Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/39

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 32 -- USAF HZSZOICL Sun,s lowered and aviation training opened to enlisted men in grade.* Since students in training under the provisions of the awe- tion cadet bill were conmdered officer can- didates it was necessary to initiate separate legislation to provide aviation training for enlisted men m grade and to set up for these men the new grade of "aviation stu- dent." An Air Corps study on this subject re- sulted in the drafting of a bill whmtx was introduced in the House as H.R. 4449 on 22 April 1941, and m the Senate as S. 1371 on the next day. According to the testimony by Brig. Gen. George H. Brett, Acting Chmf of the Air Corps, the Air Corps intended to use enlisted men, trained according to the provisions of this proposed act, as primary and basic flight instructors, utility and pilots of troop and cargo transports. The bill passed Congress with iew changes, except for an amendment raising the amount of government life insurance to be issued during the flying period from $5,000 to $10,000. nø As approved on 3 June 1941, the Aviation Student Act authorized the Secretary of War to detail enhsted men in active service in the Regular Army and other components of the Army of the United States for train- hug and instruction as aviation students in their respective grades. Those partlmpating regularly and frequet!y in aerial flights were to be issued government life insurance to the amoun of $10,000 under the tichal Service Life Insurance Act of 1940. The premiums on this insurance were to be paid by the government during the traiuing period. After completion of traimng the men had the option of continuing the poli- cies at their own expense. n: On I Augus 1941, AR 615-150 was issued. This regulation set forth the requirements and standards for the training of enhsted men as aviation students and set 23 years as the age limit for such training. It was stipulated that upon successful compIetion of the training the student would recezve the rating of pilot and a warrant as staff sergeant pilot, Air Corps, without regard coroJssI0ns See AHS-?, p, . to the grade in which he received hs train- ing. These regulations rerumned in force until after the passage of the Flight Officer Act in 1942. n-* These two measures constituted the most important Air Corps training legmlatmn of 1941. They enabled the Army mr arm to compete with the Navy and the Marines in recruiting pilot traincos, and made it ruble to draw on a vest reservmr of enlisted men for trainhug m various aviation specialties. The insurance prowsions of the Aviation Cadet Act and the Aviation Student Act also had considerable value in creating good morale, The great expansion of the Army air arm, with te increased number of deaths from ftyang accidents, and the pos- sibility of war casualties, made xt expedi- ent or even necessary to have some form of insurance for flying personnel 3Cn fact, the ilitary Personnel Davision recommended compulsory insurance for fiyung officers as well as for cadets n In addition to the legislation dealing with the procurement and training of Air Corps personnel during the period 1939-41 there were enacted several other measures whmh perttuned to Air Corps personnel matters. A bfil which would make possible the ab- sorption into the Regular Army of Reserve officers bove the age of thirty and cur- rently serving on extended active duty was introduced m Congress in the spring of 1939. This proposed legislatmn, however, was opposed by the War Department as prejudicial to the interests of the service and failed to pass. A compromise bill pro. posed by the War Department was enacted as Public Law 289, 76 Cong, 1 Sees. (ap- proved 5 August I939). This legislation, ef- iective only for the fiscal year 1940, pro- vided that the Reserve officers menhoned above could compete with lVegular Army personnel for commissions in the Regular Army by taking separate qualifying exami. ilarions. TM Shortly after this law was approved, an unsuccessful at&erupt was made by ghder enthusiasts to secure the passage of a bill to set up a Cwlian Glider Pilot Trmning Dxvision in the CAA. The Air Corps and the THIS PAGE Declassified lAW E012958
 * 1o year of colge or lz equialent were required /or