training of bomb commanders and weaponeers 14 november 1946 afd-100617-069

8/13/2019 Training of Bomb Commanders and Weaponeers 14 November 1946 AFD-100617-069

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cO.,r y

14 :';ovember 1946

llEMORAi'lDlr.i POR 'I'liE RECORD:sunJ'SCT: Trt\ini?lf; of Bomb COrnr.landers r.nd -;1eaponears.

1. On 14 Hovenber 1946 a conference 011 above subject was heldin the ~ r e W \[ar Department Building. Attending ,'lere rt,e,jor GeneralL. R. Groves, Manhattan P r o j e c ~ ; Major General C. E. LeHay, jC/ASResearch and Development; Erigadier General A. V;. Kissner, AC, ,,\S-5,and Colonel J. G. Armstrong, AC, ,\S-3.

2. The pur?ose of this conference vms to resolve certaindi f f icul t ies being encountered by the AX? in the tl P..in1ng of BombCOllll:anders and Yreaponeerll by r.la.nha.ttlUl Project;.

:5. The following ite:n.s were agreed to by I.'iajor General Grovesa:nd }Jajor General L e ~ y , the la t ter speaking for the CommandingGeneral, . Anrry Air Forces:a. Bono Commanders r i l l be experienced AJ :F Pilots . A to ta lof th i r ty (30) potential bb Corrll":Rnders , fill be technicallytrained by }5anhattan Project a t Sandia Base, New i.;exioo a ta rate to be determined in de cail by agreement betweenr.:anhattan Project and Headquarters AJ :Fb. l ~ o r n a l l y , l;leaponeers are to be technically traL'1.ed ai1"crew persomwl assigned to the Al'..F.c. A total of forty-f ive (45) "1eaponee'r 3 t i l l be t ra nedfrom personnel available as f o l l o ~

(1) lilanhattan Project will technioally t ra in selectedofficers from the Corps of Engineers. The Fydll then give to these officers air crew trainingsufficient to frunilie.rize them with air operationsand to determine their potential qualifications asair cre\"nnen. no officer of the Corps of: Engineersrd l l be elL-:ti.nated from this special CO\ rse ofaircrevl training except at the individual s DVmrequest. ~ p o n completion of th is period of aircrev(

DECLASSIFIEDBy: Air Force Declassification Office10 June 2010

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t raining, each of these officers rdl l berequested to submit a p p l i c ~ _ t i o n for transferto the J.2 i f suoh a t ransfer is desired ythe individual concerned. ~ a c h of theseofficers will have been informed of his potentialfunction n the lIAP to include his IIcareerllpossibilities. Those officers ,7.nose applications .are ap9roved wi 11 be transferred to t . ~ e Air Corps, \Will be rated as Technical Observers, and vdll beassigned to a p p r o p r i a - ~ e AAF units .

(2) The MI.F r i l l provide suitably qualified offioersto be technically trained by f, anhattan Project atSandia Base, New Mexioo, innumbers and e . t a r a t eto be determined by m u t u a l a r r a n g ~ n t s . These

o ~ f i c e r D may be eliminated f r ~ ~ technical t rainingi deemed unsuitable. These off ieers \ ~ 1 1 then beassigned to appropriate A 1 ~ F units for air crew

a s s i ~ ~ e n t and t raining.d. Only those o ~ f i c e r s rho are qualif ied for the technicalduties and for flying as ai r crewmen wil l be t ransferredor ~ s s i g n e d to the u\ units as Weaponeers.e . A system for the refresher technical t raining of AAFWeaponeers a t Sandia Base will be established b ~ r mutualarrangement.f . In the event of national e r n . e r g e n c ~ . ~ those officerstrained as cited in Paragraph 2 ~ ~ e * above, butst i l l assignod to the Corps of Engineers, vdll beavailable for iv\P combat f l ight operations.4. fajor C-tlnaral LeMay directed Colonel Armstrong to makedetailed arrangements vlith Manhattan Project as indicated in Paragraph3 above and to in i t ia te p ~ F action accordingly.

/ s / John G. Ar:ms-t;rongJOlin G. AR1'IBTRONGColonel, Air Corps

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\ .W R ,DEP RTMENT BY AUTHORITY (I THE . ,.ISPOSITION FORM OHIEf of the ARMi Alii fORCES t .rr.'f.t. X\ ~ ......OATf . -CfNmfLs

FILE MD. SUIJECTTraining of Bomb Commanders and WeaponeersTO l lDGPO (GENERAL }.JORSTAD) FROM AFDRD DATE

1. Attaohed h e r e t o ~ for your information, is a Memorandum for R e ~ o r dof agreements reaohe-d with General Grovee by the undersigned and General . 'Kissner re la t iVI to the ini t iat ion of t raining of botib oommanders and W8aponeera. for the AAF. . .. lJIBsSil icat lon ... ; .. rjl , j h ~ " d . ..2. I t is reoommended that the fIar Department rm:: ~ of this ' .. ..memorandum to General Groves. _______ ~ I G J f t ~ ___., _______ .

1 Incl:Memo for Recorddtd 14 11ov.46 (Cy.)P Q 353 18 (18 Nov .46)

:: ~ ; . i . l Q r J . ~ l o t Ohief of Start, usb 'yl ___ _____________________ ___Dat_____ __________________ ._e r j f ~ .Major ~ n e r a l ~ USADC/AS for Research and DeVl31oJ:lllent

TOs CO, Marihattan Engineer District FrOIlU mSStP OWOOS Date I Comment No/ .26 Nov 46 .1. ' At the request of General Islolay, the attached memorandum for recordtaining to the ini t iat ion of training of bomb cOIIII18lldera and weaponeers is for- ,warded to you for your information. .FOR THE D ~ T O R OF PLA.NS AND OPWTIONS:

1 IncllUSmo for Record ,dtd 14 Nov. ' 46 (Cr.)

WD lao FDIII 8971 MAY ,

t w f ~ LJ . McCORMACK JR. -Colonel, GOOActing Chief, FrlSS

By'1.__ _ _________________ ________ _Jatel ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~_ Ef


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l P SEGRHT' -,tnns Cae):::: : ;: OF PAC::::NO.--,__ _ - . : i . _ S 2 ~ l L . S _ t v ' - - . . . J . C , / t r :

Subject: Training of Bomb Connnanders and 'Heaponeers (Nov 18, 1946)

~ o n l l l l : m t 3Manhattan project , P.O. Box 2610, 'i,ashington 25, D. Go, 10 December 1946.To: Colonel J. McCormack, Jr . PMSS, Office Director of Plans and Operations,Viar Department General Staff, Viashington 25, D. c.

1 . Heceipt 1s a c k n o w ~ e d g e d of the Memorandum for the Record , eubject:Training of Bomb Commanders and Weaponeers, dated 14 November 1946, signedoy Colonel John G. Armstrong, AC. 'l'he record of the conference describedin paragraph 1, basic communication, is essentially correct ' : l wish totake th is opportunity to clari fy a staterent :nade in paragraph 3c(1). Aninference might be drawn from the 5 t a t e ~ n t made In this p a r a ~ a p h thati t was agreed, Lngineer officers upon completion of air Ore1 l trainingwould be urged to submit application for transfer to the A r ~ Air Forces.I wish to make it clear the. t this r ll be a matter for the individualconcerned and no urging w l l be given by us that miL;ht influence anytransfer to the Arrsy Air }'orces.2. In addition to the information contained in basic communication,

General L e ~ ~ y on behalf of t l ~ Air Forces, indicated his conaurrence withthe idea that in addition to the Air Forces bomb commanders trained a tSandia, certain selected members of the Manhattan Project would receivebomb cOnmJandersl training at a la ter date thereby increasing the poolof regular officers who have taken bomb commander training.

1 Incl.~ m o for Hecorddtd 14 Nov 46

L. H. GROVES,lIajor General, USA

. . , .RESTRI TED

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- . ' .. ? ~ ~ R I . C T F . O .. . ~fa: a ~ fS (18 10.,. "6) . S U B J E C T I ~ r d ~ ~ ~ Bomb C ~ d e r . and k 2.aapon.. . .' 'Os DC/I.B tor R&D FROllJ P1iSSIP&{) DiTEI 23 Dec 46

training of bomb commanders and weaponeers 14 november 1946 afd-100617-069

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