Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-10-01
Air Cadet
BY Gen. Henry H. Arnold
(WNU Feature-Through special arrangement
with Woman's Home Companion.)

ready, perhaps some day you will
be standing on your front porch with
a telegram in your hand. AS the
messenger goes down the steps you
will break the seal and read:
Selected for pilot training so keep
EN- flying. Jack"
Pilot training? Flying? Why did
the army air forces select your son?
Will he succeed? A host of thoughts
race through your mind and perhaps
with them is some anxiety.
The anxiety you may feel is large
ly groundless. You may Judge for
yourself as I tell you about the
things being done in the army air
forces to keep your son safe. But I
am not seeking merely to reassure
you. want to make it possible for
you to help Jack enormously, wheth-
er he is bombardier, pilot, navi-
gator, aerial gunner or a member
Of the ground crews.
Above all, your son Jack doesn't
in the least feel that he is being
picked on. He is proud and wants
to share his pride. Before he
could send you that telegram he had
to pass more physical, mental and
aptitude tests than most mothers
even dreamed existed.
Superior Young Man.
AS consequence the army be-
lieves that your sons chances of
flying through this war and of COM
ing home to tell about it, are tops.
The army, in fact, has taken infinite
pains to establish something that
you, as his mother, have known
from the beginning: Jack is su-
perior young man.
He and his classmates in our avi-
alton personnel training program
are the best f1ier material in the
world. And ninety-five of every hun
dred of them are going through their
long and arduous flight training pro-
gram without SO much as a sprained
ankle or a barked shin.
Moreover, the flight control COM
mand of the army air forces is work.
ing day and night to guard your
sons safety. The command is head
ed by an officer who is 'bug" on
safety-Col. Sam Harris, who was
for ten years a test pilot at Wright
Field.
Our military aircraft have been
built to be the safest in the world.
I have refused to consider planes
. that might gain few hundred feet
of altitude or a little extra speed
at a sacrifice of safety. Our prin-
ciple is: Maximum protection for
the air crews.
Combat Safety L Goal.
Combat safety is our ultimate
goal; to attain it is not only prob
lem of the technical and tactical
training your son receives but also
a matter of attitudes. Here are
some ways in which you can help;
l. Keep your balance. Don't pro-
ject your son Jack and yourself into
every newspaper account of an acct
dent. You have read again and
again of highway wrecks without
rushing to put your automobile into
dead storage.
2. Help Jack keep faith in his
eduipiieiI' A>o iiiiSi III al plane Sdii
possibly be adopted by the army air
forces; too much depends on the
plane. II you hear anything differ
ent, challenge the person who makes
the statement.
3. Avoid asking Jack to describe
any Tying teats' he has per-
formed. Spectacular feats have no
place IN routine training.
4. If family problems arise at
home, keep your sons. mind clear
of them. He is absorbed in the big
gest job of his life. Anything that
tends to interfere with concentration
on his task now will vitality affect
his welfare in the near future.
s Your son in the army air forces
;s one of tho nivotal fio,,res of tbis
war. In him is concentrated resnon-
sibilitv not onlv for his own safety
and the safety of his crew but also