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Part฀II 106 C H A P T E R 4 “Why฀Send฀Over฀These฀ Ninety-Day฀Wonders?” O n฀the฀morning฀of฀Tuesday,฀June฀24,฀1941,฀Maj.฀Kirtley฀Gregg฀was฀ surprised฀to฀learn฀that฀the฀USAT฀President฀Pierce฀was฀at฀Pier฀7฀in฀ Manila฀Bay฀with฀a฀load฀of฀pilots฀being฀assigned฀to฀the฀Philippine฀ Department฀Air฀Force.฀He฀was฀expecting฀the฀pilots’฀arrival฀about฀ June฀27฀or฀28,฀but฀no฀one฀in฀the฀Philippine฀Department฀had฀been฀ informed฀of฀the฀exact฀date.฀The฀Pierce฀had฀maintained฀radio฀silence฀during฀ its฀entire฀voyage฀from฀San฀Francisco฀due฀to฀security฀precautions฀imposed฀ on฀it฀by฀the฀War฀Department.฀Gregg฀hurriedly฀made฀his฀way฀to฀the฀pier฀ to฀greet฀the฀newcomers.฀He฀was฀being฀assigned฀63฀of฀them฀for฀his฀three฀ pursuit฀squadrons,฀with฀the฀other฀33฀being฀allocated฀to฀the฀2d฀Observation฀ Squadron฀and฀the฀28th฀Bomb฀Squadron.฀Of฀the฀96฀pilots฀disembarking,฀68฀ had฀graduated฀from฀flying฀school฀the฀month฀before฀in฀Class฀41-C,฀and฀28฀ in฀Class฀41-D—just฀one฀week฀prior฀to฀departure฀for฀the฀Philippines. ฀฀฀฀ Despite฀the฀lack฀of฀preparation,฀the฀newies฀were฀taken฀immediately฀to฀ the฀Army฀and฀Navy฀Club฀for฀an฀impromptu฀welcoming฀party฀given฀by฀ the฀squadrons฀to฀which฀they฀were฀being฀assigned.฀Of฀the฀squadrons฀under฀ Gregg’s฀command,฀Billy฀Maverick’s฀3d฀Pursuit฀was฀given฀twenty-two฀of฀ the฀brand-new฀pilots,฀Buzz฀Wagner’s฀17th฀received฀twenty-one฀of฀them,฀ and฀Joe฀Moore’s฀20th฀Pursuit฀had฀twenty฀allocated฀to฀it.฀In฀one฀stroke,฀the฀ pilot฀strength฀of฀each฀of฀the฀group’s฀pursuit฀squadrons฀had฀been฀doubled.1 ฀฀฀฀ At฀the฀reception,฀Gregg฀explained฀to฀the฀new฀arrivals฀that฀all฀of฀them฀ were฀going฀to฀be฀transferred฀to฀Clark฀Field฀in฀four฀days฀because฀a฀major฀ construction฀program฀was฀to฀be฀started฀at฀Nichols฀and฀the฀squadrons฀sent฀ out.฀Due฀to฀Nichols’s฀boggy฀terrain฀and฀the฀submergence฀of฀its฀single฀ runway฀during฀the฀rainy฀season,฀pilots฀were฀often฀grounded฀and฀training฀ curtailed.฀To฀overcome฀this฀obstacle,฀Gregg,฀supported฀by฀Maverick฀and฀ Grover,฀had฀proposed฀closing฀the฀airfield฀for฀repairs฀upon฀the฀arrival฀of฀the฀ ch฀4 4/2/03,฀1:03฀PM 106 Chapter฀4 107 next฀batch฀of฀pilots฀and฀shifting฀to฀Clark฀Field฀for฀the฀necessary฀extended฀ training.฀Nichols’s฀oft-flooded฀landing฀strip฀would฀be฀drained฀and฀lengthened ;฀a฀concrete฀runway฀would฀be฀built;฀more฀hangars,฀maintenance,฀and฀ shop฀facilities฀constructed;฀additional฀storage฀areas฀for฀bombs,฀ammunition ,฀and฀gasoline฀created;฀and฀barracks฀and฀officers฀quarters฀erected.2 ฀฀฀฀ Gregg฀told฀his฀new฀charges฀that฀as฀soon฀as฀the฀party฀ended฀they฀would฀ board฀trucks฀for฀the฀fifty-five-mile฀journey฀north฀to฀Clark฀and฀adjoining฀ Fort฀Stotsenburg,฀where฀they฀would฀be฀accommodated.฀The฀oldies,฀with฀ the฀exception฀of฀those฀in฀the฀17th฀Pursuit,฀would฀join฀them฀on฀June฀28.฀The฀ 17th’s฀pilots฀were฀headed฀for฀the฀gunnery฀camp฀at฀Iba฀Field฀in฀Zambales.3 ฀฀฀฀ After฀the฀reception,฀Gregg฀went฀back฀to฀making฀final฀arrangements฀ for฀the฀move.฀He฀had฀been฀fighting฀for฀this฀plan฀for฀the฀past฀few฀months,฀ but฀with฀the฀PDAF฀commander฀and฀executive฀officer฀away฀in฀China฀since฀ mid-May,฀had฀not฀been฀able฀to฀get฀it฀approved฀in฀the฀face฀of฀the฀opposition ฀of฀Colonels฀Richards฀and฀Churchill.฀However,฀on฀June฀18—a฀week฀ after฀Clagett฀and฀George฀returned—Gregg฀dropped฀“a฀bug฀in฀the฀ear”฀of฀ five฀different฀persons฀that฀nothing฀had฀been฀done฀about฀his฀plan.฀His฀complaint ฀quickly฀made฀it฀to฀Colonel฀George’s฀attention฀and฀on฀the฀following฀ morning฀his฀strategy฀paid฀off.฀Colonel฀George฀called฀at฀8:30฀to฀inform฀ Gregg฀that฀the฀entire฀4th฀Composite฀Group฀would฀be฀shifting฀to฀Clark฀ by฀the฀twenty-seventh฀and฀would฀remain฀in฀the฀field฀until฀the฀sixty-three฀ pilots฀being฀assigned฀to฀Gregg฀completed฀their฀advanced฀training.฀He฀had฀ also฀been฀given฀the฀option฀of฀sending฀one฀of฀his฀Clark-bound฀squadrons฀ to฀Iba฀Field฀in฀Zambales,฀on฀Luzon’s฀west฀coast,฀for฀air-to-ground฀gunnery ฀practice฀if฀he฀so฀desired. ฀฀฀฀ Gregg฀was฀elated.฀The฀Nichols฀Field฀command฀had฀“not฀done฀one฀ damned฀thing฀towards฀functioning฀as฀a฀Base—but฀they฀are฀going฀to฀produce ฀now,฀or฀else!”฀he฀asserted฀in฀a฀letter฀to฀his฀wife.฀Gregg฀felt฀that฀he฀had฀ “almost฀earned฀my฀last฀16฀years’฀pay฀in฀the฀last฀48฀hours.” ฀฀฀฀Two฀days฀after฀the฀newies฀left฀for฀Clark,฀however,฀it฀was฀the฀elements’฀ turn฀to฀conspire฀to฀thwart฀his฀plan.฀“One฀of฀the...

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