soc.history.war.world-war-ii

in article kYstj.57748$Pv2.45233@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net, Branek at
barronbranek@nospamsbcglobal.net wrote on 2/18/08 1:16 PM:

> ...why were there a lack of replacements? Was there something innately wrong
> w/the IJN pilot training program?

Not so much wrong perhaps, but set up to fight a very short, intense
war...which isn't the war they got.

The Japanese system was set up to weed out all but a tiny minority of
super-pilots, the men who were in top physical condition, were the most
talented flyers, and the most fiercely disciplined. It was all consistent
with Japan's Bushido warrior cult.

In contrast, the Allied system was set up to turn out large numbers of
pilots who were "good enough" and do so fairly quickly. So the Allies were
able to replace losses and even continue to expand their air forces with
pilots every bit as good, and sometimes even better than they began with due
to lessons learned in combat and taught to trainees by veteran pilots.

The Japanese tended to keep their best pilots in the front lines until they
were killed, and their experience filtered back to the pilot training
programs only intermittently. After the middle of the war, the need for
replacements became so acute that the training program became rushed. Fuel
shortages also meant a curtailment of flight hours before pilots were sent
into combat.

Now Geoffrey will come along to explain all the things I omitted or got
wrong. :-)

Michael