While he was stationed in England, Gable flew five combat missions from May 4–September 23, 1943, and during one of them, his boot was struck by an anti-aircraft shell, and he was nearly hit by other flak bursts.

Gable's film crew included MGM cameraman Andrew J.McIntyre; 1st Lt. Howard Voss, a sound engineer; Master Sgt.

The film was completed as an account of aerial combat over occupied Europe and as a testament to the Eighth Air Force aircrew and ground crew in England.

In 1942, following the death of his wife, he U.S. Army Air Forces Henry H. "Hap" Arnold offered Gable a "special assignment" in aerial gunnery.

[4] After Combat America, intended to recruit aerial gunners, Gable went on to work on Wings Up (1943), recreating much of the training he had gone through as an officer.

Footage at the end of the film includes a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in an uncontrolled dive with a portion of the horizontal stabilizer missing and a shoot-down of Luftwaffe fighter aircraft.

[6] Combat America was typical of the training and recruitment films of the period produced under the auspices of the Office of War Information.