Aerial Gunnery: Position Firing 1944 USAAF Training Film TF-3366; World War II; Animated Cartoon

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'This animated comic film presents side gunner Trigger Joe (voiced by Mel Blanc) as he was trained to calculate approach arcs, speed, and the distance of enemy aircraft. Produced by the First Motion Picture Unit during World War II.'

Originally a public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gunner

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

An air gunner also known as aerial gunner is a member of an air force aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedicated air gunner, but older (World War II and earlier) generation bombers used to carry up to eight air gunners.

Most modern air gunners are helicopter door gunners, who typically have other primary roles such as crew chief or observer in addition to their air gunner role. Others fly as members of aircrews on gunships where their duties can include loading ammunition into guns and can manually fire the guns if computer systems fail...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Motion_Picture_Unit

The First Motion Picture Unit (FMPU), later 18th AAF Base Unit, was the primary film production unit of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II, and was the first military unit made up entirely of professionals from the film industry. It produced more than 400 propaganda and training films, which were notable for being informative as well as entertaining. Films for which the unit is known include Resisting Enemy Interrogation, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress and The Last Bomb—all of which were released in theatres. Veteran actors such as Clark Gable, William Holden, Clayton Moore, Ronald Reagan, and DeForest Kelley, and directors such as John Sturges served with the FMPU. The unit also produced training films and trained combat cameramen. FMPU personnel served with distinction during World War II...

Background

When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the Air Corps was a part of the Army, and motion picture production was the responsibility of the Army Signal Corps. USAF Commanding General "Hap" Arnold believed that the formation of an independent film entity would help lead to the air service gaining its independence. At a meeting in March 1942, General Arnold commissioned Warner Bros. head Jack L. Warner, producer Hal Wallis and scriptwriter Owen Crump to create the unit. Warner was made lieutenant colonel and Crump a captain but Wallis, who was then in production with Casablanca, did not accept the offer. Of immediate concern was a critical shortage of pilots and recruits. Arnold told Warner he needed 100,000 pilots, and contracted with Warner Bros. to produce and release a recruitment film, which would come to be known as Winning Your Wings.

Winning Your Wings was directed by John Huston and Owen Crump, and featured James Stewart as a dashing pilot. Stewart's virile, masculine portrayal changed the public perception of military aviators. The film, which was completed in only two weeks, was a great success and according to General Arnold was pivotal in recruiting 100,000 pilots. Warner Bros. would produce several films prior to the activation of the FMPU, most notably Men of the Sky, Beyond the Line of Duty and The Rear Gunner.

Formation

The success of Winning Your Wings created a demand for training and recruitment films which proved difficult for Warner Bros. to fulfill. Jack Warner began the process of developing the organizational structure for an independent motion picture unit. The dual mission of the unit was to produce training and morale films, and to train combat cameramen. The ranks were to be filled with film industry professionals, the first time in history such a unit would be raised.

On 1 July 1942, the FMPU became an active unit of the USAAF. Key personnel that formed the initial roster included Lt. Col. Warner as commanding officer, Capt. Crump, Capt. Knox Manning, 2nd Lt. Edwin Gilbert, 2nd Lt. Ronald Reagan and Cpl. Oren W. Haglund. At first the unit operated out of offices at Warner Bros. in Burbank, California, and then moved to Vitagraph Studios in Hollywood. Vitagraph, however, had not been maintained and proved to be inadequate for movie production on a scale required by the FMPU. By sheer happenstance Crump came upon the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City...