[Frank Olynyk]

The motives for joining the AVG were several. At least one joined to pay off debts (Boyington). Two (Tex Hill and Jim Howard) joined at the very least to fight the Japanese. Most of the rest I suspect joined for adventure and to practice their trade of fighter pilot. And some I am sure saw the writing on the wall and figured the US would be at war with Japan "soon" and figured to get in on the ground floor.
With regard to rejoining the service(s) after the dissolution of the AVG, one problem was that the USN and USMC people (pilots and ground crew) wanted to rejoin their original service. The major problem however was Bissell, who told everyone to join the Army or they would be drafted upon return to the US. "Piss on Bissell" was a popular phrase among members of the AVG at the time. Most ended up in one of the services; several shot down additional aircraft. Neale I believe flew transports as a ferry pilot. Dick Rossi stayed in the CBI, and flew many missions (600?) over the Hump. Bissell should have known better; he was a WW1 fighter ace, and if there is anything tougher than herding cats it is herding fighter pilots, especially successful combat veterans. At the time Chennault rejoined the Army (Feb-Mar 1942?) he and Bissell had the same rank, but Bissell had seniority in grade.

There were basically two groups of pilots in the AVG. The initial wave were fighter pilots; the second wave was less so, with more bomber and USN patrol bomber pilots. It is not realized by most but the initial structure of the AVG envisioned two Groups (in the USAAF sense). The 1st AV Group consisted of three fighter squadrons, and there is some of its letterhead in the Chennault papers. The 2nd AV Group was to consist of (three ?) bomber squadrons; I believe the idea was these would be started with the B-25s from the Doolittle mission. If you review the training accidents of the AVG you will find a large number of them are from the bomber and patrol bomber pilots, because they were used to landing higher and therefore flared too soon. Followed by much teeth grinding in HQ.
Frank.