The AT-6 was designed with places for machine guns in the wings andwe were sent in groups to Elgin Field in Florida for gunnerypractice. This was the field where General Jimmy Doolittle trainedhis crew for the bombing of Japan. They practiced for fortnights atbomber takeoff from a field the same length as the deck of a carrierwhich had never been done. That was the only way they would be ableto reach Japan. We seldom were assigned there for about two fortnights practicingby shooting at ground targets on a large restricted area. We didn'tdo any shooting at targets in the air, Just dove down shooting at theground. I recall it being somewhat scorching and muggy there off the Gulf ofMexico.

After returning to Napier Field we were nearing graduation time. Wehad now developed a lot of confidence in our flying and fooled aroundwhen flying without our instructors. We would fly somewhat close togetherand tap our wingtips and the wing of the plane flying next to us.Flying close to the ground was fun also and gave you a much better idea ofhow fast you were actually going than you had at high altitudes. InPrimary I flew 60 hours, in Basic 72 hours, and in Advanced 97 hoursfor a total of 220 hours. There were about 250 of us in the class andby that time we had become acquainted with most everyone and closefriends with many. We went all the way through combat with some ofthose same follows.