Bombardier school was 12 to 18 weeks during which a student dropped approximately 160 bombs; precise records were kept of hits and misses. The elimination rate for trainees was 12 percent, and upon graduation, a new bombardier was transferred to an operational training unit and trained for overseas duty. Albuquerque was an operational training facility, and the first class of 61 bombardiers from the Albuquerque base school graduated 7 March 1942. By 1945, Albuquerque's flying training field had turned out 5,719 bombardiers and 1,750 regular pilots for the B-24 bomber alone. The 51st class to complete the bombardier training course included 143 bombardiers. Chiang Kai-shek pilots and bombardiers received training from Kirtland Field instructors. And film actor Jimmy Stewart was stationed at Kirtland Field briefly, beginning in August 1942, assisting bombardier cadet training by flying bombers on training missions.