75th Flying Training Wing | |
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![]() AT-6C-NT Texan trainers from Buckingham AAF flying in formation. AT-6s were used as target towing aircraft for flexible gunnery training. | |
Active | 1943–1946 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | United States Army Air Forces |
Role | Command of flying training units |
Engagements | World War II |
The 75th Flying Training Wing [a] was a flying training wing of the United States Army Air Forces. At the time, a wing controlled several multi-squadron groups. It was last assigned to the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, and was disbanded on 15 June 1946 at Buckingham Army Air Field, Florida.
The wing was a World War II command and control organization, initially part of Eastern Flying Training Command. The mission of the wing was to train aerial gunners. Fixed gunnery training for air cadet pilots was carried out at Eglin Field, while flexible gunnery training for enlisted gunners was carried out both at Tyndall Field in northern Florida and Buckingham Army Air Field in Southwest Florida. As the men graduated from flexible gunnery school, they were assigned to combat crews either forming in the United States or as replacements to overseas combat units. [1] The school at Buckingham was the central school for training instructors for flexible gunnery until June 1944, when it moved to Laredo Army Air Field. [2] Buckingham was also home to a psychological research detachment that studied psychological problems unique to aerial gunners and determined criteria for selection and training of gunners. [3] [4]
As training requirements changed during the war, schools were activated and inactivated or transferred to meet those requirements. [5]
The schools of the wing flew two types of aircraft, gunnery trainers and gunnery targets.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency