S207: Morale in a Heavy Bombardment Group
To study the morale of one heavy bombardment group before the men were sent overseas In order to do a follow-up study later which would correlate questionnaire responses on morale items to subsequent combat records of the fliers. In addition, to measure the effects of noncombatant overseas duty on morale by administering a questionnaire to ground personnel as well as fliers.
a. Neuropsychiatric items were included also in order to measure the effects of overseas duty and combat duty on the responses to these items.
b. The initial phase of the study was a comparative analysis between Ground Personnel, Service Personnel and the Base Unit in the B-29 group.
c. The later phase — the effectiveness of predicting combat performance of fliers from morale items in a questionnaire — was abandoned because VJ Day intervened and the men were not sent overseas.
Questionnaire
Date
Original Size
Location
Alternate Title
B-29 Officers and EM
Sample Description
This study has two main samples:
a. Flying Personnel – 2,155 fliers – both officers and enlisted men from one heavy bombardment group.
The Flying Personnel can be broken down into two sub-samples
Officer fliers
Enlisted fliers
b. Ground Personnel – 1,134 enlisted men from bomber squadrons. Base Unit and Service Groups.
The Ground Personnel sample can be broken down into three subsamples:
Bomber squadrons.
Base Unit
* The F form was administered to fliers; the G form to ground personnel.
Service Group
* Note
The Flying Personnel can be broken down into two sub-samples: Officer fliers and enlisted fliers
The Ground Personnel sample can be broken down into three subsamples: Bomber squadrons. Base Unit and Service Group. These can be separated by sorting on Col. 2 for l’s, 2’s and 3’s respectively.
Sample Method
The F form was administered to fliers; the G form to ground personnel.
Scales and Scores
a. Form 207 F (Fliers)
- Neuropsychiatric Inventory (15 items) (Qs 2a-2o in Part II) punched in Cols. 78-79
- Neuropsychiatric Inventory (8 items) punched in Cols. 75-76
- Job Satisfaction (Qs 18-19, 17) punched in Col. 73
b. Form 207 G (Ground Crews)
- Neuropsychiatric Inventory (15 items) (Qs 52a-52o) punched in Cols. 64-65.
- Neuropsychiatric Inventory (8 items) (Qs 52c, e, k, l, o, and 53a, b, c) punched in Cols. 62-63
- Job Satisfaction (Qs 14-15, 13) punched in Col. 61
Location Details
Pratt Army Airfield, KS
Field Personnel
Robert S. Wattles
Edward Suchman
Abram Jaffe
Study Analysts
Reports
B-155 Morale Among Ground Troops at a B-28 Training Base
B-156 Morale, Combat Expectations and Training Problems of a B-29 Group Ready for Deployment
B-163 Morale and Training Problems of a B-29 Wing Ready for Deployment