USAAF Aerial Gunner (generic rating)

Pre-1943 generic AAF aerial gunner — single rating, single curriculum, before the turret specialization program split the trade into Sperry lower, Sperry upper, Martin upper, Bendix upper, Bendix lower, and Consolidated tail tracks.

The Story

A 1943 student who had qualified on "aerial gunnery" generally found himself going back through a Sperry or Consolidated course. By December 1944 the gunnery schools had 440 four-engine training aircraft (173 B-17s, 255 B-24s, 12 YB-40s) running 24/7.