Photographed on the flight deck of an escort carrier in September 1945, this group portrait shows the enlisted aircrew of a Navy Composite Squadron, posed before a folded-wing TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. Composite squadrons, which combined fighter and torpedo-bomber aircraft under one command, were the backbone of escort carrier air groups, providing close air support, anti-submarine patrol, and strike capability throughout the Pacific campaign. This image, taken just after the end of the war, captures the men who kept these aircraft flying - a lasting record of naval aviation teamwork during World War II. Project: 218455