Officers as tail gunners?

[FLOOB]

I was looking up b17 crews and on PFF b17s all the tail gunners and some of the waist gunners are officers. But the tail gunner position on the PFF ships are listed as TG-O, (tail gunner/observer). Whereas on the other ships the tail gunners are just designated TG. What's up with that?

[Arlo]

"While the tail gunner position was sloted for an enlisted man, sometimes the possition would be flown by a co-pilot who was an officer. This was usually done in lead aircraft where the squadron commander would fly as pilot and was referred to as the Command Pilot. The aircraft's regular pilot would be moved to co-pilot. The reason the regular co-pilot was moved back to the tail gunner position instead of leaving the regular gunner in place was to allow him to relay information on the condition of the formation to the pilots. This helped to co-ordinate the formation and keep it as tight as possible."

http://www.b17queenofthesky.com/tailgun.htm

[FLOOB]

Thanks!
I was looking up my uncle and I was surprised to find that he was a pilot and an officer, on most flights he's listed as TG-O on a few he's listed as CP. My old man told me his brother was a tail gunner in a b17, he never told me he was a pilot, guess he was jealous LOL.