AN EIGHTH AIR FORCE BOMBER STATION, England--First Lieutenant Allen A. Rutenberg, 27 year old flying control officer, of New Haven, Conn., plays an important part in successful Eighth Air Force bomber attacks originating from this B-17 Flying Fortress base. He must see that landings and takeoffs are executed in an orderly and speedy manner. Playing his part in the split-second timing of the air war, the New Haven officer must be on the alert at all times when he is on duty in the control tower.
     One bleak morning at about three thirty, the silver Fortresses were lined up on the long runway, engines purring, and waiting for the signal to takeoff from the control tower--suddenly, Lt. Rutenberg, in the tower, received an air raid alert. Nazi intruder planes were in the vicinity. The New Haven Officer managed to maintain his composure, in spite of the fact that he realized what a perfect target the blimmering [sic] Forts with their lights and engines going would make for a strafing Nazi formation. Calmly he spoke over the radio to the waiting aircraft, "Extinguish all lights--wait for further instructions". Then, with an anxious commanding officer and a worried executive officer pacing the tower, a moment or two passed which seemed like an emergency packed hour. Immediately after the "all clear" sounded, Lt. Rutenberg instructed the planes to light their lights, and as he switched on the runway lights, all realized that the control tower drama had ended in time for the bombers to make their rendezvous.
     Lt. Rutenberg says that he "sometimes feels as if he's aging years by minutes" as he stands on the balcony of the control tower, "sweating out the return of the planes from a bombing attack.
     Lieutenant Rutenberg received his commission from officer candidate school, Miami, Florida, and his has sine attended flying control school with the Royal Air Force in England. He entered service in February 1941. Before he entered the AAF, he was an actor at the Miami Beach playhouse, at Miami Beach, Florida. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Max Rutenberg, of 833 Elm Street, New Haven, his wife, Mrs. Norma Jane Rutenberg, lives at 703 Greenwood Avenue, Chattanooga, Tenn. His brother, Private First Class Milton L. Rutenberg, is also in the AAF, and is stationed at Hammer Field, California.
     Lieutenant Rutenberg is a member of the Third Bombardment Division, which is recently cited by the President for its historic shuttle attack on the aircraft factories at Regensburg, Germany, last Summer.