History

DAAB Training Flights Instruction

According to a letter from General Barney W. Giles to Tennessee Senator Kenneth McKeller on October 8, 1943, "Operations at Dyersburg are necessarily more hazardous than the preceding phases of training as the pilots begin flying the faster, more combat planes.  Without this training, however, our airmen in combat would be at the mercy of their adversaries."

The Dyersburg Army Air Base at Halls was the largest combat crew training school built during the early war years.  It was the only inland B-17 training base east of the Mississippi River.  The Base started out with B-17Es (first one to have tailguns), then B-17Fs and B-17Gs (added nose turret).

The operating frequency was 100 cycles per day, consuming 90,000 gallons of fuel per day and 17,500 cu. ft. of oxygen daily. The local storage facilities held only 60,000 gallons.  To keep the operation going, deliveries of fuel came from barges docked at Heloise Landing on the Mississippi River.  Initially, The Dyersburg Army Air Base dealt only with Third Phase Training, where units engaged in day and night missions involving high altitude formation flights over long distances. (May 1943).  In November 1943, the second phase of training was added - extensive flying, teamwork, and simulated missions. (Source: Dr. Blair Bentley)

DAAB Veteran Bernard Lund reports "Operating on a nine-day week, we flew day and night training flights.  Many nights when not flying I was out with my octant, practicing celestial fixes."

Under the Second Air Force, the requirements for flight training was a 12-week program, which included a minimum of 150 hours of flying time that included 74 model missions.  Flights above 13.000 feet required oxygen masks since the cabins were not pressurized.  Since most of the missions were flown at 27,000 feet, the crew was protected against the cold by wearing fleece-lined jackets, pants, and boots.