US Navy - Support aircraft sense (1945) (ebook)

Support aircraft sense 

ISSUED BY AVIATION TRAINING DIVISION

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS - U. S. NAVY

The word, in this case, was the use of support aircraft in an amphibious operation as told to you by one of the air support training instructors. This introduction is really intended just for Dilbert, but anyone can look at the cartoons. Even if you are 'another of those characters who become glassy-eyed at plain print, you can always get a bang out of pictures of Dilbert doing dumb things.
What the instructor was saying was that Naval Aviation, from Tarawa to Eniwetok, to Saipan, to Guam, to the Philippines, has finally perfected its role in an amphibious operation. Support aircraft doctrine grew directly out of these battles, by the method of trial and error Since conclusions have been reached, it is requested that fur¬ther experimentation by pilots, no matter how good their intentions, be discontinued.
Any amphibious landing is a complicated affair. The newspapers make it sound as easy as falling off a log—warships shoot up the island, airplanes bomb it, transports unload, troops wade ashore, Japs commit suicide. Actually, it is so involved that without brilliant organization, thorough training, and perfect timing, it couldn't come off.
The part of support aircraft in such an operation is equally difficult, succeeding only through intelligent planning and rigid discipline. Control is provided by the ASCU ( Air Support Control Unit) located aboard the headquarters ship. Head man in the team, a seasoned naval aviator, is called CSA, or Commander Support Aircraft. From D-day until the AAF or Marine Air Wing can assume full responsibility for the air defense of the area, he directs all carrier aircraft, as well as any available land-based planes from nearby bases.
Trust him implicitly; carry out his orders exactly!

40 pages in english - PDF to download