The Technical Training Command

"The Technical Training Command" is a 1943 big band and jazz song performed and co-written by Glenn Miller. The instrumental version was a theme for I Sustain the Wings, the radio program broadcast on CBS and NBC from 1943 to 1945.

## Background

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"The Technical Training Command" was a theme song written by Captain Glenn Miller, John Chummy MacGregor, and Private Sol Meyer for the Army Air Forces Training Command or AAFTC Orchestra and used at the close of early I Sustain the Wings radio programs in 1943.[1] The theme was discontinued after six weeks. The recordings of each performance were recorded. The song also contained lyrics. The opening line is: "Who keeps the planes on high/ Blazing across the sky/ Who checks 'em when they land/ The Technical Training Command." The royalty was split three ways: 1/3 for each composer. Glenn Miller donated all of his royalty receipts to the Air Forces Aid and to the Red Cross. The sheet music for the song was contained in the 1943 songbook Glenn Miller's Dance Folio published by the Mutual Music Society in New York.

"I Sustain the Wings" was a radio program that was broadcast weekly on Saturday on NBC from September 18, 1943 to June 10, 1944 by the Army Air Force Band under the direction of Captain Glenn Miller.[2] The radio show was initially on CBS from June to September, 1943. Glenn Miller was the host and conductor on the show, which also featured Ray McKinley, Jerry Gray, Johnny Desmond, and the Crew Chiefs, until June 10, 1944 when Harry Bluestone became the conductor. The Latin Sustineo Alas, "I Sustain the Wings", or "Keep 'Em Flying", was the motto of the U.S. Army Air Forces Technical Training Command. The I Sustain the Wings radio series continued until November 17, 1945.[3]

The insignia of the USAAF Technical Training Command during World War II included a badge that featured the motto in Latin "Sustineo Alas", or "I Sustain the Wings". The badge was in use from July, 1942 until 1946. The badge was worn on the uniform tunic lapel or on the soft cap.[4]

## References

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1. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries.
2. ^ Simon 344
3. ^ A Portrait of Glenn Miller. University of Colorado. Boulder. Archived 2011-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ I Sustain the Wings, Sustineo Alas in Latin, Keep 'Em Flying, USAAF Technical Training Command World War II Serviceman’s Badge (1942-1946).

### Sources

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* Simon, George Thomas. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. NY: Crowell, 1974.
* Simon, George Thomas (1971). Simon Says. New York: Galahad. ISBN 0-88365-001-0.
* Flower, John. Moonlight Serenade: A Bio-discography of the Glenn Miller Civilian Band. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1972.

## External links

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* I Sustain the Wings 1943 NBC radio program. archive.org.

* v
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Glenn Miller and His Orchestra

* Discography
* Timeline of members, 1938–1942

Number one hits|

| 1939|

* "Stairway to the Stars"
* "Over the Rainbow"
* "In the Mood"

|

1940|

* "Tuxedo Junction"
* "The Woodpecker Song"

1941|

* "Song of the Volga Boatmen"
* "Chattanooga Choo Choo"
* "Elmer's Tune"

1942|

* "A String of Pearls"
* "Moonlight Cocktail"
* "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo"

1943|

* "That Old Black Magic"

Other notable songs|

* "American Patrol"
* "Anvil Chorus"
* "At Last"
* "Blueberry Hill"
* "Caribbean Clipper"
* "Crosstown"
* "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)"
* "Here We Go Again"
* "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem"
* "I Know Why (And So Do You)"
* "It Must Be Jelly ('Cause Jam Don't Shake like That)"
* "Jukebox Saturday Night"
* "Little Brown Jug"
* "Moonlight Becomes You"
* "Moonlight Serenade"
* "The Nearness of You"
* "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"
* "Pennsylvania 6-5000"
* "Perfidia"
* "St. Louis Blues"
* "Serenade in Blue"
* "Skylark"
* "Sunrise Serenade"
* "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover"

Albums|

* Chicago Jazz Classics (1943)
* Up Swing (1944)
* Smoke Rings (1944)
* Glenn Miller (1945)
* Glenn Miller Masterpieces, Volume II (1947)
* Glenn Miller Plays Selections From the Film "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954)
* The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
* The Glenn Miller Carnegie Hall Concert (1958)
* Pure Gold (1975)
* In the Digital Mood (1983)

Members|

| Vocalists|

* Marion Hutton
* Ray Eberle
* Tex Beneke
* Jack Lathrop
* Ernie Caceres
* Kay Starr
* Dorothy Claire
* Paula Kelly
* The Modernaires
* Skip Nelson

|

Musicians|

* Al Klink
* Al Mastren
* Paul Tanner
* Toby Tyler
* Tommy Mack
* Frank D’Annolfo
* Howard Gibeling
* Jimmy Priddy
* Wilbur Schwartz
* Stanley Aronson
* Hal McIntyre
* Tex Beneke
* Ernie Caceres
* Jimmy Abato
* Gabe Galinas
* Hal Tennyson
* Benny Feman
* Babe Russin
* Skip Martin
* Johnny Austin
* Lou Mucci
* Bob Price
* Charlie Hill
* Legh Knowles
* Mickey McMickle
* Clyde Hurley
* Johnny Best
* Zeke Zarchy
* Charles Frankhauser
* Billy May
* Ray Anthony
* Alec Fila
* Bill Graham
* Steve Lipkins
* Allan Reuss
* Arthur Ens
* Dick Fisher
* Jack Lathrop
* Bobby Hackett
* Bill Conway
* Chummy MacGregor
* Bob Spangler
* Cody Sandifer
* Frankie Carlson
* Maurice Purtill
* Rollie Bundock
* Tony Carlson
* Trigger Alpert
* Doc Goldberg

Arrangers|

* Jerry Gray
* Bill Finegan
* Glenn Miller
* Billy May

Composers|

* Glenn Miller
* Harry Warren
* Mack Gordon

Army Air Force
band alumni|

* The Crew Chiefs
* Addison Collins Jr.
* Johnny Desmond
* Peanuts Hucko
* Jack Lathrop
* Norman Leyden
* Ray McKinley
* Artie Malvin
* Ralph Patt
* Mel Powell
* George Siravo
* Charlie Spivak

Media|

| Films|

* The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935)
* Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
* Orchestra Wives (1942)
* Upbeat in Music (1943)
* The Glenn Miller Story (1954)

|

Publications|

* 125 Jazz Breaks for Trombone (1927)
* Glenn Miller's Method for Orchestral Arranging (1943)

Related|

* List of songs written by Glenn Miller
* Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
* The Glenn Miller Story (Decca) (1954)
* Glenn Miller Orchestra (1956–present)
* Glenn Miller Time

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