However, during the period from 1919 to the start of World War II, the heavy bomber was created, capable of ranging far from its home base and carrying a lethal load of high explosives.
With the help of the American Legion, volunteers were organized in May 1941 into the Aircraft Warning Service, the civilian arm of the Army's Ground Observer Corps.
Aircraft recognition became a significant hobby providing many with thousands of hours of entertainment and spawning many books and publications, including flashcards, on the subject.
Today, often mistaken for poor quality toys, these models can be worth hundreds of dollars and need to be preserved as part of AWS history.
As the war escalated, thousands of observation posts were established on the east coast from the top of Maine to the tip of Florida, and roughly inland as far as the western slopes of the Appalachian Mountains.
The fact that the plane was one that had been captured in Europe and was being flown back to the United States for examination detracted not one bit from the effectiveness of the recognition instruction.
[1] At the peak of operation, the Aircraft Warning Service of the First Fighter Command numbered some 750,000 individuals, of whom about 12,000 were in information and filter centers.
Practice interceptions, run almost daily provided significant experience to ground officers and pilots working under simulated combat conditions.
Because of its huge scope of operations on the East Coast it was able to save the lives of many young pilots by bringing speedy aid to those whose planes had crashed.
The bulk of the center personnel were women drawn from the ranks of housewives, office workers, actresses, entertainers, and executives.
Center personnel represented the information from the flash messages designations on markers placed on large regional plotting maps in windowless rooms.
We must win this war in Europe and Asia, however, and the calculated risk we are assuming in reducing our air defense measures is justified by the offensive power we will thereby release."
Your country, the Army Air Force, and your fellow Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the members of the Aircraft Warning Service.