Many B24 Liberator bomber airmen credit Colonel Shower's strict military discipline with saving their lives in battle. Known as a "by the book" leader by the upper brass in the 8th Air Force, Colonel Shower was sometimes called "Black Al" by his air crews because of his adherence to proven training and combat methods. 

Colonel Shower was the commander of the 467 Bomb Group, based at Rackheath in East Anglia, England, from the group's inception to its return to the zone of the interior after the war. Unlike many bomb group commanders of the 8th, Colonel Show flew in combat, piloting many bombing missions over Europe, often as the mission leader for his bomb group. Colonel Shower also flew the assembly ship, Pete the Pom, and other aircraft to review his squadrons on their numerous practice missions he made them fly. Colonel Shower was a master pilot, able to fly nearly every combat plane of the era.