With ten air forces in the field by 1944, all of them with their fighter component, the USAAF had, like most air arms of the fighting; powers, come to appreciate the effectiveness and economy of pursuit aircraft, those the pilots first nicknamed "pea shooters." The role of a category of aircraft historically regarded in the US as much less useful than bombers had changed radically. Very early on in World War 2, American fighters were adapted - and soon built - to carry external ordnance, which brought their basic combat duty partially into the realm of the bomber. Burgeoning numbers of single- and multi-seater fighter bombers now demanded a comprehensive system of markings schemes aimed at rapid air-to-air and "friend from foe" recognition. Different theaters of war saw different fighter markings schemes, for instance those of Europe and the Pacific regions. Arguably the most effective markings system used on US fighters during World War 2 was developed for the RAF whereby each unit was given a code consisting of two letters (sometimes a letter and a number) with a third letter identifying the individual "plane-in-squadron." There was far less visual confusion after this system was adopted, but the first American fighters based in England were also given an additional recognition scheme. Thus white nose, wing and tail bands over camouflage finish marked out the P-47 and P-5l, fighters that could conceivably be confused with their common German adversaries, the Fw 190 and Bf 109 respectively. Untold numbers of Thunderbolt and Mustang pilots probably owe their lives to this paint scheme as they dived through bomber formations in pursuit of the Luftwaffe Jagdfliegcr. "Friendly fire" incidents continued to occur but the white bands minimized this risk.
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