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To All Members -2- June 25, 1942 branches of the Armed Forces. This is a very good showing for the line pilots and a few more are continually being ordered and some are volunteering. In my membership letters of January 19 and April 7, I elaborated in considerable detail on the matter of securing a proper leave of absence from your company before leaving for active duty. If anyone who is now on active duty hasn't a proper leave of absence letter from his company or hasn't made application for such leave, it would be well if he would get this straightened out. We are protected in the contracts, it is true, but anyone leaving for active duty should make a request for a military leave under the proper section of the contract, include a copy of his active duty orders for the company file, and make sure he receives a reply from his operating people. There are going to be plenty of things to scrap about after the war without becoming involved in details of this kind. The time to get this straightened out is while the war is still on. After peace has been declared, the Army will no longer want you, and the air lines will be loaded and people will start to grab at straws where jobs are involved. Make sure you have a proper leave of absence from your company and that they have a copy of your Army, Navy, or Marine Corps active duty orders. All we can do is tell you; beyond this, the responsibility is yours. From time to time, I have been approached by the air line pilots who do not hold commissions but who feel they would like to go on active duty and in that way be more of value to the country than, they are flying on an air line or operating on some freight or military cargo routes to carry out a contract that their company has negotiated with the war department. There is a lot of talk going roundabout pilots not being permitted to leave their company to go on active duty, take out of commission, or what have you, without permission from a dozen or so different people including their employer. that the foregoing in formation is being put out is not questioned and that things are pretty well frozen is in the same category; nevertheless, if any pilot or copilot who is flying on an air line, especially the ones who have built up considerable time, wishes to go on active duty, our experience has been that it can be arranged. if you have a commission, it is easier. To pilots who do not hold commissions, it is quite possible that a limited number of air pilots may be commission, by the Air Corps training command for large-plane instruction work. The foregoing statement is predicated on the necessity of working through headquarters, however, and do not directly with Washinton. Of course, they say they don't wish to see a stampede from the air lines because that would not be in the best interest of national defense. Nevertheless, I believe there is a limited number of air line pilots whose services would, during the war, be far more valuable to Uncle Sam in uniform than they are on air lines. Frankly, I think there are at least thirty to fifty such people among our group. Summarizing, if any pilot who doesn't hold a commission is interested, he should contact Headquarters. As to what status you may commissioned in, at the same time, I wish to caution all concerned that all this is pretty much exploratory. Nowadays no one can be too sure about anything. (over)
