<br />
EARNING THEIR WINGS • 2026 • VOLUME 53 • NUMBER 2<br />
EARNING THEIR WINGS<br />
HOW AMERICA BUILT AN AIR FORCE<br />
CONTENT<br />
EARNING THEIR WINGS • 2026 • VOLUME 53 • NUMBER 2<br />
4 6 12<br />
Flightlead America Infographic<br />
When Precision Trains for War U.S. Army Air Forces<br />
Meets Purpose Training in WWII<br />
14 18 20<br />
Training Inside the Training Under<br />
Squadron One Blue Box Pressure<br />
Building Precision How the Link Trainer<br />
Through Practice Taught a Generation<br />
to Fly Blind<br />
Military Posters in Public Domain. Sourced from the National Archives IDs (left to right):<br />
NAID:515097, NAID:514748, NAID:51<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 1" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=1"> EARNING THEIR WINGS • 2026 • VOLUME 53 • NUMBER 2</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 2" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=2"> CONTENT EARNING THEIR WINGS • 2026 • VOLUME 53 • </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 3" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=3"> ABOUT THE COVER </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 4" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=4"> 4 FLIGHTLEAD When Precision Meets Purpose </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 5" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=5"> UPCOMING COLONEL MEMBER EVENTS IN 2026 Connect w</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 6" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=6"> 6 America I </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 7" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=7"> A Small Army in a Dangerous World “The United Sta</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 8" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=8"> 8 A Training Film Unit captures footage at Lawso</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 9" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=9"> Building Up the Air Force “The expansion of Ameri</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 10" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=10"> 10 Sharpening up for enemy aircraft, a Coast Gua</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 11" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=11"> Women train for wartime industry at a Daytona Bea</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 12" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=12"> The Largest Pilot Trai U.S. Army Air Forces Tr </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 13" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=13"> ing System in History aining in World War II ~1</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 14" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=14"> TRAINING SQUADRON ONE Building Precision Through </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 15" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=15"> by each flight group. Over two days, 31 sorties w</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 16" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=16"> 16 Clinics like this are where CAF pilots </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 17" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=17"> WHAT IS A FAST CARD? A FAST card is a certificat</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 18" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=18"> Inside the BLUE BOX How the Link Trainer Taug</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 19" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=19"> Before this innovation, instrument flying was tau</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 20" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=20"> At Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama, an officer r</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 21" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=21"> Second Lt. Celestino S. Monclova stands with his </a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 22" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=22"> SHOP TODAY Official CAF Merchandise Every</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 23" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=23"> This isn’t just Membership, It’s Stewardshi</a>
<a title="Digital Dispatch, 2026, Issue 2 page 24" href="http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f66ca69?page=24"> BECOME THE REASON HISTORY STILL FLIES You Can Mak</a>