7th AAF 4 pocket Corporal 3 years in the pacific!

[Gear Fanatic]

hey all, recently acquired this from another member on the forum and had some questions about the uniform. I myself am a complete novice when it comes to dress uniforms and what all the patches mean, like for example the dash patch on the left cuff? I have no clue what that is and it's suprisingly hard to find that stuff on the internet. also, what might his occupation have been if he wasn't a pilot? mechanic? EAB? could anyone answer my stupid questions? Thanks!

 

Gear Fan

[Gear Fanatic]

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[Gear Fanatic]

[atb]

Each of those bars indicates six months overseas service. He is wearing Corp of Engineers collar insignia, so he very likely might have been with an Aviation Engineer unit (the Army's airfield builders).

[P-59A]

Below the hash marks is his Federal Service stripe. If I remember correctly, it denotes 3 years faithful service...so this guy had something more than 3 years. Look inside the liner pocket for the date of manufacture. I think sometime around 1942.

[Gear Fanatic]

Sweet thanks? What about the device on his good conduct bar? And if he was in for 3 years why did he only reach the rank of corporal? Especially during war time, wasn’t rank promotion much quicker? Also, with the 7th AAF, any idea where he might have been stationed/served.

[P-59A]

44 minutes ago, Gear Fanatic said:

Sweet thanks? What about the device on his good conduct bar? And if he was in for 3 years why did he only reach the rank of corporal? Especially during war time, wasn’t rank promotion much quicker? Also, with the 7th AAF, any idea where he might have been stationed/served.

The resolution of your photo isn't good enough for me to see the ribbons clearly, but I assume you are asking about this...https://www.medalsofamerica.com/blog/army-conduct-knots/   As for the 7th USAAF, this is a short history....https://www.7thaf.org/7th-air-force-history.cfm.  As an enlisted man serving in the engineer corps assigned to the USSAF in the Pacific his MOS was not likely one with a high turnover rate or his education may have prevented higher rank. This is not uncommon in both possibilities. 

    Again, his federal service denotes NO LESS than three years. his hash marks denote 2.5 years overseas. He has no American Defense Service ribbon...my guess is he enlisted after the attack at Peal Habor and spent his time cleaning up and rebuilding Pearl.

[Allan H.]

8 hours ago, Gear Fanatic said:

Sweet thanks? What about the device on his good conduct bar? And if he was in for 3 years why did he only reach the rank of corporal? Especially during war time, wasn’t rank promotion much quicker? Also, with the 7th AAF, any idea where he might have been stationed/served.

I've answered this question many times, but will answer it again for a new group of collectors. You cannot use the rank structure and promotion systems that are in effect today and use them as a guide for ranks in World War II. Things didn't work that way in WWII like they do today. For starters, nobody got an automatic promotion due to time in service or time in grade. Rank was made based on open positions within the unit. The majority of positions were for privates. There were only a few PFC slots and fewer corporal, sergeant and staff sergeant slots. The Company First Sergeant was selected by the Company Commander. The CO would also choose the senior NCOs in his company, sometimes with, but often times without input from his first sergeant. If a sergeant was transferred out of one unit to another, his rank came off his sleeve and he would be assigned as a private to the new organization. It would be up to the CO to decide if he wanted to promote the former NCO back to that level of status. 

 

You also have to remember that in 19411, the average level of education was FOURTH GRADE. You had huge numbers of soldiers entering service with little to no formal education. In was rather common to have large numbers of soldiers who could not read or who could barely read. Many couldn't do simple math either. These guys typically did not get promoted at all since they didn't possess the skills necessary to read orders, manuals, and other written material.  It was perfectly fine and accepted that most enlisted soldiers would not gain rank while in the service, even for those serving for an entire career.

 

The 7th AF was based out of Hawaii.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Allan

[Gear Fanatic]

Thank you both for your comments, That makes a lot more sense. And thoughts on where he was stationed is probably Pearl Harbor? Makes sense, but was the 7th AAF shipped out to the pacific in 1943? So would he had just stayed there  and just been still apart of the 7th AAF or would he have followed them through the pacific and possibly helped build runways in an EAB role instead of just at Pearl Harbor. Not trying to argue if that’s how it sounds. I really am genuinely new so I don’t know the possibilities and from other threads I’ve read there’s been some whacky things with uniforms. Thanks all, this has been very helpful!

[Bluehawk]

> Here's a thumbnail sketch of the 7th AAF at that time:

 

Seventh Air Force History

by Theodore J. Turner

"Seventh Air Force is the U.S. Air Force's oldest numbered air force. The Army Air Corps first activated 7 AF on 1 November 1940, as the Hawaiian Air Force, to control the growing number of air units arriving in the Territory of Hawaii that year. The serenity of this idyllic home station which garnered the unit the glib designation "Pineapple Air Force" was shattered on 7 December 1941 when members of the Hawaiian Air Force became America's first Airmen to come under hostile enemy fire--and respond in kind--in the infamous surprise air attack by Japan.

The saga of the Seventh's World War II aerial exploits across the Central Pacific has the "rags-to-riches" qualities of a Horatio Alger story. First, there was the almost complete decimation of the Hawaiian Air Force barely a year after its activation; then its gradual build-up and vast oceanic search missions to keep the enemy at bay, emerging during this period as the Seventh Air Force. Later, the Seventh's long-range heavy bomber attacks softened up strategic islands for amphibious invasions, with greater weight brought against the enemy perimeter defense by the advance of fighter and medium bombers. Finally, after constant consolidation of gains, 7 AF smashed at Japan directly from both Iwo Jima, as escort to the long-range strategic B-29s, and from Okinawa with the Far East Air Forces in the rocky Ryukus, right up to the surrender of Japan..."

 

Source:

https://www.7af.pacaf.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/408382/seventh-air-force-history/

 

Stations.

Ft Shafter, TH, 1 Nov 1940; Hickam Field, TH, c. 12 Jul 1941; Saipan, 13 Dec 1944; Okinawa, 14 Jul 1945; Hickam Field, TH, 1 Jan 1941-Jun 1949. Hickam AFB, TH, 5 Jan 1955; Wheeler AFB, TH, 24 Mar 1955-.

[Gear Fanatic]

Thanks! That was pretty helpful, had no idea where they were really stationed or what they did, all I ever here about the pacific is related to the 13th AAF and the 5th AAF