Viewing page 10 of 15

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

PHOTOCOPIED October 1, 2002; NASM PRESERVATION COPY

AFRO
MAGAZINE SECTION
Commander
51st Fighter Interceptor Wing In Korea

[[image - Colonel Davis and his staff of 14 around a conference table. Left to right: Adjutant, Commanding officer, headquarters squadron wing, installation engineer, Comptroller, Director of materiel, Director of Operations, Director of Personnel, Col. Davis, wing commander; Deputy wing commander, Fighter group commander, Base group commander, Medical group commander, Chaplain, and Legal officer.]]

[[image - Eighteen years from West Point cadet to Wing Commander for Col. B. O. Davis, Jr. He's now in charge of more than eight-thousand men.]]

EIGHTEEN YEARS have elapsed since Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr. graduated from the United States Military Academy as a second lieutenant in the Army.
Today the tall, husky jet pilot, at 41, is commander of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing in Korea.
The story of the young commander's advancement is briefly summed up in a sign over his desk: "The Struggle To Excel Produces Progress." That thought has been the guide in his military career and today it is the spirit that guides the unit he commands.
The sign is not merely an office decoration, but expressed a firm belief based on his experiences while commanding and flying with the 332nd Fighter Group over Italy, Sicily and North Africa in World War II, and later when he served as chief of the Air Force's fighter branch, with offices in the Pentagon.
And when the man who wrote those words and says thing like "No Air Force in the world can match the efficiency, combat readiness, the caliber of pilots and modern aircraft of our United States fighter wings," you can believe he means just that.
Famous Father
Son of Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis Sr., (USA, Ret), Colonel Davis is an airman's airman for not only does he formulate much of the wing's policy on the ground, but also assumes the role of leader in the air.
The operations of a combat wing under armistice conditions differ very little from operations under actual combat and the job of wing commander is not an easy one.
To colonel Davis "efficiency and combat readiness" are not things available for emergencies but things that must be present in any combat unit at all times.
"We must be sure," Colonel Davis said, "that our aircraft are always in the best condition and that vital supplies are always available. At the same time our people must be kept in top shape."
For the top ranking officer, the problems of his command are a 24-hour a-day task.
Normal Day
His normal day starts at six a.m. After a warm shower and a hearty breakfast he goes directly to his office. Briefings and inspection tours take up the morning hours.
When there are no meetings scheduled for the afternoons he may be found on the flight ramp discussing operational procedures with his flying squadron commanders, or perhaps checking his own flying proficiency in the air.
A graduate of West Point, class of '36, the flying commander has 60 combat missions and 224 combat hours to his credit racked up flying propeller-driven aircraft during World War II,
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)

The Afro-American March 27, 1954