Urban G. Steinmetz flew as a Radio Operator/Gunner as a member of the 97th Bomb Group, 341st Bomb Squadron out of Africa and Italy. He flew on missions as part of the James Brewer crew making raids on targets in Sicily, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, Austria, Greece, France, and Bulgaria.



After rotating back to the states, he became a ground instructor at advance gunnery school, making use of his own aerial combat experience to teach proper combat techniques.