Much of this information is on microfilm, which can be ordered from them at a cost of $30 per reel.
Before ordering the microfilm, you need to find out which reels you
need.
Send them an E-mail at AFHRANEWS@maxwell.af.mil
Tell them what units, ie bomb group, squadron, combat bomb wing, etc you are looking for information about.
They will return a message in a day or two, telling you what reel numbers have the information you are looking for. They will tell you to mail your request to:
HQ AFHRA/RSA (microfilm order)
600 Chennault Circle
Maxwell AFB AL 36112-6424
After ordering the microfilm, it will generally take about a month before you receive your order.
The microfilm is 16mm reels, not microfiche, so you will need the
appropriate type of viewer to view the microfilm.
Most larger libraries have such viewers, which will also make copies,
however the copies are usually expensive, such as about $0.25 per page.
I have put together a home made viewer/copier from
a small "C" mount video camera, on which I mounted the lense from my regular
35mm camera, with extension rings and a slide copier. I mounted this
on a piece of metal, and also mounted bolts to accept the microfilm reel
and takeup reels. I feed the output of the video camera to the WinTV
card on my computer, which allows me to copy any page I'm interested in.
This setup does not provide quite the resolution possible with the large
copiers found in libraries, but gives acceptable results, and is handy.
One thing about using library viewers.... I found that the microfilm
on the reels sent to me, were put on backwards, so that I had to advance
and re-wind the film by hand, rather than using the forward/reverse motor
controls. It would probably save time to wind the film of in the
other direction, if you find this to be the case. (This will
probably have to be done by hand, by winding it onto the takeup reel all
the way, then you should be able to re-wind it automatically in the other
direction).
Also, many of the library viewers are multi-purpose
viewers, ie can be used for fiche and 16mm reels. These viewers may
have been zoomed out for looking at larger frames. Be sure to zoom
in to the maximum possible while still allowing you to see the whole page.
Otherwise, the resolution on the often poor quality microfilm may not be
good enough to read. Even when zoomed in, expect some of the microfilm
to be in un-readable condition, because it is very old.
WHAT IS ON THE MICROFILM????
I ordered microfilm pertaining to the BOMB GROUP
and also microfilm specific to a BOMB SQUADRON. Apparently what is
on the microfilm differs greatly from organization to organization, however
the microfilm I ordered had the following:
Squadron microfilm had:
aircraft loading documents for each mission
(aircraft #s and crew members assigned)
short mission narratives for each mission
(tell how many ships sent to what target, and results, etc)
day by day administrative actions
(like transfers, promotions, medals, etc)
misc photos, documents, letters, some mission
maps, attack reports when fighters encountered, etc)
Group microfilm had:
aircraft inventories (ie list of aircraft, with
callsign, name, #missions, etc for each squadron)
group level mission summaries
day by day group level administrative actions (transfers,
promotions,courts martials, OoD,etc)
Both group and squadron microfilm had a unit history section.
Therefore, to find out what missions and aircraft were flown by an
airman, the squadron microfilm has the most information, however there
is useful supplemental information on the group microfilm as well, so it
is worth getting both.