The following are excerpts from The History of Scott Field on file in the “ Air Force Research Center, Maxwell Field, and Alabama
After Pearl Harbor, the AAF launched a massive recruiting program to enlist every college student they get for their Aviation Cadet program. By October 1942, there were 50,000 in the reserve and another 20,000 already in the service that had qualified for the cadets waiting to begin flight training. At the beginning of 1943, there were 93,000 men waiting to commence flight training.
But, the flight schools were full and Arnold had to have a place to put them. As a result, Arnold set up the College Training Detachments Beginning at the end of 1943, the AAF determined that they had all the pilots that they needed, had to get rid of some of the cadets. , Large numbers of them ended up in the Infantry.
When the Army Air Force recruited the college students in 1942 as Aviation Cadets from the colleges and universities across the land, they told the students that they were needed as officers in the rapidly expanding Army Air Force and would become pilots, navigators, or bombardiers. But, when the AAF discovered at the end of 1943 that there surplus of pilots, they ignored all of the promises made to the college students and began transferring them out.
When cadets arrived at Scott Field they ran into a wall of resentment from officers who resented higher educated college men and set out to put them in their places. Most of the officers were former infantry officers; well schooled in chicken-s the cadets were treated as low-grade scum.
Effort made to break the ex-cadets into submission. One was an Optometry and wanted to get in medical field, he was turned down. Quotas out-weighed abilities. One Top Sgt. recommended ex-cadets is given general duty immediately that was disagreeable and fatigue creating work. One ex-cadet had just been married and wanted to see her when he was off duty. He argued with the officer and he was shipped to China. One ex-cadet had only week to go to graduate
General Weaver complained about the quality of trainees he was receiving from the draft. They shifted ex-cadets to Weaver. This way they got ride of excess pilots and got smarter men for Weaver. Thomas Albrecht was ready to graduate as a pilot. The air force sent photo and announcements to his hometown, but he was transferred to infantry.