploma.

Well, why not?

The Air Forces want you to get your diploma.

Fellows like yourself either in high school or college

can enroll in the Air Force Reserve.

Continue with your studies and at the end of the term

or when you get your diploma, you'll be taken in as a regular cadet.

If you pledge now.

Well, thanks.

Okay, don't mention it.

Say, I'd like to make the Air Force.

But I'm no brainstorm.

My grades aren't exactly what they should be.

I hear it's tough to get in.

Not anymore, it isn't.

And that blocked letter you're sporting, that tells me a lot.

Basketball, football, baseball.

Or some activity where coordination, control

and the ability to work together with the rest of the team that,

that's important.

The same in the Air Force. They're one big team.

And they need men who can pull together and play the game.

So, you and your teammates should be a cinch

in this, the biggest all-American team we've ever had.

Now here's a fellow who works in a filling station.

He looks as though he's got something special on his mind.

Say, uh, how about it, fella?

You know, I've been interested in the Air Forces for quite a while.

But I'm 26 years old and I got a wife.

Haven't had a chance for too much education.

What about me?

Well, from where I'm standing,

you look like you're ready to sprout wings any minute.

Hey, wait a minute.

You see, formal education is no longer a basis

for determining a man's intelligence in the Air Forces.

And married or not,

you'll receive seventy-five dollars each month while training.

And board and lodging and all the necessary uniforms and equipment.

And you have as much chance as the next fellow of becoming one of those

15,000 captains and 40,000 lieutenants or

35,000 flying sergeants I was telling you about.

Yeah? Say, that sounds great.

I think I'll go tell my wife.

I'd like to get something straight in my mind.

I'm one of those high school students you've been talking about.

But I'm not old enough.

I wasn't planning on going to college so

where does that leave me as far as the Air Force is concerned?

Funny, you sound like the forgotten man.

But if you're close to eighteen.

And you're over five feet in altitude,

you can be one of us just as quickly as anybody else.

Okay!

Just make out that application for the Air Force Reserve.

Now your physical examination.

Well, that's not gonna be so tough.

If you're an average guy and normally healthy,

you'll make the grade alright.

So, one day you say good-bye to mother and dad.

And they're pretty proud and happy too.

Especially dad. His suspenders are about to bust.

Yeah, you say good-by to sister Jane.

And maybe Aunt Minnie.

And oh yeah, Uncle Ben.

And brother Joey.

Those first few steps down the walk are the beginning of a great adventure.

Oh, uh, just wait. Wait a minute now.

You aren't gonna forget that sweet little bit of something next door.

And you're on the train with a lot of other fellas.

Probably many from your own school or a neighborhood.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say.

Uncle Sam bought your ticket.

And your destination reads any one of a number reception centers.

Maybe in California. Maybe down in Texas.

It's here that lasting friendships are made.

Because you and your teammates are aiming for the same goal.

That big, beautiful, wonderful "V"

that spells Victory.

And now it begins.

Now, here's a sort of a composite picture

of what happens to you in the first few weeks of your aviation cadet training.

You find your room.

Meet your roommate.

Get a haircut, army style.

And try on a new pair of shoes.

And a new uniform that really fits.

And time to eat. Those chops are on the fire.

You eat with a few hundred other guys just as hungry as you are.

In ground school, officers with years of experience

patiently explain what makes 'em fly.

And then one day, when class is over,

you get all rigged out on what the well-dressed birdman will wear.

You feel like quite a guy as you meet your flying instructor.

But always in your memory will be the thrill

of that first beautiful morning

when you took off for the first time.

Now, uh, what you're gonna see next

isn't considered exactly part of the regular training course.

But you're a chump if you don't include it in your curriculum.

And you find out the effect those shiny little wings have on a gal.

It's phenomenal!

And now mister, take the air!

And he did!

Now, time has marched on.

Here you are cruising along in a BT.

That's basic trainer to you.

And twisting your tail into a few acrobatics and loops.

And barrel rolls and snap rolls.

That's some fun, eh?

And a few more weeks roll by.

You find yourself in still another plane.

And advanced trainer this time.

Yes indeed, you're really getting up in the world.

At the rate of nearly 200 miles an hour.

But you think this is something, well now, just wait.

Fellas, shake hands with Mister B-17.

And a few of his big brothers.

Now, watch out now, he's tough.

Those four motors roaring through the sky like a thunderstorm.

They can't fool with them.

American workmen...

The finest master mechanics in the world...

Put those motors together.

Made 'em live, made 'em breathe, made 'em roar.

Yes, sir! A whole army of workmen, designers, engineers and just plain guys

who wanted to do something for their country.

They put that B-17 together.

A few thousand of these babies will win this war for us.

And a few thousand guys like you in there flying it.

And remember.

We said something about a team.

Well, nine men are inside that plane.

Each with an important job to do.

So let's go and take a look around.

Let's meet the team.

Yes, sir, nine fellas like yourself working together...

As closely coordinated as a precision watch.

Now, let's get this straight.

The pilot is not the most important fella inside this plane.

All nine members of this crew are equally important.

For example,

the pilot and the copilot can take the plane off the ground

and set it back down again.

But where they be without the navigator?

Now, meet him.

He's the gentleman sitting right there,

with his pencils, his calculators.

He's responsible for getting the giant bomber to its destination

and back again.

Now, you might like his job.

Now this fella's a second lieutenant.

Draws 245 dollars each month.

And although he was good at mathematics, he didn't graduate from college.

But he learned that the Air Forces could use his talents.

And now he is a necessary part of the team.

And now let's go up into the nose of Mister B-17.

And meet somebody who has an important job in that department.

This is the bombardier.

The boy who doesn't miss.

You see, flying the plane is wasted motion

unless this lad hits the target on the noggin.

The finest pilots in the Air Force would be behind the eight ball

if the bombardier couldn't hit straight.

And he's a full-fledged commissioned officer too.

Wears his wings.

Draws the same pay as the pilot and the copilot.

Now back in the main body of the plane we've got some more important positions.

This fella is the number one engineer. He keeps the motors turning.

And the thousands of working parts all thru the bomber inspected and in repair.

And then comes the radio operator,

who keeps the bomber in constant communication with its home base.

And the photographer who keeps a photographic record of what takes place

on the earth below while the bomber's on its mission.

He's sort of an official scorekeeper checking up for future reference.

Now the remaining members of the flight crew are

number two engineer and number two radio man.

So you see, being in the Air Forces isn't all piloting.

Or all navigating or all bombardiering.

It's teamwork.

And each member of the team is just as important as the next one.

Now listen.

It takes 38 men on the ground to keep this bomber in the air.

So let's go downstairs and meet the ground force.

Jobs, why there's one to fit every kind of fellow

who wants to play on this all-American team.

Meet the armament officer.

Now, he's in charge of 12 bombers,

more or less like the ones we just looked over.

It's his job to see hat the bombs are loaded

and the machine-guns

and a general all-around checkup.

See that bar on his shoulders?

He ranks just the same as the pilot or the copilot

or the navigator or the bombardier.

And to get this fellow's commission,

a little engineering or physics in college would be a great help.

And there's a fellow who's job takes a backseat to nobody.

The communications officer.

Those bombing and fighting planes up there,

they depend on his work. He's part of a team.

And how does a fellow get a sign like that on his door?

Well, engineering officer Captain C.D. Burns had three years of college.

He studied aerodynamics.

Those qualifications quickly awarded him his commission.

He's in charge of all the mechanical details.

And has a full crew of technically trained enlisted men to supervise.

Now, another opportunity for you specialty-minded fellas

is to be a meteorologist.

If you do, you'll be assigned to a post

where all military missions will be guided by your reports.

Yep, and you'll get those gold bars alright.

After thirty weeks free training in some leading technological institute.

Photographers and chemists.

Now there's a spot for you on the team

in charge of one of the hundreds of fixed or mobile

photographic laboratories the Air Force must have.

Now this job too gets you a commission as an officer.

So whether you're flying a plane as a pilot or a copilot,

charting its course as a navigator,

acting as bombardier.

Or in any one of the many technical jobs in the air or on the ground.

Wherever it is in the United States Army Air Forces,

you're part of a team.

Now remember that.

So listen to the roar of those motors, you men of America.

And heed their call.

Soon the skies will be filled

with the greatest air armada the world has ever seen!

Our own Army Air Forces.

The best planes ever built!

65,000 planes this year.

100,000 more next year.

That's why we'll lick the Axis.

And that's how we'll lick the Axis.

Your commission in the Air Forces is waiting.

You don't have to have a diploma to become an officer.

Join now on the enlistment reserve basis.

And then finish your present school or

college term before your called upon for actual duty.

And if you're between the ages of 18 and 26,

with a good bill of health,

you can make as high as 245 dollars a month.

With a bonus of 500 dollars for each year of service in the Air Forces.

Or if you become one of those 15,000 captains we need right away,

you'll receive 430 dollars a month while you serve your country.

You'll be well trained for a good job in civilian life when this war is won.

Now, here's another thing.

Now, it's kinda hard to explain but believe you me it's important.

While you're getting all this wonderful technical training in the Air Forces,

you'll learn about other things too.

Things that are gonna pay off in big dividends.

You're learning to be alert.

You're learning how to handle men.

And how to do that job with a lot of pride.

Yeah, you're learning about courage too.

But you'll know what I mean. And I hope soon.

Because the Air Forces are proud to think that you might be with them.

And by the time you finish your training,

America will have overwhelming superiority in the air.

You see, the way the Air Forces feel about it,

they're fighting and they're flying for the safety of our people at home.

Our mothers and fathers and our sisters and brothers.

And to keep this terrible war of destruction

that swept Poland and Belgium and Holland.

And blasted homes of good people in London and Coventry.

And maimed hundreds of innocent women and children

in Nanking and Burma and Bataan Peninsula and Pearl Harbor.

To keep that war from our own shores,

our cities and our homes.

The roar of a thousand motors sing their song.

And theirs is a song of freedom.

Their wings outstretched in the cause of decency.

And each spinning prop drones in vengeance

against those who would destroy our way of life.

But somebody's gotta fly 'em.

A lot of somebody's have got to fly 'em.

Now, this is your place.

This is where you'll serve America best.

Young men of America, your future's in the sky.

Your wings are waiting.