Gunnery Training Building
Constructed adjacent to the Class ‘C’ Overhaul Building was the Gunnery Training Building which was used to train a standard fifty-man unit. Here, pilots were instructed in free and fixed gunnery, link trainers, communication, navigation, and target recognition. Sitting in standard airplane turrets, a student would “fire” at a motion picture of enemy planes which maneuvered around a cylindrical screen in exactly the same manner that an attacking “bogey” would. The entire free and fixed gunnery syllabus originating at Arlington was so successful that it was adopted by the Naval Air Bases Command for use at other naval bases.
The training was directed by Lieutenant Conrad B. Bentzen of Bellingham. Also, the squadron pilots increased their camera gunnery operations and later requested facilities for developing gun camera film. Their request was granted and the Army dispensary was converted into a fairly complete photo laboratory.
Squadrons
Known for its high-quality training program, the Navy trained 22 torpedo bomber and fighting squadrons. The squadrons averaged 16 fighters utilizing the Wildcat and Hellcat fighters and 12 torpedo bombers utilizing the Grumman Avenuengers. Nearly 3,000 pilots and air crewmen received final training here at Arlington before being sent into combat.