In June 1941 the US Army's air organisations were consolidated under a single command, the Army Air Forces or AAF.

Its expansion was rapid and massive, and its contribution to the war effort was substantial. Books abound describing the AAF's impressive combat record, but little has been published to record what the men inside the machines wore to stay alive and effective in the air and on the ground, or, as often as not, in the water.

Gordon L. Rottman's detailed treatment discusses the flying clothes, accessories and equipment worn and used by individual airmen fighting their often desperate battles in the sky.