Mississippi National Guard, 1939

Your well-dressed aerial gunner of the 1930s.

One of the squadron’s pilots is preparing for some aerial gunnery himself. He will not hit a thing, but will have fun trying.

The squadron was new when these photos were taken in 1939, but the aircraft were hand-me-down O-38s. Here, they certainly show their age. This plane, 34-12, was wrecked in 1941.

Time to grease some lifters.

A more modern aircraft assigned to Key Field was this A-17.

The Mississippi National Guard was just starting out in the aviation world when these photos were taken back in ’39. The newly-minted 153rd Observation Squadron took to the skies with a gaggle of decidedly well-worn O-38s, but they were no doubt happy to have something to fly.