Greenville County, South Carolina Weather Data

According to historic charts, January of 1943  was one of the top 10 rainiest in the 100 years between 1901 and 2000; raining over 7 inches in the month.  Jack comments about the weather quite a bit in his letters.

Citation: “Greenville County, South Carolina Weather Data.” Data Central. Des Moins Register. Accessed April 25, 2023. https://datacentral.desmoinesregister.com/weather-data/greenville-county/45045/1943-01-01/?syear=1895&eyear=2023#summary.

Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command

"The command was established on 8 July 1940 by the Office of the Chief of Air Corps as part of the expansion of the training department of the Air Corps. After the Fall of France in May 1940, the United States began rapidly expanding its military forces, and with the large numbers of men entering the military, the training requirements of the Air Corps were drastically expanded.

As a result, the centralized training of aircrew was divided into three Training Centers, the Eastern, Gulf Coast (later Central), and Western. Training schools were assigned to the Centers based on the geography of the United States. In July 1943, these Centers were re-designated as Eastern, Central, and Western Training Commands.

By 1944, EFTC controlled many training schools in the Southwestern United States and established several Wings to provide organizational command and control over them based on training types and geography. The schools operated by EFTC part of the Aviation Cadet Training Program. These were:

• Classification: This was the stage where it would be decided whether the cadet would train as a navigator, bombardier, or pilot
• Preflight: Ground training for all air cadets. Successful completion meant being assigned to a flying school for training. "Washouts" were returned to the regular Air Corps ranks for reassignment.
• Primary (Phase I): Taught basic flying using two-seater training aircraft. Usually taught by contract flying schools operated by the WFTC
• Basic (Phase II): Formation flying, air navigation, cross-country flying skills were taught.
• Advanced (Phase II): Single or multi-engine aircraft schools for cadets becoming fighter, bomber or transport pilots. After graduation, the successful Air Cadet received his "wings" and was commissioned Second Lieutenant. In addition, experienced pilots in the field were sent to Training Command "transition schools" to acquire additional single or multi-engine flying ratings."

Citations:

Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas

Craven, Wesley Frank, James Lea Cate, and Arthur R Kooker. “Basic Military Training and Classification of Personel.” Essay. In The Army Air Forces in World War II 6, 6:527–56. University of Chicago Press, 1948.

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 January 27, 1943, two pages. Includes envelope, postmarked January 28, 1943, 4:30PM, from Greenville, SC.

"Estimates are imprecise, but at least 900,000 men received military training in South Carolina during the war. More than 180,000 South Carolinians, including 2,500 women, entered the armed services. More were willing to serve, but forty-one percent of those examined statewide were rejected for various mental or physical problems, making the recruit rejection rate in South Carolina the second highest in the nation. The civilian defense began to organize in South Carolina more than a year before Pearl Harbor. By the summer of 1941 the State Council of Defense was soliciting 12,500 aircraft spotters for eight hundred posts across South Carolina. In the last months of the war, the council claimed that more than 250,000 South Carolinians had volunteered for duties ranging from serving as nurses’ aides and salvage workers to providing war bond activities and aircraft spotting."

Hamer, F. (2022, August 26). World War II. South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/world-war-ii/

Citation: Springs, H. B. (1948). Medical Department Greenville County. In Selective Service in South Carolina, 1940-1947; an historical report (p. 109). essay, Vogue Press.