FOUNDATION of the FORCE Air Force Enlisted Personnel Policy 1907-1956 Mark R. Grandstaff DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A Approved for Public Release Distribution Unlimited AIR PROGRAM 1997 20050429 034 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grandstaff, Mark R. Foundation of the Force: Air Force enlisted personnel policy, 1907-1956 / Mark R. Grandstaff. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. United States. Air Force-Non-commissioned officers-History. 2. United States. Air Force-Personnel management-History. I. Title. UG823.G75 1996 96-33468 358.4'1338'0973-DC20 CIP For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328 ISBN 0-16-049041-3 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGEFomApve OMB No. 0704-0188 The public reporting burden for this collection of information Is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of Information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. 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DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES n/a 14. ABSTRACT A study of how Air Force enlisted personnel helped shape the future Air Force and foster professionalism among noncommissioned officers in the 1950s. 33 pp., tables, diagrams, photos, notes, appendices, bibliography, index GPO Stock No.008-070-00720-7 ISBN 0160490413 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE ABSTRACT OF Richard I. Wolf PAGES U -rJUU 19b. TELEPHONE UU 33 NUMBER202-404-2186 fInclude area code) Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) Prescribed by ANSI Std, Z39.18 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING SF 298 1. REPORT DATE. Full publication date, including 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER. day, month, if available. 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This block must be initial, and additional qualifiers separated by commas, e.g. Smith, Richard, J, Jr. completed to assign a distribution limitation to the abstract. Enter UU (Unclassified Unlimited) or SAR 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND (Same as Report). An entry in this block is necessary if ADDRESS(ES). Self-explanatory. the abstract is to be limited. Standard Form 298 Back (Rev. 8/98) Foreword THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE is a diverse military organization, composed of officers, enlisted members, and civilians. One characteristic defining it is that of professionalism in all three of its personnel components. Though professionalism has been recognized as an important part of military culture and organization over the centuries, it has become critically important in the twentieth century, the century of flight. For the Air Force, the weapons systems that the service employs are maintained, supported, and operated by members of the enlisted force. Inheritors of a proud tradition of service dating to the earliest days of American military aviation, enlisted members have fought-and too often died-in hostile skies around the world, in every conflict in which American aviators have participated. Organizing and training Air Force enlisted personnel have been among the greatest challenges to the service's leadership, as well as among its greatest ac- complishments. Young men and women from varied social, cultural, and educational backgrounds enter the service; are introduced to its culture, heritage, and traditions; are trained to fulfill myriad tasks; and then already imbued with a sense of service before self, go forth to their first assignments. Ongoing career training and professionalization continue throughout their careers. That the Air Force has met the challenge of training its enlisted force well is evidenced by its members' record of accomplishments in America's wars and other times of national emergencies. This work traces how the service built its enlisted cadre in the key, early years of the service when the Air Force was itself a new and unsettled organization. The lessons offered in this book present valuable perspective to decision-makers today as they grapple with force drawdown and maintaining appropriate standards of training and professionalism even as America's Air Force is called upon to serve in new and increasingly more demanding roles. RICHARD P. HALLION Air Force Historian iii Preface THE IMPETUS FOR THIS STUDY evolved from the early days of my youth. My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father served in the ranks during the three major American wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and I heard stories of Gettysburg and the Meuse-Argonne and of fighting at the Bulge. Moreover, motion pictures and television shows of the 1950s and 1960s focused on war themes with, as I recall, movies and TV series about marines, sailors, soldiers, but with little about airmen. As an eighteen-year-old, fresh from high school, I, like thousands of youths growing up during the Vietnam War, pondered my future. Recognizing the possibility of being drafted and becoming cannon fodder, as my former-soldier relatives called it, I opted to join the Navy. As an enlisted person I was subjected to all kinds of hell. Six years after my enlistment, however, I obtained a bachelor's degree and, at the prompting of my wife, left the Navy. It was off to graduate school (thanks to the GI Bill) and an eventual commission in the Air Force through ROTC. With a master's degree in hand and a gold bar on my shoulder, my first assignment was as a missile officer at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, an assignment that brought about my first exposure to enlisted airmen. There were similarities between what I experienced as a sailor and what I perceived as the enlisted culture in the Air Force, but there were differences too-less formality, a professionalism I had not experienced in my Navy career, and a confidence that comes from knowing that your branch of service "takes care of its own." When I was selected by the Air Force Historian's office to attend the University of Wisconsin at Madison to obtain a doctoral degree, Dr.