General Henry H. Hap Arnold, Wartime Chief Of The Air Force, Ordered The Organization And Training Of Seven Air-Sea Rescue Squadrons In 1943. While New Air Force Pilots And Crews Were Learning To Fly The Fifty-Four PBY-5s And PBY-5as Transferred From The Navy To The Air Force (Air Force Designation OA-10 And OA-10a), Old Hands In The 8th Air Force Were Learning Air-Sea Rescue Procedures Directly From The British. The Records Of Some Of The Air Force's Emergency Rescue Squadrons Are No Longer Available, Making It Impossible To Compile A Complete Count Of The Lives Saved By All Squadrons In All Theaters. The Count Would At Least Run To Several Thousand. The 5th Air Force ERS Squadron Alone Accounted For More Than Sixteen Hundred Men.
