William Czygan Jr.

DOB: 29 April 1925

Enlistment: 10 December 1942 - 14 April 1944

Service No. 16160659

Pre Pre Flight Training (Basic Military Training): 10 weeks.

Duty Station: Unknown

Pre Flight Training (Aviation Cadet Ground School): 8 weeks

Duty Station: Unknown

Primary Flight Training:

MOS: Aviation Cadet

Unit: 64th Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment (AAFFTD)

Airfield: Contract Primary Flying School (Southern Aviation School), Woodward Field, Camden, SC

Aircraft: Stearman PT-17 Kaydet

Basic Flight Training:

Unit: 72nd AAFFTD

Airfield: Contract Pilot School (Basic), Georgia Aero Tech, Bush Field (or Daniel Field?), Augusta, GA.

Aircraft: BT-13A and BT-15 Valiant

Advanced Flight Training: 14 February 1944 - 15 April 1944

Unit: Squadron 1, Aviation Cadet Section, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, 17th Single Engine Flying Training Group (SEFTG)

Airfield: Army Air Forces Pilot School (Advanced-Single Engine), Marianna Army Airfield, FL.

Cadet Class: 44-D

Aircraft: AT-6 Texan and possibly P-40 Warhawk

Commanding Officers:

Col. John W. Persons - C.O. of 17th SEFTG until March 1944

Col. Theodore J. Koenig - C.O. of 17th SEFTG March 1944 - 30 April 1944

Capt. Frederick P. Collister - HQ & HQ SQ Commanding Officer

Capt. John W. Bates - Commandant of Cadets

Notes: Class 44-D’s Advanced-SE course ended 23 May 1944. The 17th SEFTG was inactivated 30 April 1944. There were 304 cadets originally in the class, with 6 added, who were held back from Class 44-C for a total of 310 cadets. 257 graduated, with 16 being held back to class 44-E. Of those, 228 cadets were appointed 2nd Lieutenants, while 29 cadets with lower grades were made enlisted Flight Officers. Additionally, 37 Students were eliminated, mostly for “flying deficiency”, with one being killed in an accident.

Commission: 2nd Lieutenant 15 April 1944 - 25 April 1945

Service No. 0-830179

First Assignment (Post Graduation):

Unit: Unknown--attended Basic Instructors and Instrument Instructors Course, both 4 weeks in duration.

Duty Station: Central Instructors School, Randolph AAF, TX (basic flight instructors course); Central Instructors School (Instrument Pilot), Bryan AAF, TX?

Second Assignment:

MOS: Instructor Single Engine, Basic Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor.

"Instructed cadets in flying single engine aircraft. Both in contact and instrument flying. Rated personnel and made recommendations as to future assignments. Also qualified as a single engine fighter pilot." (From Army Separation Qualification Record)

Unit: Section B, 2110 Army Air Forces Base Unit

Airfield: Army Air Forces Pilot School (Basic) Bainbridge Army Airfield, Bainbridge,GA

Dates: June 1944 to December 1944. Bainbridge closed 24 December 1944, with remaining aviation cadets being reassigned to Shaw AAF and Cochran AAF to complete their basic flight training.

Aircraft: BT-13, BT-15 (and possibly checked out in the P-39 or P-40)

Last Assignment:

MOS: Co-Pilot, Four Engine (1054) & Student Officer (2700)

Unit: Air Force Training Command, 2132nd Army Air Forces Base Unit, Squadron H

Airfield: Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command Pilot School, Specialized, Very Heavy Bombardment, (B-29 Transition School), Maxwell AAF, AL.

Commanding Officers:

Col. R.E.L. Choate, Commanding Officer, 2132 AAFBU

Major Jesse H. Yarborough, Commanding Officer, Squadron H

Aircraft: B-29 Superfortress; 32 aircraft were on strength at the time 2nd Lt. Czygan was there.

Dates: February 1945 to 19 April 1945. Course was 5 weeks long.

Notes: The 2132nd AAFBU weekly summaries for March of 1945 stated that during the week of March 6th a B-29 had a hard landing and near-accident when it hit nose wheel first while trying to land in a crosswind. It safely landed. This more or less corresponds to the story that William Czygan once told—regarding a hard landing incident during a downdraft. According to Czygan, he had cracked the plane, but no one was hurt.

According to the 2132nd AAFBU weekly summaries for the January-April 1945 period, the aircrews who attended this course were slated to become B-29 instructors.

Discharged: 25 April 1945

Decorations:

WWII Victory Medal; WWII Service Lapel Button (The Ruptured Duck); Good Conduct Medal

Note: This service chronology was reconstructed from a very limited number of primary and secondary sources, as most of Lt. Czygan's service records were lost in the 1973 fire at NPRC St. Louis. These sources include documents from the National Archives and Records Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency.

William Czygan (1925)