566 CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
[1095] TESTIMONY OF LT. COL KERMIT A. TYLER, AIR CORPS, ORLANDO, FLA., ARMY AIR FORCE BOARD
(The witness was sworn by the Recorder and advised of his rights under Article of War 24.)
1. General GRUNERT. Colonel, the Board is trying to get at the facts; that is, as to things leading up to what happened at Pearl Harbor. We asked you to come here because of your assignment to duty the day of the attack, with reference to the Air Warning Service, or the information center of the Interceptor Command. General Frank will lead in propounding the questions, and then the other members of the Board will fill in wherever they see fit. General Frank.
2. General FRANK. What was your assignment?
Colonel TYLER. My duty on that morning was "pursuit officer." That was the assignment that was written on the order assigning.
3. General FRANK. I know, but on what duty were you? What was your permanent assignment at that time?
Colonel TYLER. I was second ranking officer in the 78th Pursuit Squadron. It was then "pursuit", now "fighter".
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4. General FRANK. How long had you been in Honolulu?
Colonel TYLER. On that duty, sir?
5. General FRANK. No. When did you arrive in the Hawaiian Islands?
Colonel TYLER. On the 22nd of February 1941, sir.
6. General FRANK. You had been there about six months?
Colonel TYLER. More than that, sir; almost ten months.
7. General FRANK. They had a practice of sending officers down to the information center, to break them in in the various duties to which they would be assigned, when the information [1096] center became operative, is that correct?
Colonel TYLER. Sir, I believe that that was the intention, on the morning of the 7th, when I was assigned, there. I had been assigned there, one previous date, but there was only one other person there besides myself, and that was the telephone operator.
8. General FRANK. So you got little or no instruction on the previous date?
Colonel TYLER. That is right, sir. I had, however, been through the information center, once before. They took a tour of officers.
9. General FRANK. Were you familiar with the detailed operation of the information center?
Colonel TYLER. Well, I understood how the thing worked; yes, sir. I think I understood it quite well.
10. General FRANK. Had you had any instructions on the duties of a pursuit officer in the information center/
Colonel TYLER. I had no instruction before I went on this first tour of duty. At that time I reported for duty, and, there being only a telephone operator and myself, I called the operations officer, then Major Bergquist, now Colonel Bergquist, and asked him what my duties were, then, because, obviously, it seemed to me, I had no reason to be there, if there wasn't an operator there.
11. General GRUNERT. May I interrupt, here? Will vou explain what a "pursuit officer in an information center" is? I know what a control officer is, but just what is a "pursuit officer in an information center"?
Colonel TYLER. At that time, the pursuit officer's duty [1097] was to assist the controller in actually controlling the planes in the air. The pursuit officer is the one who would give the actual instruction of the fighter planes after they were ordered off. A controller's job, however, was to order the planes off.
12. General FRANK. To be a little more specific, when an enemy plane was sighted, instructions were issued from the information center to provide what-an interception ?
Colonel TYLER. The instruction that would come to me would be from the controller, to order a certain number of flights off, from such and such a squadron.
13. General FRANK. To accompish what?
Colonel TYLER. To take off and make interception.
14. General FRANK. And from the time that they left the ground until the interception was made, who was giving them instructions?
Colonel TYLER. That was the pursuit officer's duty, sir, except at such time as the controller might.
15. General GRUNERT. That is what I wanted in the record.
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General FRANK. So on this morning, you were assigned there for instructional purposes, to learn about being a pursuit officer?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
16. General FRANK. Who was there, this morning, to teach you anything about that?
Colonel TYLER. I was the senior-in fact, I was the only officer there, and all that I could learn would be what I would learn by observing. By that I mean, there were about five or six plotters placing the plots (arrows) on the board, and there [1098] was a--
17. General FRANK. Was it a very well organized activity for the purpose of giving you instruction?
Colonel TYLER. I would say that the previous tour that I had through the information center was clear enough in giving me a set-up of the thing, but actually, there being no officers there to identify plots, nor no senior controller there, then, I wouldn't say that I was very well instructed that morning.
18. General FRANU. All right. Was the aircraft warning service, including the information center, operating that morning?
TYLER. Yes, sir; it was.
19. General FRANK. Were there any plots made on the board prior to 7 o'clock?
Colonel TYLER. I am quite sure there were, sir. There were a number of plots around the Island. AS to whether they were just before 7, or started appearing about 7, I am not certain as to that.
20. General FRANK. Do you remember the occasion on which a flight from the north was picked up by the Opana station?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
21. General FRANK. You remember that?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
22. General FRANK. Will you give us the circumstances surrounding that? Can you give us a narrative concerning it?
Colonel TYLER. Just as a matter of interest, I saw this lad who was keeping the historical record. There is a record made of every plot that comes into the station, and I had not [1099] yet observed that activity, so I went over to see what he was doing, and it happened to be just about 7 o'clock, or roughly thereabout; and he had these plots out probably 130 miles, which I looked at, and there were other plots on the board at that time. It was just about 7, or a little bit after, I think, and then, right at 7 o'clock, all the people who were in the information center, except the telephone operator, folded up their equipment and left. There were just the operator and myself again; and about 7:15, the radar operator from Opana called the telephone operator to say that he had a larger plot than he had ever seen before, on his 'scope, and the telephone operator relayed the call to me; so I took the call, and, inasmuch as I had no means of identifying friendly plots from enemy, nor was I led to believe that there would be any occasion to do so, I told him not to worry about it.
And the next warning I had was about 5 after 8, when we received a call that there was an attack on.
23. General FRANK. What did you assume this was that was coming in? It might have been what?
Colonel TYLER. As far as I was concerned, it could. I thought it most probable that it would be the B-17's which were coming from the mainland.
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24. General FRANK. YOU knew there was a flight of B-17s due in?
Colonel TYLER. I didn't have official information. You see, I had a friend who was a bomber pilot, and he told me, any time that they play this Hawaiian music all night long, it is a very good indication that our B-17s were coming over from the mainland, because they use it for homing; and when I [1100] had reported for duty at 4 o'clock in the morning, I listened to this Hawaiian music all the way into town, and so I figured then that we had a flight of B-17s coming in; so that came to my mind as soon as I got this call from him.
25. General FRANK. Did you give any thought to the fact that it might be planes from a navy carrier?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir. In fact, I thought that was just about an equal probability of the two.
26. General FRANK. What did you do, from then on?
Colonel TYLER. Well, there was nothing to do between the call until the attack came.
27. General FRANK. Where were you when the attack came?
Colonel TYLER. I was awaiting relief. I was due at 8 o'clock to be relieved, and there being nothing going on, I just stepped outside of the door. There was an outside door, there, and I got a breath of fresh air, and I actually saw the planes coming down on Pearl Harbor; but even then, I thought they were Navy planes; and I saw antiaircraft shooting, which I thought was practicing antiaircraft.
28. General FRANK. The last connection that you had with this station was when you told the operator up at Opana to "forget it," so to speak?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
29. General RUSSELL. How long had you been in the Air Corps, then,
Colonel TYLER. I was first commissioned in 1937. I had it, just a little over four years, sir, at that time.
30. General RUSSELL. You knew something about the mission of fighter airplanes, did you?
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Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
31. General RUSSELL. And you knew that the pursuit officer in that information center was there to get planes in the air, to intercept incoming hostile planes if they appeared, did you?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
32. General RUSSELL. And you knew the only thing you had to do was to get in touch with the people who could put those planes up, isn't that true?
Colonel TYLER. That is not exactly true, sir, because we had nothing on the alert. We had no planes.
33. General RUSSELL. Well, if you had had some planes on the alert, then your job was to call for the commander of those planes and tell him, "Here come some enemy planes-go get them!" Wasn't that your job, as the pursuit officer?
Colonel TYLER. That would be my job if I had any way of telling. There was no means of identifying.
34. General RUSSELL. There seemed to be a lot of mystery about a pursuit officer and your not being trained as a pursuit officer, and I am trying to see if I can solve that mystery. You had a telephone
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in that place, on which you could talk to the commanders of the aircraft on the Islands?
Colonel TYLER. Well, my next higher, the first one there called would have been Major Bergquist. I would have called him in his quarters, I presume.
35. General RUSSELL. Then he was to tell the people to get into the planes and go get the enemy?
Colonel TYLER. That was his duty; yes, sir.
36. General RUSSELL. So it was a rather simple job, after all, wasn't it, Colonel?
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Colonel TYLER. That's right; it would have been.
37. General RUSSEL. The only mystery about it was the fact that you did not know that there were any Jap planes coming in, there?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
38. General RUSSELL. And you had the information from this boy at the Opana radar station that he had picked up the biggest flight that he had ever picked up, is that right?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
39. General RUSSELL. Did he appear somewhat excited over the flight that was coming in?
Colonel TYLER. I would say that he seemed more than normal. Of course, I didn't know the fellow up there, but he seemed-I would say he was interested in it, all right, sir.
40. General RUSSELL. He had found something out there, that had impressed him to quite an extent?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
41. General RUSSELL. And you said, "Don't worry about it-don't bother"? That was your decision, is that right?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
42. General RUSSELL. Now, to go back to these other people who had been there, and who had folded up and gone away at 7 o'clock. It was their job, as I understand this information center, to evaluate it, the incoming information?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir; their job was to present it to the Board for evaluation by them.
43. General RUSSELL. Who was the man, there, to evaluate that information?
Colonel TYLER. The Navy liaison officer and the bomber [1103] liaison officers.
44. General RUSSELL. They were the people who would evaluate any information from one of these operating stations out on the Island?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
45. General RUSSELL. Were they there at all, that morning?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir.
46. General RUSSELL. They never had been?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir.
47. General RUSSELL. So there wasn't anybody there whose job it was, or whose duty it was, to evaluate this incoming information?
Colonel TYLER. That's right, sir.
48. General RUSSELL. Well, why were you up there, at all?
Colonel TYLER. Sir, I really don't know.
49. General RUSSELL. You were not to go into action as the pursuit officer, until these other people, who were going to evaluate the in-
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formation, had evaluated it and told you that hostile aircraft was en route to the Island, that is the situation, isn't it?
Colonel TYLER. That is right, sir.
50. General RUSSELL. Therefore, it wasn't your job to evaluate this information, at all?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir, it wasn't.
51. General RUSSELL. I was interested, merely as a matter of information, in what you said as to the report of this chap out at that station, that he had "a big" something, and I missed that part.
Colonel TYLER. I don't know whether he said "a large [1104] flight of planes," or "an indication," or "a large blip on his radar." That is the word that is used, and that I have used considerably, since then, so I am not sure whether he said "blip."
52. General RUSSELL. "A large blip" indicated a lot of planes?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir. It means one and the same thing, sir
53. General RUSSELL. That is all.
54. General GRUNERT. You say you were detailed to go up there as a pursuit officer, and you were to remain until 8 o'clock. Was it normal to relieve officers at 8 o'clock, or was that the end of the tour?
Colonel TYLER. There was a schedule made out. I think that information center was manned from the preceding Wednesday, and I know it was manned during all off-duty periods, and on holidays, starting at 4 a. m. I believe that there were officers on duty from 4 a. m. till 7 or 8 o'clock every day.
55. General GRUNERT. Every day? But that was the end of that tour for that day?
Colonel TYLER. Well, on Sunday, this being a holiday, then there was an officer who was due to relieve me.
56. General GRUNERT. There was an officer due to relieve you?
Colonel TYLER. Yes.
57. General GRUNERT. At 8 o'clock?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
58. General GRUNERT. He did not show up, did he?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir, I didn't see him.
59. General GRUNERT. But the rest of the personnel of the [1105] center left at 7?
Colonel TYLER. Yes, sir.
60. General GRUNERT. And there was nothing for you to do, there, between 7 and 8, but twiddle your thumbs?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir; there was nothing to do.
61. General GRUNERT. Then it appears that the organization seemed to be faulty, and its instruction faulty, and there seemed to be a lack of organization and common sense and reason on this. You went up there to do duty as a pursuit officer in the information center. There was nobody to do the work with, because the controller was not there, and the Navy liaison man wasn't there, and probably some others were missing, so you couldn't do your duty, as a pursuit officer, because there was nobody to do duty with; and then, at the end of the tour, at 7 o'clock, everybody disappeared except the telephone operator and you; and the telephone operator remainder there for apparently no reason. You had no particular duty, did you?
Colonel TYLER. No, sir; we hadn't.
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62. General GBUNERT. It seems all "cock-eyed", to me-and that, on the record, too.
Are there any other questions? Thank you very much for coming.
(The witness was excused, with the usual admonition.)
(Thereupon, at 5 p. m., the Board concluded the hearing of witnesses for the day, and proceeded to other business.)