We learned from John’s timeline that he attended Hershey Industrial School and from his enlistment papers that his occupation is listed as the manufacture of automobiles.  When John enters the military in September of 1940, the military worked to create a link between civilian occupational experience and a job specialty suited for the Army.  Once John reached an Army Air Force basic training center, he continued to be evaluated and classified until the type of training or duty was determined.  Recruits were divided by both a physical attributes category and testing scores into three general categories:

• Specialists (and potential specialists) – those with existing training or ability who were “fast tracked” into existing assignments
• Non-Specialist – recruits who’s test scores showed minimum acceptable standards for technical training
• Basics - were men who possessed no special abilities and had made low aptitude scores; they were assigned to units for immediate on-the-job training commensurate with their ability.

About half of the AAF enlisted personnel during the period from 1939 to 1945 fell into the second category, I think from his letters talking about testing and classes John fell into this category too. For this group, the round of testing and screening continued until they were assigned to a particular course of instruction. If quotas permitted and other requirements were met satisfactorily, trainees were encouraged to volunteer for the type of training they desired. During 1942 the emphasis was placed on the advantages of ground-crew training as airplane mechanics, armorers, and radio operators; in 1943 combat-crew programs were stressed.

Citation: Craven, W. F., Cate, J. L., & Kooker, A. R. (1948). Basic Military Training and Classification of Personel. In The Army Air Forces in World War II (Vol. 6, pp. 527–556). essay, University of Chicago Press.

The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI).  An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details. 

• Contributing Institution - Piedmont Historical Preservation Society
• Collection Name - Margaret Payne Collection
• Language - English
• Rights - Copyright held by the Piedmont Historical Preservation Society; no reproduction without written consent from the Piedmont Historical Preservation Society.

Notes – Handwritten letter dated July 5, 1943, single page. Includes envelope, postmarked July 12, 1943, 10:30AM, from Dale Mabry Field, Tallahassee, Fla.

Miss You: The World War II Letters of Barbara Wooddall Taylor and Charles E. Taylor

by Barbara Wooddall Taylor

During World War II, the millions of letters American servicemen exchanged with their wives and sweethearts were a lifeline, a vital way of sustaining morale on both fronts. Intimate and poignant, Miss You offers a rich selection from the correspondence of one such couple, revealing their longings, affection, hopes, and fears and affording a privileged look at how ordinary people lived through the upheavals of the last century’s greatest conflict.

In this letter John shares that he is going to yet another base for training.  During the early 1940s, many veterans remember those first few weeks of basic training as a transformative experience. Before reporting to a ship or heading overseas, however, most recruits went through more specialized training for their specific duties within their branch of the military. Some learned how to operate radios or other communications equipment. Others trained to use special weapons or invasion techniques. Depending on the assignment, servicemembers sometimes trained at six or more different locations before finally deploying overseas, and even then they might have received further training before seeing action.