SEA NAVY / MARINE CORPS / COAST GUARD / MERCHANT … · 2011-05-02 · 2 CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF NAVAL AVIATION O n Feb. 17, 1911, inventor and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss —

SEAPOWERN A V Y / M A R I N E C O R P S / C O A S T G U A R D / M E R C H A N T M A R I N E

SUPPLEMENT TO SEAPOWER MAGAZINE

MAY 2011

C E L E B R A T I N G 1 0 0 Y E A R S O F N A V A L A V I A T I O N2

O n Feb. 17, 1911, inventorand aviation pioneerGlenn Curtiss — the

“father of naval aviation” — taxiedhis “Hydroaeroplane,” or seaplane, tothe battleship USS Pennsylvania,anchored in San Diego Bay. The planewas hoisted aboard the ship. It waslater lowered back to the water andCurtiss returned to North Island.

The U.S. Navy and its sea ser -vice partners returned to that areain February to officially kick off ayear-long celebration of the 100thanni versary of naval aviation atNaval Air Sta tion North Island, SanDiego, regarded as the “birthplaceof naval aviation.”

Many other centennial-relatedevents are slated to take placethroughout the year, and synchroni -zing those events is the Cen tennialof Naval Aviation Task Force, estab-

lished by Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers,commander, Naval Air Forces.Working with him are Lt. Gen. TerryG. Robling, deputy commandant forMarine Corps Aviation; Rear Adm.Patrick McGrath, deputy command-er, Centennial, Naval Air Forces; andCapt. Mike Emerson, Coast Guardchief of Aviation. The task force’sgoal is to raise public awareness ofNavy, Marine Corps, Coast Guardand NASA aviation operations.

In this special supplement,spearheaded by Managing EditorRichard R. Burgess, Seapower alsoaims to raise awareness, as wellas pay tribute to those pioneerswhose can-do spirit, courage andtenacity inspired today’s Navy,Marine Corps and Coast Guardaviators, some of whom con-tributed their personal perspec-tives for this publication. ■

SEAPOWERCELEBRATING 100 YEARSOF NAVAL AVIATIONA SUPPLEMENT TO SEAPOWER, MAY 2011

CONTENTS 4 The First 100 Years

BY VICE ADM. ROBERT F. DUNN,USN (RET.)

12 Imagining World War IIBY BARRETT TILLMAN

18 The Aviation Appeal

24 Four Decades of ChangeBY VICE ADM. DAVID ARCHITZEL

30 A 30-Year PerspectiveBY VICE ADM. JOHN P. CURRIER

36 Continuing a Proud LegacyBY VICE ADM. ALLEN G. MYERS

Paying TributeBy AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Seapower would like to acknowledge the following people, without whom thisendeavor would not be possible:

■ Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.), president, Naval Historical Foundation■ Barrett Tillman, author and historian ■ David F. Winkler, historian, Naval Historical Foundation■ Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers, commander, Naval Air Forces■ Vice Adm. John P. Currier, chief of staff, U.S. Coast Guard■ Vice Adm. Richard C. Gentz, USN (Ret.), board member, Naval Historical Foundation■ Cmdr. Pauline Storum, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Forces■ Cmdr. Philip Rosi, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic■ MC2 Micah Blechner, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic■ Mike Maus, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic ■ Lt. Aaron Kakiel, assistant public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force,

U.S. Pacific Fleet ■ Kimberly A. Martin, public affairs officer, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.■ Karen Carow, director of corporate communications, Naval Air Systems Command ■ Billy Ray Brown, public affairs officer, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division■ Colin S. Babb, editor, Naval Aviation News■ Nadine A. Santiago, public affairs, Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard■ 1st Lt. Sharon A. Hyland, director for public affairs, Marine Corps Air Station

(MCAS) Beaufort, S.C. ■ Master Sgt. Chad McMeen, public affairs, MCAS Beaufort, S.C.■ Master Sgt. Mark E. Bradley, media relations, MCAS New River, N.C.■ Cpl. Nichole R. Werling, media/community relations NCO, MCAS New River, N.C. ■ Cmdr. Doug Siegfried, USN (Ret.), associate editor, The Hook■ David Colamaria, staff researcher, Naval Historical Foundation■ Lt. Cmdr. Richard J. Morgan, USN (Ret.), author and historian

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T his year’s Centennial ofNaval Aviation is beingmarked with a multitude of

celebratory events. From shakybeginnings in aircraft even the avia-tors of those days called “crates” towhere naval aviation arguably is thecenterpiece of all the Navy is todayis no small story. It is one of settingrecords, success in preventing warand success in war itself. It is a kalei-doscope of leadership, people, mo -ney, legislation, materiel, machinesand tactics.

From the beginning, in 1911,the names remembered best areEly, Ellyson, Towers, Curtiss andChambers. Of all, it is Capt. Wa -shington Irving Chambers whoshould be most remembered andmost honored. True, Eugene Elywas the first to launch from andland on a ship; Theodore Ellysonwas Naval Aviator No. 1; JohnTowers was Naval Aviator No. 3

and the longest serv-ing. Glenn Cur tissbuilt most of the firstNavy airplanes andshowed how an air-craft could be landedon the water next toa ship, then be hoist-ed aboard and low-ered again to thewater for anothermission. But it wasChambers, a battleship Sailor, whoarranged to procure the first U.S.Navy aircraft.

It was Chambers who introduceda scientific approach for the im -provement of airplanes, as signed thefirst engineers to help in the solu-tion of early aeronautical problemsand personally influenced the devel-opment of the shipboard catapult.

From the beginning, capablecatapults were seen as the key tomaking aviation useful to the fleet.

With the use of acatapult, increasingnumbers of catapult-capable floatplanestook their place inthe fleet. Their mis-sions in cluded scout -ing and light logis-tics, and they madeup the Base Force ofthe 1920s and ’30s. Itwas not until the hel-

icopter came along after World WarII that the floatplanes were replaced.

Early successes notwithstand-ing, the American aviation indus-try soon lagged. When World WarI broke out, U.S. forces had to beequipped with planes of foreignmanufacture. Then, to fill the sud-den need for more pilots, the firstNaval Re servists were recruited,some paying for training them-selves. Flying from bases in Eng -land, France and Italy, they played

Waypoints in History NOVEMBER 14, 1910Eugene Ely, seated in aCurtiss Pusher, conductsfirst flight launched froma ship, Birmingham,anchored at HamptonRoads, Va.

JANUARY 18, 1911Ely, for first time, landsand then takes offfrom ramp built onPennsylvania, anchoredin San Francisco Bay.

The First100 YearsBy VICE ADM. ROBERT F. DUNN, USN (RET.)

FEBRUARY 17, 1911 Glenn Curtiss’ “Hydroaeroplane” flies out to and ishoisted aboard USS Pennsylvania, anchored in SanDiego Bay. The seaplane is later returned to thewater and Curtiss flies back to North Island, todayconsidered the birthplace of naval aviation.

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a major role in minimizing theU-boat threat. At the same time,other naval aviators, includingTowers and Kenneth Whit ing,were detailed to Europe to observeour allies.

The English were foremost inrecognizing the value of naval avi-ation well beyond anti-submarineefforts. It was the Royal Navy thatflew fighters from improvisedcruiser and battleship decks torepel German Zeppelin raids, anddeveloped the world’s first aircraftcarrier from a merchant hull, HMSArgus. Reports from Towers andWhiting convinced Americanpolitical and naval officials toauthorize the procurement of moreaircraft for the fleet, and to convertthe collier Jupiter into the firstAmerican carrier, USS Langley.

First, Some UnfinishedBusiness …Plans originally made in 1914 tofly across the Atlantic had to be puton hold. Then, in 1919, withTowers in charge, three aircraftstarted out from Rockaway, N.Y.,crossed Halifax, Newfoundland,the Azores and Lisbon, before end-ing the flight in England. Becauseof mishaps, only one aircraft — theNC-4 — completed the crossing.

Not long after the NC-4 flight,Marine naval aviators developedtheir concept of close air support,resupply of embattled troops andmedical evacuation. Since thenclose air support has been part of

every Navy fighter and attack avia-tor’s training. It was a very impor-tant tactic in Korea and SouthVietnam and, despite “smartweapons,” is often called for bytroops on the ground in Af -ghanistan. Likewise, supply andmedical evacuation continue askey missions for all naval servicehelicopters and transports alike.

Even as the Marines were devel-oping tactics for troop support, itwas another battleship captain,William Adger Moffett, who con-solidated aviation developmentinto one Bureau of Aeronautics. For11 years, he was a most able advo-cate and leader of naval aviation inall its forms before he was killedwhen the dirigible USS Akron

crashed off New Jersey in 1933. When Moffett was chief of the

Bureau of Aeronautics, no onecould see ahead to divine whatwould be the most important avia-tion systems in the years ahead. Tohis credit, all available systems wereexplored and, within the dollarsavailable, tested. His mantra was,“naval aviation must go to sea onthe back of the fleet … the fleet andnaval aviation are one and insepara-ble, no matter what its form.”

Moffett was convinced that amajor role of support for the fleetwould be fulfilled by aircraft carriers.Consequently, at the WashingtonNaval Conference, Nov. 12, 1921-Feb. 6, 1922, he was instrumental ingetting treaty authorization for the

MAY 8, 1911Capt. WashingtonChambers preparesrequisitions for twoCurtiss biplanes. Datelater is marked as birthdate for naval aviation.

JULY 1, 1911A Navy-purchasedCurtis A-1 Triadmakes first flightfrom Lake Keuka,Hammondsport, N.Y.

SEPTEMBER 1911Naval aviation trainingfacility established atAnnapolis, Md.

MAY 22, 1912Lt. Alfred A.Cunningham is firstMarine to report forpilot training.

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Eugene Ely conducts the first flight from a ship, launching his Curtis Pusher air-craft from USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads, Va., Nov. 14, 1910.


conversion of the uncompletedheavy cruisers Lexington and Sara -toga into aircraft carriers.

Moffett also was the point manfor the Navy and naval aviationagainst the onslaught of Gen. BillyMitchell and his allies, who cam-paigned for dependence on strategicbombing by a separate air force. Hadit not been for Moffett, naval avia-tion might have disappeared muchas did Britain’s Fleet Air Arm, over-whelmed by the Royal Air Force.

Moffett held the view that navalaviation and the fleet it supported

would only be successful if the air-plane was fully integrated intooperations at sea. Resisting theefforts of some of his battleshipbrethren and, indeed, some avia-tors, he also insisted that naval avi-ators be naval officers first, andaviators second. There would beno separate corps, as in the Army.After all, he argued, the very reasonfor naval aviation was to supportthe fleet. That meant that flyingnaval personnel had to be part of it.

Not so much an engineer as hewas a judge of good men, Moffett

surrounded himself with expertsand doers. As a result, during his11-year tenure naval aviationappropriations were protected anda stream of new and improved air-craft entered the fleet. He oversawthe advent of air-cooled radialengines, streamlined cowlings,closed cockpits, aircraft communi-cations, instrument systems and aplethora of other improvementsboth in aircraft and shipboard avia-tion facilities.

Even while Moffett was holdingsway in Washington, yet anotherbattleship admiral was doing goodwork in San Diego. In 1925, JosephMason Reeves hoisted his flag onUSS Langley as commander, Air -craft Squadrons, Battle Fleet.Reeves arrived admittedly notknowing a lot about aviation, but itwas clear to him from the begin-ning that what he had inheritedwas not going to be of much serv-ice to the fleet.

There were more landing acci-dents than successes and Langleycarried only 12 aircraft at any onetime. Against the advice of severalof his staff and the aviators in thetwo squadrons assigned, he insist-ed that more aircraft could beembarked and operated, perhaps asmany as 42. He also felt that evenat only 16 knots, Langley couldserve as an ideal stand-in forLexington and Saratoga, soon to bejoining the fleet. Almost solely dueto his insistence to the fleet com-mander, Langley joined the 1926

NOVEMBER 12, 1912Naval aviator No. 1,Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson,successfully catapultedfrom barge anchored inAnacostia River, nearWashington Navy Yard.

MARCH 6, 1913First use of navalaviation in fleetmaneuvers.

JANUARY 20, 1914Pensacola, Fla.,established as firstaeronautic station.

APRIL 24, 1914First combat flightmade in AB-3 FlyingBoat in support ofVeracruz, Mexico,operations.

Waypoints in History

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Rear Adm. William A. Moffett consolidated naval aviation development into oneBureau of Aeronautics and was an early advocate of the support role aircraftcarriers could play for the fleet. He is shown here in 1928 before a DouglasDT-2 aircraft.


Fleet Battle Problem, an exercise,and then conducted a successfulsurprise aircraft “assault” on PearlHarbor, an ominous foreshadowingof what was to come.

This was the first of a string ofFleet Battle Problems in the 1920sand 1930s that demonstrated timeand again the importance of navalaviation, in all its dimensions. Long-range seaplanes, battleship- andcruiser-based floatplanes as well ascarrier aircraft played importantroles, but it was the metamorphosisof the aircraft carrier from fleet aux-iliary to centerpiece of the fleet thatwas most significant. It was Reeves,ably assisted by those carrier com-manding officers who later becamethe task force commanders of WorldWar II, who made naval aviationthat centerpiece.

Between the wars also was atime of aerial tactical develop-ment. That’s when dive bombingap peared on the scene. In one ofthe first dive attacks against ships,Lt. Cmdr. Frank Wagner of Fight -ing Squadron Two, led a flight ofCurtiss F6C Hawks in almost ver-tical dives against the battle fleetduring a sortie from San Pedro inOctober 1926. The battle line hadno defense.

From then on, dive bombingbecame a preferred method ofattack against a ship. The next year,the Marines in Nicaragua employeddive bombing against guerillatroops. Naval aviation now had anear-surefire way for attacking ships

and for close air support in a hostileenvironment. Aircraft designedspecifically for dive bombing werenot long in coming and they provedtheir worth at Midway.

There was a hiccup on the road tosuccess, however — the Depression.Like every department of the gov-ernment, the Navy in the early1930s was forced to take a consider-able budget hit, and at $30 million,funding for naval aviation in 1934was less than the nearly $86 millionbudgeted in 1920.

Fortunately, a naval-minded pre -si dent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, andCongressman Carl Vinson, chair-man of the House Naval AffairsCommittee, helped. One result wasthe Vinson-Trammell Act of 1934,which authorized an increasednaval air force, followed by theNaval Expansion Act of 1938 andthe Two Ocean Bill of 1940.

This expansion caused its ownproblems, however. One wasrecruiting the pilots and air crew-men needed to meet the expan-sion. Traditional sources would notbe enough, so in 1935 the V-5Program was established by theAviation Cadet Act of 1935.Qualified young men would attendtwo years of college at governmentexpense, then go through flighttraining and eventually becomeensigns in the Naval Reserve.Without this program, naval avia-tion would have entered WorldWar II woefully shorthanded. Thisprogram became the model for

similar programs, including V-12,which sustained the Navy in theprewar build-up and on throughthe war itself.

When war did come on Dec. 7,1941, the nation was surprised but,by and large, naval aviation wasready. The carriers and other air-craft on hand were prepared andvast numbers of others were in thepipeline. Pilots and maintainerswere either on hand or in training.That it was so can be attributed topeople like Moffett, Reeves, Vinsonand others.

Naval aviation successes in battleduring World War II were builtlargely on the lessons of the inter-war years, such as improved andhigher performing aircraft, bettertactics for ships and aircraft, andbattle-winning techniques like closeair support and dive bombing. [See“Imagining World War II,” page 12]

Naval AviationAdapts, EvolvesAt the end of World War II, thetremendous fleet built up to winthe war shrank seemingly instanta-neously. Ships and aircraft weredecommissioned. The result was afleet dramatically different fromthat which went before. Patterns ofdeployment and advances in capa-bilities were dynamic. Unlike theprewar Navy, which seldom madeextended cruises, the postwarNavy was required by the ColdWar and subsequent events tomaintain a continual deployment

NOVEMBER 5, 1915Lt. Cmdr. H.C. Mustinis the first to catapultfrom ship underway —North Carolina — inPensacola Bay, Fla.

APRIL 10, 1917Elmer F. Stonebecomes first CoastGuard officer toreceive Wings of Gold.

APRIL 20, 1917First flight of nonrigidairship, DN-1, beginsNavy airship operations.

NOVEMBER 18, 1917U.S. Navy aerialpatrols in Europeanwaters begin fromLa Croisic, France.


pattern punctuated by crises andhot wars. In all of these, naval avi-ation forces formed a core of ever-increasing capabilities, pacing andoften leading the threat.

Since World War II, fixed-wingaircraft have gone from prop to jet.Ship-based floatplanes were re -placed by jet-powered helicopters.Long-range patrol went from prop-driven seaplanes to land-based tur -bo props, soon to be replaced by ajet-powered commercial aircraftderivative. Airborne electronic war-fare and surveillance became inte-gral to fleet operations and todaytop the list of support requested byoperational commanders.

Air-to-ground weapons wereimproved to the point that themeasure of effectiveness becametargets destroyed per sortie insteadof the older measure of weaponsper target needed for destruction.Air-to-air weapons would go milesinstead of feet and their kill ratiorose to almost one-to-one.

Marines teamed with the Navyflying fixed-wing jets from carriersand vertical-lift Harriers, Ospreysand helicopters from amphibiousships and from ashore, but remaintoday the world’s experts in close airsupport of troops on the ground.

The Coast Guard today sets thestandards for air-sea rescue and lawenforcement. At the same time, thetraining, morale and retention ofboth officer and enlisted personnelin naval aviation has never beenbetter, and includes increasing

numbers of women. Almost unno-ticed, they came on the scene inthe mid-1970s and eventually tooktheir place in every application. Itdidn’t take them long to prove theirworth and today there are womenat every level of naval aviation,including air wing command.

Aircraft readiness has neverbeen higher and the mishap, oraccident, rate is the lowest it hasever been. Sixty-six years afterWorld War II, naval aviation is atthe top of its game and has neverbeen more ready to answer thenation’s call for presence, for com-bat or any mission in between.

The community has come a verylong way since 1945, when theNavy and Marine Corps faced thebiggest challenge yet to their veryexistence. The atomic bomb andthe advocates of air power hadconvinced many politicians andAmerican voters that navies werepassé — “There were no enemies.”If any should arise, the solutionwould be found in an independentair force that could carry a nuclearweapon to any spot on Earth. Thismade navies, and to some extentarmies, and certainly a MarineCorps, obsolete.

The ensuing controversy led tothe firing of a chief of naval opera-tions, Adm. Louis E. Denfeld, thecancellation of a new aircraft carri-er and no promotions for a numberof Navy captains and flag officers.

The Navy, however, rallied, firstdemonstrating that it could indeed

operate and survive in a nuclearage, that it was capable of deliver-ing nuclear weapons from the seaand at the same time be ready tocarry out conventional roles.Aircraft that could takeoff from acarrier and deliver the 10,000-pound nuclear weapon of the daywere developed.

Meanwhile, naval aviation be -gan transitioning from props tojets. Aircraft carriers were equip -ped with angled decks, steam cata-pults and optical landing systemsto accommodate those higher-performance aircraft. Battleshipsand cruisers traded their catapultsand ship-based seaplanes for heli-copters. Newer and longer-rangeland-based patrol aircraft beganentering the fleet. Their capabilitywas dramatically demonstratedwhen in 1946 the P2V Neptune,Trucu lent Turtle, flew nonstop fromAustralia to Columbus, Ohio.Night and all-weather flying be -came routine.

In those same years, Marines de -veloped the concept of verticalassault with helicopters. At-seareplenishment was augmented withother helicopters. Not all of this hap-pened at once, of course, but it con-tinued even through the Korean War.

Just a matter of days after theNorth Korean troops surged intoSouth Korea, the South KoreanArmy and the few American occupa-tion troops were forced into a smallperimeter around the southeasternKorean city of Pusan. They sorely

MARCH 19, 1918Ensign Stephen Potterscores first “kill” bynaval aviator, shootingdown German seaplaneover the North Sea.

MARCH 25, 1918First naval air attack onGerman submarine offEngland conducted byEnsign John McNamara.

JULY 30, 1918Personnel of 1st MarineAviation Force arrive inBrest, France, and flywith British bombingsquadrons.

AUGUST 15, 1918Naval aviators bombGerman submarine pensat Ostend, Belgium.



needed air support, but the Air Forcehad only very short-legged fightersbased in Japan, which meant very lit-tle time on station over Korea andvery little ordnance.

USS Valley Forge, one of the fewcarriers left in commission by 1950,was in the Pacific. Ordered northfrom where it had been in the SouthChina Sea, Valley Forge was quicklyon station and was soon joined bythe smaller British carrier HMSTriumph, delivering sorely neededclose air support to the beleagueredallied troops. This lesson in respon-siveness was not lost on the politi-cians in Washington.

Frequently, during various crisesin the years thereafter, the call wasoften heard, “Where are the carri-ers?” As early as 1958, when it ap -peared that Sixth Fleet forces mighthave to intervene in Lebanon andthe question was asked, Adm.Arleigh Burke famously respondedwith, “We’re here now. What do youwant us to do?” That set a tone andan expectation from that day to this.

Surveillance and SpaceFor many years, before satellite sur-veillance was in place, Navy-operatedmodified Super Constellations —Warning Stars — flew barrier patrolsover the Pacific and Atlantic, ready todetect any Soviet incursion towardthe United States. Navy reconnais-sance aircraft flew the perimeter ofthe Iron Curtain in Europe and in thePacific, losing not a few crews andaircraft to gangster-type attacks.

The near-hot-war manifestationof those attacks peaked when FidelCastro and the Soviets installedballistic missiles in Cuba. It was aNavy photo aircraft that broughtback the proof of those installa-tions and it was Navy patrol air-craft that formed the backbone ofthe quarantine and inspection thatforced the Soviets to back downand remove their missiles.

At about the same time, naval avi-ation entered space in a big way. AlanShepherd and John Glenn led theway, followed quickly by JohnYoung, Dick Truly, Neil Armstrongand Jim Lovell. Unmanned space-craft also began to play a larger rolewith navigation data in the form ofthe Global Positioning System satel-lite network, communications andmore, all in creasingly important tonaval aviation operations.

New and dramatically more capa-ble carriers entered the fleet as well:first the Forrestal class beginning in1955; Enterprise, the first nuclear car-rier, in 1961; and Nimitz, the first of anew class, in 1975. Also in the 1970s,former anti-submarine carriers,mostly World War II Essex-classships, were decommissioned and theerstwhile attack carriers began outfit-ting with anti-submarine warfare(ASW) aircraft and helicopters.Newer and more capable amphibiousships with squadrons of Marine heli-copters and Harriers also began toenter the fleet.

As the Cold War intensified, par-ticularly in the Mediterranean and

North Atlantic, carrier-based fight-ers intercepted Soviet surveillanceaircraft, P-3 Orions helped trackSoviet ballistic-missile subs and, inthe Mediterranean where Americanand Soviet fleets operated in closeproximity, attack aircraft remainedon high alert and shadowed Sovietmissile cruisers wherever theywent. Attack aircraft also stoodalerts as part of the Single Inte -grated Opera tions Plan, should anu clear ex change begin.

Beginning in the early 1960s,Navy photo reconnaissance aircraftwere called upon to provide evidenceof the Communist buildup in Laos.Flying extended-range missions fromafloat and ashore, they gathered theneeded intelligence. It wasn’t longafter that that Communists in NorthVietnam infiltrated democratic SouthVietnam. The United States came tothe aid of that small nation and theVietnam War began.

At first, there were retaliatorystrikes carried out entirely by Navycarrier aircraft. Only later did the AirForce position aircraft in SouthVietnam and Thailand. Soon a majoreffort was being carried out by theNavy with as many as four carriersat a time operating in the Gulf ofTonkin, providing close air supportto Soldiers and Marines in the southand, despite intense anti-aircraft andmissile opposition, striking militarytargets in the North.

Marine aircraft based ashore atChu-lai and other “in-country”bases also provided close air sup-

SEPTEMBER 24, 1918Lt. j.g. David S. Ingallsshoots down fifth enemyaircraft to becomeNavy’s first and onlyWorld War I ace.

MARCH 20, 1922Langley placed intocommission as Navy’sfirst aircraft carrier.

MAY 8, 1919Four NC flying boats lift off from Rockaway, N.Y., fortrans-Atlantic flight. One, NC-4 commanded by Lt.Cmdr. Albert “Putty” Reid and piloted by CoastGuard Lt. Elmer F. Stone, would land at Lisbon 19days later.



port and struck targets in the North.Meanwhile, Navy helicopters andOV-10s supported riverine opera-tions in the South and patrolsquadrons flew countless recon-naissance missions offshore. Othership-based helicopters madenumerous daring rescues ofdowned pilots, often in the face ofintense enemy fire. The VietnamWar was an “all-hands” evolution.

After the Vietnam War, shipsand aircraft were worn out. Thesewere difficult days for the Navyand naval aviation, yet the ColdWar dragged on and new threatsdeveloped in the Middle East. Newaircraft and ships entered theinventory and the Navy and Ma -rine Corps never missed a commit-ment. As early as 1981, Sixth Fleetaircraft were called upon to dealwith Libyan MiGs. In 1991, anoth-er task for carrier aircraft emerged— Operation Desert Storm in Iraq— employing no less than six air-craft carriers.

Desert Storm was followed inquick succession by SouthernWatch to enforce the no-fly zoneover Iraq. In 1999, aircraft fromUSS Theodore Roosevelt flew morethan 3,100 close air support mis-sions in support of NATO opera-tions in Kosovo. Next cameEnduring Freedom, flying fromcarriers in the Indian Ocean overAfghanistan in response to theSept. 11, 2001, attacks on theUnited States, and then the initial“shock and awe” strikes from carri-

er aircraft in the first battles ofIraqi Freedom.

While the carriers were busyand Marines were based afloat andin country, patrol squadrons, os -tensibly trained for ASW were fly-ing missions over Iraq andAfghanistan helping to locateimprovised explosive devices andperforming all sorts of missions forwhich they were not originallydesigned, demonstrating the flexi-bility of naval aviation.

Naval aviation forces have been incontinual combat since 1990, morethan 21 years. Throughout, theyhave shown every day the spirit, theflexibility and capability of whichEllyson, Curtiss and Chamberscould have only dreamed.

Throughout these 100 years, thestrength of naval aviation has beenthe people who make up this force,a force integral to the basic compo-sition of the Navy, the Marines andthe Coast Guard. It started that waywith Ely, Towers, Chambers andtheir colleagues. It was sustainedand improved by Moffett andReeves and it will continue thatway if only we keep in our sightsthe Moffett’s mantra: “Naval avia-tion must go to sea on the back ofthe fleet … the fleet and naval avia-tion are one and inseparable.” ■

Retired Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn is presi-dent of the Naval Historical Foundation inWashington and the former president ofthe Association of Naval Aviation.

OCTOBER 26, 1922Lt. Cmdr. GodfreyChevalier recordsfirst Navy landingon aircraft carrier.

SEPTEMBER 4, 1923Shenandoah makesmaiden voyage fromNAS Lakehurst, N.J.Airship would crashnearly two years later.

NOVEMBER 25, 1924German-built airship LosAngeles is commissionedat NAS Anacostia,Washington.

APRIL 1, 1925First night carrierlanding conducted byLt. Cmdr. John C. Priceon Langley.

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Loaded with bombs, VA-115 Douglas AD-4 Skyraiders from USS PhilippineSea fly a Korean War strike mission in February 1951.


MAY 9, 1926Lt. Cmdr. Richard E.Byrd and Chief AviationPilot Floyd E. Bennettfly Fokker Tri-motor air-craft over North Pole.

OCTOBER 22, 1926Dive bombing demon-strated as viable tactic.

JULY 16, 1927Marine aircraft strafeSandinista positions inNicaragua. Consideredfirst dive-bombingattack in combat.

NOVEMBER 16–DECEMBER 14, 1927Laid down as battlecruisers, Saratogaand then Lexingtonare commissioned asaircraft carriers.

I magine the Second World War,fought across the globe on anindustrial scale that will never

be possible again. Imagine a navywith 4.2 million personnel and6,700 combatant vessels, from PTboats to battleships. Imagine ascale of conflict so great that it costnearly 300 of those combatants(more ships than the U.S. Navycurrently possesses) including 11aircraft carriers, 52 submarines and62,000 men — and still defeatedtwo of the world’s greatest navieswithin four months of each other.Imagine an inventory so immensethat it could lose 150 aircraft in aday — and make good the deficit.

Imagine an industrial base thatbuilt most of a two-ocean navy in fiveyears, producing 70,000 naval air-craft, including 52,000 carrier types,6,000 patrol planes and 9,000 train-ers. Factories were so incredibly effi-cient that they rolled out a four-

engine bomber everyhour and launched anescort carrier (CVE)each week from mid-1943 to January 1945.

Imagine a trainingestablishment thatturned out 60,000aviators in four years— a program soeffective that it rou-tinely sent 220-hourpilots to axial-deck carriers, then onto combat units, without simulators,except primitive Link trainers. Thehatcheries were everywhere, fromPensacola, Fla., and Corpus Christi,Texas, to Reserve bases from LongBeach, Calif., to New York.

That same training schemeyielded many more thousands ofaircrew, mechanics, ordnancemenand electronics technicians. Thelearning curve was extraordinarilysteep, especially since fleet radar

hardly existed before1941.

Imagine a navyconducting two ma -jor amphibious op -er a tions on oppositesides of the globewithin days of eachother — in northernEurope and theCen tral Pacific.

All of that hap-pened within living memory, accom-plished with less than half of today’spopulation. Veterans of World War IIstill recall what it looked like: theworld’s most powerful navy withnearly 100 carriers, 23 battleships,70 cruisers and 230 submarines. Butthat enormous fleet took time toplan, build and deploy.

In December 1941, the U.S. Navypossessed 790 active warships, in -cluding 17 battleships and eight car-riers (one of which was a prototype

ImaginingWorld War IIBy BARRETT TILLMAN


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CVE). Only months previously, carri-er air groups had flown biplanes, andsome new monoplanes such as F4FWildcats and SBD Dauntlesses werestill being debugged.

Meanwhile, other designs werenearing completion. The Navyalready had a world-beating con-cept in Vought’s radical F4UCorsair, America’s first 400-mphsingle-engine production aircraft.But the F4U was more than a yearfrom combat, and then only land-based. Grumman’s promising F6FHellcat would not even fly untilmid-1942. The “Iron Works’” TBFAvenger torpedo plane promised agenerational improvement over theDouglas TBD. The SBD’s replace-ment, Curtiss’ big SB2C Helldiver,was plagued with troubles thatkept it out of combat until the endof 1943.

With new aircraft came a newgeneration of ships. Foremost wasthe Essex-class carrier, produced inex cep tional numbers. Big, capablecarriers displacing 27,000 tons andem barking 90 or more aircraft,they repre sented the cutting edgeof the Cen tral Pacific offensive thatbegan in late 1943. Seventeen werecommissioned during the war,with seven more coming afterward.Excep tionally long-lived and ver-satile, they became “the DC-3 ofaircraft carriers.”

Operating alongside the Essexeswere nine Independence-class lightcarriers (CVLs), converted fromlight cruisers, also entering combat

in 1943. At 30 knots, they couldkeep up with the larger flattopswhile operating fewer aircraft.

Then there were the escortcarriers.

“Baby flattops” or “jeep carriers”were another wartime innovation.With heavy attrition in the year afterPearl Harbor, replacement flightdecks were urgently needed. A pre-war experiment, USS Long Island,proved the concept, and in 1942 con-versions began on merchant hulls,producing the Bogue and Sangamonclasses. Subsequent designs werepurpose-built CVEs of the Casa blan -ca and Commence ment Bay classes.American shipyards produced somany that 30 went to Britain.

The jeeps seldom received muchpress but they performed vitalmissions, especially anti-submarinewarfare (ASW). Deployed inhunter-killer groups, their Aveng -ers and Wildcats helped plug thedreadful mid-Atlantic gap beyondrange of land-based aircraft, andcrippled the U-boat threat 12months before D-Day.

Their importance was noted byno less than Winston Churchill,who conceded that the only thingthat truly worried him throughoutthe war was the submarine threatto Britain. In the six-year Battle ofthe Atlantic, British and Americanescort carriers made a strategiccontribution to victory.

JANUARY 23–27, 1929Lexington and Saratogaparticipate in FleetExercise. Saratogalaunches successfulmock attack againstPanama Canal.

NOVEMBER 29, 1929Cmdr. Richard Byrdmakes first flight overSouth Pole.

JANUARY 22, 1931Navy orders firstrotary-wing aircraft,the XOP-1 autogyro.

OCTOBER 27, 1931Airship Akron is placedin commission. It wouldcrash off New Jerseyon April 4, 1933.

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An SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber gets the launch signal before taking off tojoin other aircraft in strikes against Japanese targets in the Central Pacific onMarch 7, 1944.


In the Pacific, CVEs continuedASW work but also earned theirkeep providing close air support toAmerican infantrymen and deliver-ing immediate replacement aircraftto the fast carriers.

Flattops conducted a variety ofunusual missions, starting with Hor -net’s (CV 8) launching the Doolit tleRaiders in April 1942 to make thefirst U.S. air strikes against the Japa -nese home islands. Sub se quently,other ships appeared in climes as var-ied as the Moroccan coast (OperationTorch, November 1942), Norway(Ranger’s Opera tion Leader, October1943) and the Riviera (OperationAnvil-Dragoon, August 1944).

But the fast carriers carried mostof the load in a form of warfare

unique to the Pacific Theater ofOperations. Between 1942 and 1944,U.S. and Japanese flattops engaged infive battles conducted wholly by car-rier aircraft, with all the action“beyond the horizon.” First in theCoral Sea in May 1942, then a monthlater off Midway, the new art of navalair combat played itself out on agigantic chessboard defined bydegrees of latitude and longitude.

Flattops represented both thekings and queens with exceptionalreach and mobility, but even navalroyalty was vulnerable. During thefour 1942 battles, including two atGuadalcanal, Japan lost five carriersand America three, with anothersunk by submarine. Then, in June1944, supporting the Saipan land-

ings, two dozen Fifth Fleet carriersclashed with nine Imperial Navy flat-tops in a battle so lopsided that it wascalled The Marianas Turkey Shoot.

Only four months later came thegreatest naval battle of the 20th cen-tury, the sprawling three-day slugfestat Leyte Gulf. While CVEs fought fortheir lives against a Japanese armadaoff Samar, Task Force 38 was lurednorth to sink the emperor’s last fourdeployable carriers. It was the effec-tive end of the Imperial Navy, mark-ing the onset of what has become thepost-naval era, with no significantengagements in nearly 70 years.

Time and again, the fast carriersdisproved the conventional wis-dom that naval aviation was inher-ently inferior to land-based air.Going head to head against majorJapanese airpower on Formosa, thePhilippines and, ultimately, Japan,Task Forces 38 and 58 brought1,000 or more fighters and bomb -ers to the fight. The inevitable re -sult was air superiority, leading tooutright supremacy over the homeislands in summer 1945.

Along the route to Tokyo, theHellcat established an unrivaledrecord as master of Pacific skies.Claiming more than 5,200 aerialkills, the F6F was credited withnearly as many enemy planes as allArmy fighters in the Pacific andChina-Burma theaters combined.

Frequently overlooked was theother segment of shipboard aviation:scout-observation aircraft aboardbattleships and cruisers. The obser-

NOVEMBER 2, 1931First Marine airsquadrons reportonboard Lexingtonand Saratoga.

JUNE 23, 1933Airship Macon placedinto commission. Wouldbe lost off Californiaon Feb. 12, 1935.

JANUARY 10–11, 1934Six P2Y-1 flying boatsestablish time and dis-tance records in flightfrom San Francisco toHawaii.

JUNE 4, 1934Ranger commissionedas first U.S. carrierdesigned and builtfrom keel up.


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A Navy Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator flies an anti-submarine patrol over theBay of Biscay near the English coast in July-August 1943.


vation scout floatplane communitywas among the smallest in naval avi-ation but it was found everywhere— in the Atlantic, Mediterraneanand Pacific. Apart from their pri-mary mission of spotting naval gun-fire, SOC and OS2U floatplanes per-formed invaluable work in searchand rescue. Undoubtedly, the recordwas earned by a USS North CarolinaOS2U pilot who delivered 10 fliersto the lifeguard submarine off TrukAtoll in 1944.

During the war, the Navy usedsome 6,000 patrol planes, a generictitle covering seaplanes, amphib-ians and land-based aircraft. Themost familiar was ConsolidatedAircraft Corp.’s fabled PBY Cata -lina, which entered service in1936. A rare combination of awk-wardness and grace, it was bothlong ranged and long lived, servingwell after the war. It excelled atnearly everything, including recon-naissance, ASW and air-sea rescue.

But the Catalina also was a noctur-nal creature, earning a solid reputa-tion for night attack in several “BlackCat” squadrons. Other flying boatswere Consolidated’s bigger, morecapable PB2Y Coronado and theGlenn L. Martin Co.’s PBM Mariner.

“Patrol” also included land-basedbombers, notably the PB4Y variantsof the Army’s B-24. Possessing excep-tional range and ordnance options,the Liberator and Privateer frequent-ly flew 2,000-mile, 12-hour round-trip missions, harrying Japanesebases and sinking their ships.

Among the least-reported opera-tions was Fleet Air Wing Four’s dis-mal environment in the Aleutians.Mostly flying PBYs and the Lock -heed series of PV Ventura and Har -poon attack bombers, the aircrewsoperated in arguably the worstweather on Earth, braving the NorthPacific for 700-mile missions againstthe Kurile Islands. It was a grim,mostly thankless task that kept thepressure on Japan’s northern flank.

While airplanes bombed andstrafed, or at least flew at airspeedsexceeding 130 knots, there were farslower, unglamorous blimps.“Lighter than air” (LTA) had beenpart of naval aviation almost fromthe start, but after the glory days ofthe 1930s rigid airships, blimps(non-rigids) upheld the LTA mantle.

To this day, no one can say withauthority where the word “blimp”came from, but it doesn’t matter.Blimps provided convoy escort andASW almost everywhere, includingthe remote South Atlantic, and oncein a great while they even sighted ahostile submarine. Cruising at 55knots, their silvery presence lentcomfort to thousands of mariners indangerous waters.

If history has neglected any aspectof World War II naval aviation morethan transports, it’s a well-kept secret.Naval Air Transport Service (NATS)did not even exist before December1941, but it quickly became a growthindustry. With nearly 900 Douglasand Curtiss aircraft procured duringthe war, NATS established a world-

wide reputation for efficiency andcompetence. In 1945, naval trans-ports flew a global network of some63,000 miles, delivering supplies andtransporting personnel. One of theprimary missions was medical airlift,and at Okinawa NATS evacuatednearly 10,000 casualties.

But naval aviation was morethan the Navy. The Marine Corpsand Coast Guard both grewtremendously during the war, withflying leathernecks eventuallygaining their own escort carrier airgroups. Next year marks the cen-tennial of Marine Corps aviation.

In an endeavor so huge, on a scaleso vast, very few individuals couldexert an effect. At least 370 Navyfighter pilots became aces — morethan 80 percent in Hellcats — andmany of their names are well knowneven today. Fighters could achieveair superiority but they could notsink capital ships. Individual divebomber pilots could. Probably noother “shooters” in the entire warwere capable of directly influencingthe course of battles or campaigns.Certainly that was true at Midway,where perhaps a dozen SBD pilotsmade the hits essential to victory.

The same applied to their air-plane. Without the Dauntless, thePacific Fleet could not have foughtto a draw at Coral Sea, won at Mid -way, nor taken the offensive atGuadalcanal, where Navy and Ma -rine Dauntlesses held the ImperialNavy at bay. Slanting into their 70-degree dives, tracking their targets

AUGUST 19, 1936Naval aircraft demon-strate capability to sinksubmarines in exerciseconducted off VirginiaCapes.

SEPTEMBER 30, 1937Yorktown commissioned.Would be lost in 1942 atBattle of Midway.

MAY 15, 1938Enterprise commis-sioned. Would bemost decorated shipof World War II.

MAY 17, 1938Naval Expansion Actincreases number ofnaval aircraft to 3,000and results in layingdown of carriersHornet and Essex.


in the 30 seconds available, thenreleasing at 1,500 feet and recover-ing barely off the wavetops, SBDshammered their ordnance into carri-ers, cruisers and transports as noother aircraft possibly could.

Ever since Tom Brokaw’s 1998best seller, there has been perennialhomage to those who won theSecond World War as “the greatestgeneration” in American history. Amore reasoned assessment wouldaccord that honor to the nation’sfounders, who faced vastly greaterodds than America did in World

War II — after all, the UnitedStates was allied with the BritishEmpire, the Soviet Union andChina against Germany and Japan.

But there’s something to thenotion that the World War II gen-eration produced the greatest navalaviators: men — some too youngto vote — who went to war inhigh-performance aircraft onstraight-deck carriers, flying dayand night in an esoteric martial artthat remained immature as of early1942. The variety of aircraft avail-able to that generation is incon-

ceivable today, when some pilotswere current in three or four types.The prevailing attitude wassummed up by a squadron skipper,Lt. Cmdr. Roger Hedrick, who toldhis pilots transitioning from Hell -cats to Corsairs, “They all have astick and a throttle. Go fly ’em!”

But behind the dash and glam-our were the inescapable realities.Ships were designed for combatrather than habitability. Of the3,000 men aboard a fleet carrier,the huge majority were smokers,living in confined steel compart-ments in the tropics, without airconditioning. Three months at seawas not unknown. Meanwhile,squadrons based on many Pacificisles endured a miserable climate,inescapable disease, poor food andoften crushing boredom.

Whatever their environment,those pilots, aircrew, maintenancepersonnel and ordnancemen experi-enced a war that can never be repeat-ed. Their honor is not so much inwinning as in how they achieved it— with perseverance, professional-ism and the pride of having servedwhen it mattered as never before. ■

Barrett Tillman is an author and publicspeaker best known for his books on navalaviation history. A former editor of TheHook magazine, he has received six writ-ing awards including the Admiral RadfordAward for Naval History and Literature.His next book is “Master of the Pacific,”a history of USS Enterprise (CV-6) fromSimon and Schuster in 2012.

JUNE 14, 1940Naval Expansion Actof 1940 increases navalair strength to 4,500planes. The next day,Congress increasesthis to 10,000 “usefulairplanes.”

DECEMBER 10, 1941Three days after PearlHarbor, SBD divebombers from Enterprisesink submarine I-7, thefirst Japanese Navy shipsunk by the U.S. Navy.

FEBRUARY 20, 1942Lt. Butch O’Hare,credited with shootingdown five enemybombers and damaginganother over SouthwestPacific. He is later award-ed the Medal of Honor.

MARCH 1, 1942U-656 is sunk by NavyPBO patrol bombersouth of Newfoundland,first U-boat sunk byU.S. Navy aircraft.


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VF-1 Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats with Air Group 1 aboard USS Yorktown warmup for takeoff for a mission in the Pacific in 1944.

■ Aviation Survival Technician 2nd ClassSara Rose FaulknerHH-60J HELICOPTER RESCUE SWIMMER

COAST GUARD AIR STATION CLEARWATER, FLA.

HOMETOWN: LOS ANGELES

My involvement in the Naval Sea Cadet Corps [BetsyRoss Division, Sherman Oaks, Calif.] introduced me tovarious aspects of Navy and Coast Guard aviation.When I trained with Coast Guard rescue swimmers, Iknew instantly that was what I wanted to become.

I enjoy the satisfaction that comes when all thehard work and training from the pilots, flightmechanics and rescue swimmers come together to

effectively complete a search-and-rescue mission.

The most challenging aspect ofmy job is to remain prepared phys-ically and mentally for the un -known. Even a routine trainingflight could be diverted to a majorsearch-and rescue mission.

INSPIRATION: The response toHurricane Katrina, with the coordi-nation of multiservice aircraft com-ing from all over the country tosave so many lives.


APRIL 18, 1942During Halsey-DoolittleRaid, carrier Hornetlaunches Army AirForces B-25 bombersin first strike onJapanese islands.

MAY 7–8, 1942Battle of Coral Seais first carrier-versus-carrier battle. Lexingtonand one Japanesecarrier sunk.

JUNE 3–6, 1942Navy SBD divebombers score fatalhits of four Japanesecarriers during Battleof Midway.

AUGUST 26, 1942Capt. Marion Carlbecomes first MarineCorps ace, shootingdown a Zero overGuadalcanal.

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■ Avionics Technician 2nd ClassAnthony BennekinAIRBORNE EARLY WARNING SQUADRON 120

NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, VA.

HOMETOWN: MONTEREY, CALIF.

Before I joined the Navy, Iwas interested in comput-ers. I was trying to getin the electronics field.When it came to choosingmy rate, I’d seen electron-ics, but I didn’t really seethe aviation part of it, butnow that I’m in it, I love it.I learn. It has me going.

I have been workingon radars, radios and

navigation equipment on E-2Cs for five years now. Ilike working on electronics. I like to learn how thingswork. I like to take them apart and fix them. However,the most enjoyable part is the people I work with, peo-ple from all over.

The daily aviation challenge is to meet the demandof the operational side while we’re doing the mainte-nance. There are always a few people who have beendoing this for a while and understand how this stuffworks, and you’ve got junior guys who don’t knowwhat they’re doing, so you walk through steps sothey’ll understand and catch up fast enough. It’s a chal-lenge to do that every day, but I’m still doing it.

INSPIRATION: Working on the aircraft carriers. I justlike being out on deployment and working on air-planes and the rest of things out there. There’s some-thing new every day. U

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■ Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Fay P-3C NAVAL FLIGHT OFFICER

WEAPONS AND TACTICS INSTRUCTOR,

COMMANDER, PATROL & RECONNAISSANCE WING 10

NAS WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASH.

HOMETOWN: FORT WORTH, TEXAS

Naval aviation was very intriguing.It has a great heritage, a lot of tradi-tion. Anyone who’s ever been to anair show and seen the Blue Angelsfly overhead certainly said that thatwas something they would like tobe a part of. It was pretty cool. Iliked the discipline of it, the profes-sionalism.

Originally, I was an S-3 navalflight officer, but when the S-3 com-munity was phased out, I trans-ferred over to the P-3. In the P-3community, we’re constantly facing

evolving tactics, evolving aircraft modifications. Evenwith an aircraft as old as the P-3, you’re still getting newsystems and technologies added on, and with that comesnew and advanced tactics and, on top of that, new oper-ating procedures. Your box gets full pretty quickly. Evenin terms of acoustics, we’re always fielding newer andbetter acoustic processors. You almost have to pick yourexpertise in certain ways. You can’t master them all,that’s for sure. Fortunately, our air crews are really goodat plowing through it. They’ll make it happen.

INSPIRATION: My grandfathers served in World War II,one specifically in naval aviation. When you look at theimpact that World War II [had], naval aviation’s part inthat was huge. The war started the whole expansion ofnaval aviation. Coming from an S-3 and then a P-3 back-ground, there’s a tremendous amount of heritage thatgoes back to World War II, where you’re out on patroland looking for subs and surface ships. It inspires me alot to think of what the folks ahead of us did. I’m hon-ored to be a part of that.

JANUARY 3, 1944Coast Guard Cmdr.Frank A. Ericksonperforms first helicopterlifesaving mission toSandy Hook, N.J.

JUNE 19–20, 1944During Battle ofPhilippine Sea, Navyfighters shoot downnearly 300 Japaneseaircraft.

OCTOBER 25, 1944Aircraft from escortcarriers help turn backJapanese surface group,including battleshipYamato, at battle ofSamar off Leyte Gulf.

NOVEMBER 14, 1944Cmdr. DavidMcCampbell, the Navy’shighest scoring ace,claimed his 34thaerial victory overJapanese aircraft.

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■ Maj. Will GrantMV-22B OSPREY PILOT

MARINE MEDIUM TILTROTOR SQUADRON 261

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C.

HOMETOWN: ALBANY, N.Y.

The first movie I ever remember going to was “TheRight Stuff.” I was 8 years old. In particular, the scenewhere the NASA scouts were on the carrier and ScottGlenn was the actor landing an A-4 on the carrier. Ithought that was pretty cool. I’ve always had a fasci-nation with flying. That just kind of sealed the deal.

Hornets at [Marine Corps Air Station] Miramar,Calif., was my first choice, but I flew EA-6Bs with anOperation Enduring Freedom deployment. I switchedto V-22s for two reasons. One was the need for volun-teers. The second part was my brother-in-law, a [CH-46] “Phrog” pilot, was transitioning to V-22s, so it

was a chance to bring a couple of families together. Iwas kind of fascinated with the technology as well. Tome, it’s more of an airplane than a helicopter. To yourPhrog guy it might be more of ahelicopter than an airplane. Weduke it out in the ready room andcome to a middle ground most ofthe time.

INSPIRATION: Vice Adm. JamesStockdale really stands out in mymind — the [operations off] YankeeStation and his ordeal as a POW inthe Vietnam War in particular, andthe books he has written, “Thoughtsof a Philosophical Fighter Pilot,”and another he and his wife co-wrote, [“In Love and War”]. U

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■ Lt. Cmdr. Brian MelloF/A-18C PILOT

STRIKE FIGHTER SQUADRON 131

NAVAL AIR STATION OCEANA, VA.

HOMETOWN: NEWPORT, R.I.

When I was a kid, I went to my first air show at QuonsetPoint, R.I. I saw the Blue Angels perform, I saw a Tomcatdo a demonstration. I was in awe watching the fighter

jets fly around. I alwayswanted to be part ofthat. My first tour wasas a damage-controlofficer on a destroyer. Iwent to flight schoolafter that.

When I come towork every day, I don’twork a 9-to-5 job be -hind a desk doing spe-

cific tasks. There’s always something new and excitingto do every day and it’s that that keeps me excited. I’vehad three combat tours so far. Besides landing on theboat at night, the most challenging thing we face is man-aging the other aspects of our job when we are gone foreight or nine hours a day on a combat flight. In our com-munity, we lean a lot on our chiefs and maintenanceofficers to run the squadron and handle all the day-to-day stuff while the pilots are airborne on a mission.

INSPIRATION: The guys who were aviators back in thelate ’50s and early ’60s, when the Mercury space pro-gram was coming online, guys like Alan Shepard whowere pioneers going into a field that had never beendone before, doing things that nobody had everthought possible. Also, my wife is actually related toVice Adm. Bill Lawrence, who was a prisoner of war inNorth Vietnam. He, along with guys like Vice Adm.Jim Stockdale, were amazing leaders, not only in theair, but also on the ground.


APRIL 7, 1945U.S. carrier aircraft sinkYamato, a light cruiserand four destroyersen route to Okinawa.

APRIL 24, 1946Chief of NavalOperations Fleet Adm.Chester Nimitz issuesdirective for flightdemonstration squadronthat would become theBlue Angels.

JULY 21, 1946First carrier landingof pure jet aircraft,onboard Franklin D.Roosevelt.

SEPTEMBER 29, 1946P2V-1 NeptuneTruculent Turtle flies11,235.6 miles fromPerth, Australia, toColumbus, Ohio.


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■ Sgt. Jacob Stinson MV-22B OSPREY CREW CHIEF

MARINE MEDIUM TILTROTOR SQUADRON 261

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C.

HOMETOWN: FORT WALTON BEACH, FLA.

I wanted to do a job that was challenging to my intel-lect. This job was open and a lot of my family isinvolved in aviation via the Air Force — my father wasan Air Force air traffic controller and my brother is anAir Force pilot — but I wanted to be a Marine, soMarine aviation made the fit for me.

Job satisfaction for me came mostly on deploymentwhen I actually was doing my job: flying missions,moving passengers and cargo that was really neededand vitally important; when I was able to actually uti-lize all the training for the mission over in Afghanistan.

The long hours are the most taxing part — the pre-flight and post-flight inspections especially when

you’re on a mission;cleaning your weaponspreflight, post-flight. Wehave mechanics whosesole job is to performmaintenance, but crewchiefs, when we’re notflying, are also expectedto help perform mainte-nance.

INSPIRATION: Flying inAfghanistan, [being] apart of something thatwas so important. A successful outcome was so impor-tant to the overall mission of the day. It really let meknow how important my job was, how important avi-ation was, and how much of an asset it is to the MarineAir-Ground Task Force.

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DECEMBER 1, 1947First experimentalMarine Corps helicoptersquadron commissioned,leading to vertical envel-opment concept.

APRIL 1, 1948Navy establishes firstoperational helicoptersquadron, HU-1.

JULY 3, 1950Valley Forge launchesNavy’s first air strikesin Korean War.

AUGUST 3, 1950Marine fighters offescort carrier Sicilyconduct first Marinecarrier-based strikesof Korean War.

■ Lt. Jason PohlEA-6B ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES OFFICER

ELECTRONIC ATTACK SQUADRON 142

NAVAL AIR STATION WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASH.

HOMETOWN: BRAINERD, MINN.

I used to work in the film business. What I like aboutnaval aviation is the diverse backgrounds of the avia-

tors. It’s funny how weall get together and endup having that sameshared experience as asingle unit. We just liketo fly. They let us takethese planes out andwork them. It’s prettyawesome to be allowedto do that.

Aside from landing on a carrier, which goes withoutsaying, in the EA-6B the part I find interesting is thatwe sit more or less like you would in a car. There is thechallenge of just coordinating with the front seats andthe back seats. It can be difficult to actually coordinateall your efforts in combat, to be able to get everybodyon the same page.

INSPIRATION: With my race, I’d pick Ensign Jesse L.Brown [the first black naval aviator, who died after hecrash-landed his F4U behind enemy lines in NorthKorea]. He was posed with all sorts of new problemsand issues — more than the standard folks back then.To top it off, the part I really like is that his wingman[Lt. j.g. Thomas J. Hudner Jr.] actually put his planedown to try to help him out [and was awarded theMedal of Honor]. They didn’t take into account race;they just did what they were supposed to. U

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■ Chief Naval AircrewmanMark Klingelheber MH-60S SAR CREWMAN

HELICOPTER SEA COMBAT SQUADRON 22


HOMETOWN: CUYAHOGA FALLS, OHIO

I wanted to do something with aviation. The ratingspecialist told me about helicopter search andrescue (SAR). That was right down my alley. I’vealways been the type of person who wanted to have theopportunity to help others.

I’ve flown in the H-46, UH-3 and now the MH-60S.What I like best is the variation of the different mis-sions we train for and fly, which are never routine. Thenext day is always different. We’re always training forthe next mission set.

Currently, I am the squadron’s tactics and trainingchief petty officer. The most challenging part, becausethe MH-60S is so diversified with all its mission sets, isnot only training the crews but keeping them profi-

cient so that when they deploy they can meet that mis-sion set, whether it’s logistics, SAR, force protection orspecial operations. The crews have to be ready to flexat a moment’s notice.

INSPIRATION: Recently, we had [a replica of] theoriginal Curtiss biplane in our hangar for a specialevent and we listened to the story of Eugene Ely, thefirst one to launch a Curtiss biplane from a ship. Theweather he had to dealwith, the basic instru-mentation, just to dothat and have thatforesight and know-how and to say, “Thisis what we can do,”inspires us to con-stantly push the enve-lope and expand thecapabilities of navalaviation. U

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■ Capt. Neil H. Brubeck F/A-18A++ PILOT

MARINE FIGHTER-ATTACK SQUADRON 115

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C.

HOMETOWN: CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS.

My dad was a Navy A-7 pilot and my grandfather wasan Army Air Corps pilot, so I wanted to continue in

their footsteps and be apart of a good team and dosomething challenging. Iwent to the Naval Aca -demy with the plan ofbeing a Navy aviator, butthrough interaction withthe Marines there I choseMarine aviation.

I enjoy the opportunityto work with other like-minded individuals whogenuinely care about what

they do, about being a Marine first and about our spe-cific mission of close air support for other Marines onthe ground. The most satisfying thing is to hear thegratitude in their voices on the radio when you’re in aposition to help those guys out. That’s what sets usapart. On almost every occasion, I either know theguys I’m talking to on the radio or I know somebodyin their unit, so it’s personal.

The most challenging thing is keeping up with theever-evolving threats and staying ahead of the game intactics. Being a good leader, staying engaged with allthe young Marines in the squadron, keeping that goodrapport. Definitely challenging, but rewarding as well.

INSPIRATION: Guys who I’ve flown with before: Lt.Cols. “Jerky” Johnson, “Howdy” Douds, “Sack” Rowelland “Beavis” Leibine. Those guys — my role models,my mentors — are the true, quiet professionals. Theygo out and they serve as they have done for the last 15-20 years. They’ve sacrificed a lot and they really inspireme to keep the legacy going.


NOVEMBER 9, 1950First jet-versus-jetcombat between U.S.Navy and Chinese fight-ers. Lt. Cmdr. WilliamT. Amen becomes firstU.S. naval aviator toshoot down a jet.

DECEMBER 4, 1950Ensign Jesse L. Brown,the first black navalaviator, dies after hisF4U is shot down overNorth Korea.

NOVEMBER 18, 1952Soviet MiGs engageNavy F9F Panthersoff Vladivostok, resultingin loss of two Sovietaircraft.

MAY 27, 1954Plans approved toinstall angled decksand hurricane bowson World War II-eraEssex-class carriers.


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■ Lt. Jessica S. DavilaMH-65C HELICOPTER COPILOT

COAST GUARD AIR STATION SAVANNAH, GA.

HOMETOWN: INVERNESS, FLA.

Flying helicopters was a dream of mine since I was inhigh school. I always told people I was going to be anFBI agent and fly helicopters for the agency. When Iwas in college, I had a friend in the Coast Guard whobrought me to Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala.,to see the Coast Guard helicopters. When I left thehangar, I knew then that I wanted to be a CoastGuard aviator.

Search and rescue, when it ends on a positive note,gives me the most job satisfaction. It’s a great feelingknowing I’m a part of an organization that saves lives.

We give people a chance to go homewhen they thought they wouldnever be able to.

INSPIRATION: The cruise shipPrinsendam rescue that took placeoff Ketchikan, Alaska, on Oct. 4,1980. The Coast Guard collaborat-ed with other agencies to affect therescue of all 520 passengers andcrew members from the burningship without loss of life. This caseis particularly inspiring because ofthe sheer number of people res-cued, the flawless coordination andinternational cooperation. U

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JUNE 1, 1954First steam catapultlaunch from an aircraftcarrier occurs whenHancock launchesan S2F Tracker.

OCTOBER 1, 1955Forrestal commissionedas first super carrier.

JULY 20, 1956Navy commissionsThetis Bay as firstassault helicoptercarrier.

OCTOBER 31, 1956R4D Skytrain trans-port aircraft lands atSouth Pole.

■ Lt. Wayne SparrowE-2C NAVAL FLIGHT OFFICER

CARRIER AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING SQUADRON 120


HOMETOWN: ROANOKE, VA.

Traditionally, most people join naval aviation becauseof the coolness factor. That’s pretty much why I joined.But then you realize that it’s much more than that. Ienjoy the flying aspect, but also, every day is different.The fact that you’re not just stuck in an office all dayand you get to do a lot of traveling, see a lot of placesand just work with a great group of professionals.

The biggest challenge today: with the tightening ofthe budget, it’s a challenge every day to do more withless money and aging equipment.

INSPIRATION: Operation El Dorado Canyon,[the April 1986] strike against Libya, with theAir Force andNavy combin-ing to do thestrike. It’s oneof those thingswith the flexi-bility — thatyou find in thejob all the time— you just dowhatever is ne -cessary to helpout the greatercause.

■ Lt. Eric BondurantSH-60B PILOT

HELICOPTER ANTISUBMARINE SQUADRON LIGHT 43

NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, CALIF.

HOMETOWN: HACIENDA HEIGHTS, CALIF.

My Army dad wanted me to go into the military. I wasaround aviation and planes for quite a bit traveling asa kid. I always wanted to just do my duty to the UnitedStates. What a better opportunity than to support it inaviation? It was really between the Air Force and theNavy. I found more heritage in naval aviation datingback from World War II to the current day, so it waswhat was more interesting to me.

I really wanted to fly fixed-wing jets, as most kidsdo when they see “Top Gun,” but as I was goingthrough flight school, I saw the type of flying that Iwould be doing in helicopters, flying by the seat of thepants, how naval aviation started with just stick-and-rudder skills. That was really appealing to me.

Every day there are personal re wards. Probably the

greatest benefits and feelings wereon my first deployment when Isupported hu mani tarian assistanceand disaster re lief off the coast ofSumatra, In donesia, dropping offrelief supplies, food and rice, see-ing the smiles on the faces of thekids and their families, who had es -sen tially nothing. Being able toshare those pictures and those sto-ries with our Sailors back on theboat was purely amazing.

INSPIRATION: Igor Sikorsky, who did a lot of greatthings for naval aviation by designing and developingsome of the first naval helicopters, like the HO3S-1Dragonfly that helped set the footprint for naval avia-tion. Here we are today, with helicopters that havecapability similar to a strike fighter, with the exceptionof [heavy] ordnance. Sikorsky really laid the founda-tion for us.

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JULY 16, 1957Marine Corps Maj.John Glenn Jr. breakstranscontinental speedrecord in 3 hours, 23minutes, in F8U-1PCrusader.

JULY 15, 1958Aircraft from Essex andSaratoga cover Marinelandings into Lebanon.

JUNE 19, 1959First ZPG-3W non-rigidairship delivered at NASLakehurst.

MAY 5, 1961Lt. Cmdr. Alan B.Shepard Jr. is firstAmerican in space.

Four Decadesof ChangeBy VICE ADM. DAVID ARCHITZEL

C elebrating the 100-yearanniversary of naval avia-tion this year provides an

opportunity to reflect on wherewe’ve been and where we’re headed,particularly in terms of technologyad vance ments. In November 1910,Eu gene Ely deck-launched from awood en platform mounted on thefore deck of a cruiser. Since then,numerous advancements in avia-tion tech nology have impacted andim proved the country’s global pres-ence and the security of the world’smaritime domain.

My own part of this story began in1973, when I graduated from the U.S.Naval Academy, and it continues tothis day. In my time in the Navy, I’veseen some dramatic changes in thetechnology associated with aircraft,launching and landing systems, anddata sharing and sensors. A generaltheme has been the transformationfrom multiple single-mission plat-

forms to a fewer number of highlycapable type/model/series aircraftoperating with multimission systems.

Aircraft SystemsWhen I reported to my first fleetsquadron in 1975 as an S-3 pilot, weembarked on USS Forrestal alongwith Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17. Atthe time, Forrestal carried about 84aircraft of various types, models andseries, some of which augmentedthe air wing from places ashore: F-4J, A-7E, A-3D, C-1, A-6E, KA-6D,RA-5C, E-2B, SH-3D and S-3A. Backthen, we needed many types of air-craft because each was designed towork autonomously to accomplish aspecific mission or warfare area.

Today, it’s a different story. USSEnterprise deployed in January 2011with CVW-1 embarked. That airwing has four F/A-18 Hornet squad -rons (three Navy and one Ma rine),an E-2C squadron, an EA-6B squad -

ron and an SH-60F/HH-60H squad -ron. That’s less than half as many air-craft types as we had on Forrestal.

Today’s aircraft are much morecomplex and designed to be used inmultiple missions and warfare areas.Because of that complexity, they mustbe capable of operating seamlesslywith other complex surface and airplatforms — including those from allthe U.S. services and coalition forces.And tomorrow’s fifth-generationfighter, the F-35 Lightning II JointStrike Fighter (JSF), and the P-8APoseidon must be even more inte-grated and interoperable.

The venerable Viking is now gonefrom the fleet, as are many of the air-craft I flew in the 1980s and 1990s.They have been replaced by morecapable platforms. In the 1970s,the SH-3, a system intended for anti-submarine warfare and search-and-rescue missions, served in tandemwith the SH-2 — a completely differ-


ent system intended solely for cruis-ers and frigates. Both aircraft wentout on missions and operated largelyauto no mously. Today, the MH-60R/Sfulfills the roles of both aircraft, andadds new capabilities such as anti-surface and mine warfare, and theability to work in an integrated fash-ion with other units across the carrierstrike group.

In the coming years, the JSF willjoin the fleet — the F-35C on ourcarriers and the F-35B on our large-deck amphibious assault ships.These aircraft will replace the AV-8Band legacy F/A-18 Hornets. JSF willfulfill the missions performed byfour different aircraft in my first airwing on Forrestal, and bring fifth-generation stealth and fusion tech-nology to the Navy/Marine Corpsteam for the first time. Unlike earlierair wings, or even those of today,tomorrow’s air wings will be madeup of a handful of airframes bringinga plethora of capabilities.

When I received my wings inNovember 1974 and headed to myfirst S-3 squadron, it never occurredto me that more than 30 years later afreshly winged pilot heading to his orher fleet readiness squadron might besharing airspace with unmanned air-craft. Today, unmanned systems per-form missions alongside manned air-craft, and new systems are addingeven more capability to the fleet. TheNavy’s first high-altitude, long-endurance intelligence, surveillanceand reconnaissance (ISR) capabilityhas been demonstrated through the

Broad Area Maritime SurveillanceDemonstrator, or BAMS-D. The oper-ational system, MQ-4C, will enter thefleet in the near future.

On one of my early Mediter-ranean deployments, my crew and Ilaunched off USS Saratoga south ofSicily and transited to the AtlanticOcean where we gained contact ona Soviet Echo II-class submarineabout 100 miles west of Rota, Spain.We were “on top” for several hoursand required multiple in-flight refu-elings during the 12-hour flight thatended when we returned to Si -gonella. Before leaving station, wehanded off contact to a P-3.

With both the P-8A Poseidon(which will replace the P-3) andBAMS, persistent netted surveillancescenarios like this will be more effi-cient and effective. The primary mis-sion of the MQ-4C is persistent ISRon the order of 25 or more hours onstation; it will cue both airborne andalert P-8 crews to contacts of interestin the maritime domain.

Perhaps no aircraft better illus-trates the interaction between con-tinuity and change in naval avia-tion in the past 40 years than theE-2 Hawkeye. Already an indispen-sable part of the fleet for more thana decade by the time I earned mywings, the E-2 still serves as theNavy’s primary airborne earlywarning aircraft. Externally, all thevarious models of the E-2 largelyresemble each other. Today’s E-2D,however, is a completely differentsystem from its predecessors.

The D has an all-glass, all-digitalcockpit. The new APY-9 radar pro-vides longer range surveillance, abetter overland capability and asuperior ability to find small targetsthan the APS-145 of the E-2C. Andthe Cooperative Engagement Capa -bility, introduced in the E-2C, pro-vides automatic, real-time datasharing among surface and air plat-forms that integrates the E-2 and allstrike group components.

Launching & LandingSystemsThe current aircraft launch systemfor all the Navy’s aircraft carriers — asit was when I first entered the Navy— is the steam catapult. However,over time, aircraft have been gettingheavier, needing higher launch


NOVEMBER 25, 1961Enterprise commissionedas world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

FEBRUARY 20, 1962Lt. Col. Glenn completesU.S. space program’sfirst orbital flight.

OCTOBER 15, 1962Navy RF-8A Crusadersbegin collecting vitalphotography validatingthe Soviet missile threatin Cuba.

AUGUST 5, 1964Navy aircraft attackNorth Vietnamesebases after TonkinGulf incident.

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speeds (or greater wind over deck),with the result that launch energyrequirements have approached thelimits of the steam catapult’s capacity.

The Electromagnetic AircraftLaunch System (EMALS) is a newcarrier-based launch system designedfor the Gerald R. Ford class. EMALSis designed to achieve increased sor-tie rates and reliability, while reduc-ing operational and support costs,providing better control of the launchforces, and minimizing wear and tearon carrier-based aircraft. The systemwill provide the capability for launch-ing all current and future carrier airwing platforms. Its mission and func-tion remains the same as the steamcatapult. EMALS uses stored kineticenergy and solid-state electrical

power conversion. This technologypermits a high degree of computercontrol, monitoring and automation.

EMALS is highly modular, espe-cially in the power-conversion sub-systems. Maintainability and sup -porta bility are enhanced by thismodularity. A single EMALS cata-pult is ac tually supported by fourindependent power trains. Shouldany one power train fail, theremaining three will provide ampleenergy to safely complete the cata-pult launch cycle. This motor re -dundancy will increase EMALS’high launch critical reliability.

The program entered full systemfunctional demonstration in Sep -tember 2010 and launched its firstaircraft, an F/A-18E Super Hornet,

on Dec. 18, 2010. Delivery of thefirst ship components to Gerald R.Ford, currently under construction,will begin in 2011.

The process of landing aircraftaboard ship also has undergonetremendous change. As a memberof CVW-17 in the mid-1970s, Itrusted the precision approachradars aboard Forrestal and the con-trollers in the Carrier Air TrafficControl Center to provide me withthe information I needed to getaboard safely, especially at night.

The two-channel, SPN-42 (nowSPN-46) “needles” Automatic Car -rier Landing System was a radar-based system that could track twoaircraft at a time, one per channel.The radar scanned an area aft of theship based on known aircraft alti-tude. Once the aircraft flew into theradar’s search window, it would belocked on by a controller who usedazimuth and elevation referencemarks to determine aircraft positionrelative to optimum glide slope.When conducting a nighttime CaseIII recovery with several aircraftlined up behind the ship at 2-mileintervals, only the closest two aircraftwould be locked on by the SPN-42and be able to receive precisionapproach information.

The Joint Precision Approachand Landing System (JPALS) re -moves the radar component of car-rier landing systems and replaces itwith four Global Positioning Sys -tem (GPS) receivers mounted onthe ship’s mast. Each receiver con-

JUNE 17, 1965First confirmed air-to-airkills of Vietnam Waroccur when two F-4BPhantoms from Midwaydown two MiG-17s.

MAY 11, 1966Marine Corps uses aland-based catapult tolaunch A-4 Skyhawksinto combat in Vietnam.

JUNE 16, 1966Carrier aircraft beginsustained operationsagainst North Viet-namese petroleumfacilities.

AUGUST 30, 1966Naval aviators beginflying UH-1B Hueyhelicopters to supportriverine operationsin Vietnam.


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An F/A-18F Super Hornet and a Korean War-vintage F4U Corsair fly in forma-tion during the Navy Legacy Flight at the 2005 Air Power Over HamptonRoads air show held at Langley Air Force Base, Va.


ducts survey mapping to determineits distance from the optimumtouchdown point on the flight deck.

The two most accurate receivers,based on the quality of satellitereception, self-select to provide shiplocation data to aircraft on approachvia an encrypted UHF data link.Aircraft location, determined byGPS re ceivers on the aircraft, is mar-ried up with the ship’s location tocalculate the optimum flight path totouchdown. Once fielded, JPALSwill be able to conduct Mode I(fully automa tic) approaches all theway to touchdown for those aircraftthat are Mode I certified.

JPALS offers numerous advan-tages over radar-based approach sys-tems. Radar lock-ons to specific air-craft on final approach are no longerrequired. All aircraft configured withJPALS on final approach will receivelanding information simultaneously.Final controllers no longer have toperform the 27 separate actions nec-essary to acquire, lock-on and“drive” aircraft to touchdown. Forthem, JPALS is hands-free. Beamsteering facilitates satellite acquisi-tion and tracking, and a nulling fea-ture discounts any informationreceived from jammed satellites.

JPALS is being installed in twoincrements: 1A — ship (carriersand amphibious assault ships) —and 1B — aircraft. Ship installationswill begin in 2012 aboard USSGeorge H.W. Bush and aircraft instal-lations will begin in 2016 with theMH-60 Seahawk helicopter.

The final part of the aircraft-recovery process is the AdvancedArresting Gear (AAG), a modular,integrated system consisting of cableshock absorbers, energy absorbers,power conditioning equipment, athermal management system anddigital controls. This is designed toreplace existing Mk-7 arresting gearwhen landing fixed-wing tailhook-equipped aircraft at sea.

The Mk-7 system on Nimitz-class carriers, a linear hydraulic sys-tem that is very labor intensive forboth operations and maintenance,will be replaced with the AAG sys-tem during planned upgrades. TheAAG system will be installed firston Gerald R. Ford.

Data Management &SensorsIn the 1970s, aircraft and ships hadlimited ability to communicate witheach other and share data. Today,mul ti ple systems connect air and sur-face platforms in real time. The com-plexity of air operations aboard navalaircraft carriers requires accurate,continuous and timely informationdistribution to all work centersrequiring vital data. Existing ship-board information-management sys-tems do not seamlessly support wea -pon, maintenance, flight deck con-trol, flight operations and shipboardplanning operational requirements.

The Aviation Data Managementand Control System (ADMACS) is atactical, real-time internal data-man-agement system that connects a car-

rier’s air department, ship divisionsand Sailors who manage aircraftlaunch-and-recovery operations.ADMACS communicates aviationand command-related data acrossthe system’s local area network andthe integrated shipboard networksystem. The position and location ofthe aircraft on flight and hangardecks are then electronically dis-played in the flight deck controlroom. ADMACS also displays theaircraft’s status, status of launch-and-recovery equipment, fuel, weapontypes and quantities, and other avia-tion and ship-related information.

The primary goal of the ADMACSprogram is to improve ship air oper-ation effectiveness and reduce work-load through process automation,optimization and integration of key

JULY 29, 1967Forrestal Sailors over-come major fire to saveship, but lose 134 crewmembers and embarkedair wing personnel.

APRIL 25, 1968VA-176 retires Navy’slast operational piston-engine attack aircraft —A-1 Skyraider.

JUNE 19, 1968Daring helicopterrescue deep over NorthVietnam earns Lt. j.g.Clyde E. Lassen Medalof Honor.

APRIL 14, 1969North Korean aircraftshoot down a NavyEC-121 aircraft overthe Sea of Japan, withloss of 31 crewmen.

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A Boeing P-8A Poseidon, the Navy’snext generation long-range anti-submarine warfare and maritimepatrol aircraft, conducts a test flightnear Seattle June 5, 2009.


operational systems. Installation ofADMACS is ongoing. By 2015, allactive-duty carriers will be equippedwith the ADMACS Block 2 system,and by 2017 the Block 3 system —which will provide an interface fordata sharing between systems suchas the EMALS, AAG, JPALS and theMoriah Wind System — will be inoperation.

Today’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornetsare equipped with AdvancedTargeting Forward Looking Infrared(ATFLIR), an electro-optical target-ing pod incorporating an infrared,low-light television camera, laserrange finder/target designator, andlaser spot tracker. A video transmis-sion system now makes it possible todown-link streaming ATFLIR videoto troops on the ground, enablingreal-time, coordinated target identifi-cation and acquisition. Joint TacticalAir Controllers use the RemotelyOperated Video Enhanced Receiver,or ROVER, to talk Hornet pilots ontotargets of opportunity in real time.

Super Hornets are also equippedwith the Shared Reconnaissance Pod(SHARP) which replaced the F-14Tactical Airborne ReconnaissancePod System. SHARP’s low-rateimagery transfer sends real-timeelectro-optic and infrared video toanalysts at the Combined Air Opera -tions Center, who determine thelevel of risk in high-threat areas.

When I started flying 36 yearsago, the best we could do with ourFLIR was record the footage onfilm and bring it back to the intel-

ligence specialists in the CombatVisual Information Center fortime-late analysis. With ATFLIRand SHARP, we have the ability toprovide real-time targeting and sur-veillance information to those whoneed it most — when they need it.

Throughout the 100 years ofnaval aviation, change has been aconstant. Technological advance-ments have allowed us to expand theranges, capabilities and endurance ofaircraft in ways the early pioneers offlight could only dimly imagine.Every aviator who’s made climbinginto aircraft his or her profession —no matter how long or short a career

— has witnessed extraordinarydevelopments. As we enter the sec-ond century of naval aviation, thatchange will continue, as will theunswerving dedication of the menand women who design, test, oper-ate and maintain the aircraft of theNavy and Marine Corps. ■

Vice Adm. David Architzel is commander,Naval Air Systems Command, and for-mer commanding officer of Sea ControlSquadron 30, USS Theodore Rooseveltand USS Guam. Over the course of hiscareer as an aviator, he accumulatedmore than 5,000 flying hours in the S-3Viking and 30 other aircraft types.

JULY 11, 1969Korean War navalaviator Neil Armstrongfirst human to stepon Moon.

JANUARY 6, 1971Marine Corps receivesfirst AV-8A Harrier jetcapable of verticallaunch and landing.

MAY 8, 1972Navy and MarineCorps attack aircraftbegin mining approachesto Haiphong Harbor inNorth Vietnam.

MAY 10, 1972Eight North VietnameseMiGs fall to Navyfighters. Lt. R.H.Cunningham andLt. j.g. W.P. Driscollbecome aces.


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OCTOBER 5, 1973Midway arrives atYokosuka, Japan, asfirst overseas home-ported Navy aircraftcarrier.

FEBRUARY 22, 1974Lt. j.g. Barbara AnnAllen becomes firstwoman to earn Wingsof Gold.

MAY 3, 1975Nimitz, lead ship ofa class of 10 nuclearsuper carriers, iscommissioned.

MAY 29, 1976Helicopter assaultship Tarawa commis-sioned as first of newline of amphibiousassault ships.

A 30-YearRetrospectiveBy VICE ADM. JOHN P. CURRIER

S tanding on the hangar deckat Air Station Cape Cod,Mass., in the spring of 1978,

I had the privilege to observe my firstawards ceremony as a newly com-missioned Coast Guard aviator. As Istood proudly at attention in myfreshly starched uniform, my butterbars gleaming, and sporting shinyand fresh wings, I tried to mask myanxiety, standing among more expe-rienced and senior compatriots.

Adding to the intimidation fac-tor, standing to my left was a DirectCommission aviator who had beenan Army combat veteran duringVietnam, and to my right was agrizzled Coast Guard aviator whohad survived multiple tours in theunforgiving Alaskan environment.Both wore the Distinguished FlyingCross (DFC) device, and one aSilver Star, on their dress canvas.

The ceremony continued withthe award of a DFC to the pilot of

one of our own helicopters, whohad flown through a Nor’easter torescue the crew of a coastal tankerthat was breaking up in high seas.The realization struck me that I wasabout to be initiated into the uniquecommunity of Coast Guard search-and-rescue (SAR) pilots.

Now, I am able to recall that dayin retrospect through the lens of a34-year career as an officer and avi-ator in one of the finest institutionsof our government. From thosedays when SAR was the single, pre-eminent mission, I have watchedCoast Guard aviation progress intoa unique instrument in our nation’sarsenal for ensuring maritime safe-ty and security. Our capabilities,assets and, most importantly, peo-ple have progressed and developedrapidly into a multimission forceable to respond to virtually any cri-sis our nation could face on or nearits shores.

In the context of many years ofexperience, I have witnessed theeffective total force response tothreats as diverse as the MarielBoatlift (1980), the Exxon Valdezenvironmental catastrophe (1989),the loss of the liner Prinsendam inthe Gulf of Alaska (1980), the cat-aclysm of Hurricane Katrina(2005) and, most recently, theDeep water Horizon oil well failurein the Gulf of Mexico last year.Concurrently, with these mile-stone events, we have developedunique capabilities to partner withfederal law enforcement and theU.S. Navy to interdict illegal nar-cotics and counter mass migrationincidents at sea.

One might ask what has enabledthe Coast Guard and its aviationcomponent to evolve into the agileand capable force that it is today.The answer to that question re -quires a walk in time with a view of


the events that spurred the devel-opment of this growth.

First, one must understand theculture of the Coast Guard. Formedthrough an amalgamation of severalfederal agencies from the mid-19thcentury through the days followingWorld War II, the modern CoastGuard emerged with a strong first-response ethic. We are all orientedtoward responding to crisis with asmall, capable, well-organized andeffective force package that is ableto operate autonomously and adaptto handle any emergent situation.This attribute was certainly evidentin the U.S. Lifesaving Service andthe Revenue Cutter Service, two ofthe principal forbearers of today’sCoast Guard.

A second element that has con-tributed to the aviation capabilityof today is the evolution of the air-plane and helicopter. As naval avi-ation celebrates its centennial,Coast Guard aviation remains anintegral component, along withthat of our Navy and Marine Corpsbrethren. Our people, officers andenlisted, have been integral in thedevelopment of long-range searchaircraft and short- to medium-range helicopters employed in SARand law enforcement.

From the story of Coast GuardLt. Elmer Stone and his role aspilot of the Navy’s NC-4 under thecommand of Navy Lt. Cmdr. A.C.Read in their epic first crossing ofthe Atlantic, to the achievementsof pioneers including Coast Guard

Cmdr. Frank Erickson and Lt.Steward Graham in the develop-ment of the helicopter for not onlySAR, but anti-submarine warfare,medevac and firefighting, theCoast Guard has contributed mate-rially to the evolution of modernflying machines. In our applica-tion, the helicopter was developedas an extension of the coastalsurf/rescue boat combining air andsurface capabilities to perform themost challenging rescues.

There are numerous examplesof the Coast Guard’s outstandingrecord of contribution in the devel-opment of aircraft and their spe-cialized use. I have the privilege ofcalling Stewart Graham a friend.Now in his 94th year, he lives qui-etly on a lake in Maine. His person-al contribution to rotary-wingflight in the development of ourmodern machines, as well as thetactics and techniques that areused in air/sea rescue today, cannotbe overstated.

He was directly involved in theinvention of the rescue hoist, thebasket, litter, pop-out floats andmost of the techniques used inhoisting operations to this day. Hewas among the first to land heli-copters in the water and aboardship, pioneering the use of the hel-icopter in the protection of con-voys from U-boats in the dark daysof World War II.

Stewart is able to recall virtuallyall of his flight activities in incred-ible detail, as if they were yester-

day. Listening to him recount hisadventures is to witness living his-tory. What I mention here is but asmall number of his monumentalachievements in the developmentof today’s helicopter, not just CoastGuard but in all applications. As aproject officer for the acquisition ofour HH-60J during the late 1980s,I wasn’t surprised to hear thatStewart Graham was still held inthe highest esteem by the people atSikorsky for his early pioneeringefforts in partnership with iconsIgor and his son, Sergei, whoserved as a petty officer secondclass in the Coast Guard.


NOVEMBER 18, 1978First F-18 prototypemakes first flight.

APRIL 24, 1980Eight RH-53 Sea Stallionhelicopters off Nimitzparticipate in failedIranian hostage-rescueattempt. One helicopteris lost in a collision witha U.S. Air Force C-130.

APRIL 12–14, 1981First Space ShuttleColumbia flight conduct-ed, with Capt. John W.Young and Capt. RobertL. Crippen onboard.

AUGUST 19, 1981Two F-14s shoot downtwo Libyan Su-22 fight-ers after being firedon over the Gulf of Sidra.

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Vice Adm. John P. Currier, CoastGuard chief of staff.


Another significant enhance-ment of our aviation capabilitiesbegan 26 years ago, in response to achallenging rescue mission in verydemanding weather that resulted insignificant loss of life. In 1995, theCoast Guard designed and imple-mented a helicopter rescue swim-mer program based on equipmentand tactics used in the U.K. RoyalNavy and Canadian Air Force.From very humble beginnings, therescue swimmers of today areamong the world’s very best.

Deployed from HH-60 and HH-65helicopters, they have routinely per-formed incredible feats in rescuingstranded mariners from near impos-sible conditions. Theirs is the stuff of

legend as told in the hit Hollywoodmovie The Guardian. I can state fromexperience that the movie’s depictionof storm-tossed seas and the chal-lenges of heavy weather search andrescue were quite true to life.

It was a privilege for me to partic-ipate in the 25th anniversary celebra-tion of the Coast Guard rescue swim-mer program last year at ElizabethCity, N.C. The plank owners in theestablishment of this program, suchas Coast Guard Master Chiefs LarryFarmer, Darryl Gelakoska and ScottDyer, as well as retired Capt. DanaGoward, among others, were vision-aries to be sure. Their collectiveefforts have saved thousands of livesover the past quarter century.

Coast Guard aviation has alsocontributed two pilots to the NASAastronaut program. We were allproud to see Bruce Melnick andDan Burbank “break the bonds” insuch a spectacular manner on sev-eral Shuttle missions. Of particularinterest was Melnick’s adaptationof standard helicopter hoist termi-nology to operate the robotic armduring a satellite-repair mission.

More recent achievements inrotary-wing development includethe arming of helicopters to count-er aggressive narcotics traffickingactivities in the Caribbean andEastern Pacific. While our ship/helicopter teams had evolved aneffective detection and monitoringcapability in countering small, fast,drug-carrying craft (“go-fasts”),interdiction of these vessels becameproblematic, particularly when thecutter was out of position. Manycases were documented where ahelicopter and a fixed-wing patrolaircrew watched helplessly as theirprey escaped.

The solution was the establish-ment of the Helicopter InterdictionSquadron (HITRON), formed todetect, engage and, if necessary,stop go-fasts using warning shotsand precision fire. This programhas been uniquely successful.HITRON’s pilots and crew now fly-ing the MH-65 have a near-perfectrecord of stopping or disablinghighly suspect vessels. Their con-tribution has enhanced the effec-tiveness of the ship-helicopter

OCTOBER 25–27, 1983Navy and Marine Corpsaircraft play pivotalsupport roles duringOperation Urgent Fury,the liberation of Grenada.

DECEMBER 4, 1983Aircraft offIndependence andJohn F. Kennedyattack Syrian positionsin Lebanon, with lossof two aircraft.

OCTOBER 10, 1985F-14s intercept andforce down EgyptAir Boeing 737 flightcarrying terrorists whohijacked cruise shipAchille Lauro.

MARCH 24–25, 1986Naval aircraft destroytwo Libyan vessels andattack shore sites inresponse to Libyanprovocations.


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A helicopter crew from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron Jackson -ville fires warning shots across the bow of a noncompliant boat during airborneuse of force training off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 24, 2009.


team throughout the transit zonesand kept literally tons of narcoticsfrom our streets.

Our fixed-wing communitieshave progressed as well. In the1980s, the Coast Guard developed avery sophisticated interceptor sys-tem for use against narco-traffickingvia aircraft from the deep Car -ibbean. HU-25 Falcon jets wereretro fitted with fighter/interceptorradar, the same found on the F-16Fighting Falcon. For several years,the Falcon stood strip alert at AirStation Miami and at varied loca-tions including Guantana mo Bay,Cuba, and Providenciales andBorinquen, Puerto Rico. In closecooperation with the U.S. CustomsService, Joint Inter-Agency TaskForce South and other agencies,the HU-25 was very effective inthwarting the airborne threat axis.While commanding officer at CoastGuard Air Station Miami, I partici-pated in the demanding night inter-cept mission.

During the 1990s, the HC-130Hwas fitted with a very capable syn-thetic aperture radar, forward-looking infrared and other sensorsintegrated into a system calledCASPER. Deployed to the EasternPa cific and Gulf of Mexico,CASPER-equipped HC-130s wereuniquely effective in airborne detec-tion and surveillance. With the addi-tion of the HC-130J to the mix andinstallation of a modernized radar inthe C-130H, our fleet will remainmission effective for years to come.

Building on the basic HH-60Jand HH-65A airframes, our heli-copters have been modernized intoMH-60Ts and MH-65C/Ds andenhanced through a series of blockupgrades conducted at the AviationLogistics Center (ALC) at Eliza -beth City. In my opinion, ALC ishome to a dedicated band of

skilled engineers and craftsmenwho border on magicians when itcomes to aircraft modification andmaintenance. They are the unsungheroes of Coast Guard aviation.

Additional rotary-wing capabili-ties have included an airborne-use-of-Force package that built uponthe lessons learned from HITRON.

APRIL 15, 1986Aircraft from carriersAmerica and Saratogaparticipate in OperationEl Dorado Canyonstrikes against Libya.

APRIL 18, 1988A-6E attack aircraftfrom Enterprise helpsink an Iranian frigateand severely damageanother in OperationPraying Mantis.

MAY 23, 1988First V-22 Ospreytiltrotor rolls out ofproduction plant.

OCTOBER 6–10, 1990Cmdr. Bruce E. Melnickis first Coast Guardaviator in space as crewmember on ShuttleDiscovery flight.


At several critical ports around thecountry, Coast Guard helicoptersare able to offer gunship capabilityas an option to regional command-ers. In response to a critical need toprotect the National CapitalRegion from low/slow aviationthreats, a very sophisticated set oftactics was developed and termedRotary Wing Air Intercept. Thispackage works closely in conjunc-tion with the Department ofDefense to protect critical nationalassets, both people and infrastruc-ture. We routinely deploy thiscapability at the request of theSecret Service.

Recently, we began acceptanceof the HC-144 Ocean Sentry. Thisreplacement medium-range sur-veillance aircraft is the combina-tion of a proven airframe, withmodern avionics and sensors.Although slower than the HU-25that it replaces, the HC-144 prom-ises to be more suitable for longer-range missions, with on-scene loi-ter capability. The sensors arematuring into a most useful assetfor both tactical mission accom-plishment, as well as the provisionof critical information to opera-tional commanders. The OceanSentry performed admirably dur-ing the Deepwater Horizon oil spillresponse in the Gulf of Mexico.

My observations only touch on afew of the changes, enhancementsand evolution of today’s CoastGuard aviation component. Whilewe have come a long way from pis-

ton aircraft and analog radios, thehazards associated with flight oper-ations remain the great equalizer.Flying in poor weather, icing con-ditions, severe turbulence and highwinds over the sea or at night de -mands the utmost from our air-crews. These risks can only be over-come by dedicated individuals whohave the knowledge, skills and abil-ities to assess and overcomethrough teamwork. Our flight oper-ations have always been, and willcontinue to be, high-risk opera-tions conducted by talented anddedicated aviation professionals.

In retrospect, it is clear to methat high-quality people are theessential element in the success ofthis enterprise. As I look aroundour aviation community today, Isee young people who are just ascommitted and dedicated as wewere 30 years ago. For the CoastGuard, and the next 100 years ofnaval aviation, the sky is the limitand the future is bright.

Semper Paratus. ■

Vice Adm. John P. Currier is chief ofstaff, U.S. Coast Guard.

JANUARY 2–5, 1991Marine helicoptersevacuate U.S. citizensand foreign nationalsfrom Somalia amidcivil war.

JANUARY 17, 1991Aircraft from four air-craft carriers launchattacks against Iraqduring opening phasesof Operation DesertStorm. Six carriers even-tually would participate.

DECEMBER 8, 1991Lexington, the lastoperational Essex-classcarrier, is decommis-sioned.

JANUARY 13, 1993Aircraft from KittyHawk make strikesagainst Iraq forviolations of southernno-fly zone.


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A Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry flies over the drillship DiscovererEnterprise June 28, 2010, as part of the response to the Deepwater Horizonoil spill. Coast Guard aircraft flew continuously over the Gulf of Mexico to findlocations of heavy oil on the ocean surface and communicated the coordinatesto vessels so they could skim the oil during the worst spill in U.S. history.


APRIL 12, 1993NATO commencesOperation Deny Flightover Bosnia-Herzegovina,incorporating a dozenF/A-18s from TheodoreRoosevelt.

MAY 21, 1996Marine helicopters andC-130s engage in month-long evacuation ofAmericans and foreignnationals from CentralAfrican Republic.

MARCH 13–26, 1997Marine helicoptershelp with evacuationsin Albania.

FEBRUARY 28, 1997Fleet squadron VA-75retires Navy’s last A-6Intruder attack aircraft.

N aval aviation is a story ofvision, courage, innova-tion and adventure.

Throughout this centennial year,we celebrate our history, honor ourheritage and look to the future.

Just 100 years ago, the battle-ship Navy dominated strategy andbudget decisions. Flying wasviewed as a minor capability thathad limited potential for scoutingpurposes, and the General Board ofthe Navy declared in 1916 that,“Aeronautics does not offer aprospect of becoming the principalmeans of exercising compellingforce against the enemy.”

But as we know, naval aviationhas proven its strategic worth byenhancing the Navy’s ability toconduct its missions.

A navy exists to influence coali-tions by building or disruptingthem, and to influence the sealanes of commerce by opening or

closing them. Over the last 100years, naval aviation has steadilyexpanded the area that our navalships can influence, from the lineof sight in the crow’s nest to hun-dreds of miles across the sea andinland, and we will continue toexpand that area of influence.

Today, naval aviation is capableof supporting missions across thefull spectrum of operations anddelivering flexible, agile, immedi-ately responsive and persistentcombat power from the sea basearound the world. From the pitch-ing deck of an aircraft carrier in theNorth Arabian Sea, Navy and Ma -rine Corps aircrews fly missionshundreds of miles inland to provide24/7 close air support for coalitionforces on the ground in close con-tact with the enemy in Afghanistan.At the same time, Air AmbulanceDetachments, operating from dusty,remote forward operating bases,

evacuate hundreds of patients,while maritime patrol aircraft pro-vide reliable reconnaissance, mar-itime security and counterpiracyoperations support.

Our global presence, includingthe overseas-based USS GeorgeWashington Carrier Strike Groupand forward deployed naval forcesconstantly on station in the Pacific,ensures that anytime, anywhere,we can respond to our nation’s call,whether it be to deter aggression orto provide comfort and hope in thewake of disaster.

We are fiercely proud of our richheritage, and as we celebrate 100years of accomplishment, we look tothe challenges of the future. Theready strength of a flexible, forwardNavy remains vital to our nationalinterests, and the capability residentwithin naval aviation will ensure ourNavy continues to deliver effects inan expanding area of influence.

Continuing aProud LegacyBy VICE ADM. ALLEN G. MYERS



Naval aviation is poised to startits next century executing long-planned-for modernization inevery flying community, bringingincreased capabilities, range andmultimission performance toenhance the effects we deliverfrom the sea. The Maritime PatrolCommunity begins its transitionlater this year.

Replacing the P-3C Orion asa long-range anti-submarine war-fare (ASW), anti-surface warfare(ASUW), intelligence, surveillanceand reconnaissance aircraft, the P-8A

Poseidon will be capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operationsthat will integrate this incrediblycapable platform with the carrierstrike group. This is the first Navycombat aircraft that has been builtfrom the ground up on a commercialproduction line.

By leveraging Boeing’s commer-cial 737 airframe and aircraft sys-tems, the program will reduce timeand overall cost for the Navy as weplan for a buy of 117 Poseidon air-craft. With the first fleet deliveryscheduled this year, we look for-

ward to reaching initial operatingcapability (IOC) with the firstsquadron deploying in 2013.

In terms of personnel and air-frames, rotary-wing aviation is thefastest growing community innaval aviation. By 2020, helicopterpilots will account for greater than50 percent of all naval aviators.The range of mission sets providedby Navy helicopters in support ofthe Maritime Strategy has madethem a vital asset to the fleet.

The rotary wing extends theactionable range of a ship and canserve as an ASW, ASUW and minecountermeasure (MCM) platform,and also conduct search-and-rescue (SAR) and logistics opera-tions. The advances of the MH-60R/S greatly enhance the capabil-ities of the rotary-wing communi-ty, and with the continued imple-mentation of the Helicopter Con -cept of Operations, the carrier airwing as well.

Further enhancing the capabili-ty of the strike group, the E-2DAdvanced Hawkeye will provideenhanced, network-enabled long-range sensors for unmatched com-mand and control. As the eyes andears of the fleet, the AdvancedHawkeye brings game-changingcapability. It provides maritimeairborne early warning and com-mand and control, and communi-cation relays to long-range surveil-lance in the littoral waters, as wellas to strike support over land. Italso supports irregular missions,

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MAY 29, 1997Marine helicoptersassist in evacuationsin Sierra Leone.

DECEMBER 16–19, 1998Air attacks initiallylaunched from Enterpriseattack targets in Iraq aspart of Operation DesertFox. Navy femaleaviators fly in combatfor first time.

MARCH 24, 1999Aircraft from TheodoreRoosevelt play key rolesin 78-day NATO aircampaign against Serbia.P-3s launch StandoffLand-Attack Missilesagainst Serbian targets.

MAY 14, 1999The Marine Corps takesdelivery of firstMV-22B Osprey.

Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers, commander, Naval Air Forces, and Naval Air Force,U.S. Pacific Fleet.


such as drug interdiction, withcapabilities two generations be -yond those provided in the vener-able E-2C Hawkeye.

We marked fleet delivery in agrand ceremony in Norfolk, Va.,last July. And as the pilots and air-crew at VAW-120 (the E-2/C-2Fleet Replacement Squadron) trainin the aircraft, we progress steadilycloser to IOC in 2013 with VAW-121’s fleet deployment.

Also ongoing is the transitionfrom the EA-6B Prowler to the EA-18G Growler, which will serve asthe nation’s foremost platform fortactical airborne electronic attack, aNavy core competency. Em ployingthe Super Hornet airframe, its state-of-the-art weapons systems alsobring greater efficiency through 90percent parts commonality andreduced operational crew size.While we have already noted thesuccesses of the Growler in theexpeditionary environment, welook forward to the first Fleetdeployment later this year whenVAQ-141 deploys as part of theCVW-8/USS George H.W. Bush team.

Equally important is the life-cycle management of our F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, which offerinherent flexibility as multimissionaircraft. They enable carrier strikegroups to execute the full range ofcore capabilities as well as interop-erability of other tactical air(TACAIR) assets within the strikegroup and joint forces, and withour allies at sea and ashore. Withtheir longer range, greater payloadand ability to refuel other aircraft,they provide reassurance to allies,deter potential adversaries andproject power in support of ourcoalition forces on the ground.

The Super Hornet is a reliableplatform that does it all — airsuperiority, fighter escort, recon-naissance, air defense suppressionsand day or night precision strike— and will make up half our

TACAIR strength as we begin totransition to the Navy variant ofthe F-35 Lightning II Joint StrikeFighter, the F-35C.

Naval aviation’s legacy of inno-vation and technology advance-ments continues with the F-35C.We eagerly watch the progress ofthe ongoing test flights at PatuxentRiver, Md. The F-35C is a fifth-generation strike fighter, and itscapabilities will truly change how apilot flies and fights this aircraftthrough its sensor integrationpackage, which synthesizes datainput from multiple sources. TheF-35C and its generational leaps intechnology and capability are a keycomponent to naval aviation’sfuture ability to deliver effects fromthe sea base.

When the F-35C reaches thefleet, we also will be welcoming thenext-generation aircraft carrier, theFord-class carrier. As constructioncontinues apace for the lead ship inthe class, CVN 78, so do the ad -vanced systems being developedfor it, most notably the Electromag-netic Aircraft Launching System,which has already conducted testlaunches.

Equally important has been thenews of the X-47B’s first flight inearly February. This is a key step inour effort to incorporate un -manned systems onto the flightdeck by 2018. As we make pro -gress in the development ofUCLASS (Unmanned Carrier-Launch ed Airborne Surveillance

APRIL 1, 2001A Chinese F-8 fightercollides with a Navy EP-3E Aries II surveillanceplane in internationalairspace, forcing U.S.plane to land on HainanIsland.

OCTOBER 7, 2001Enterprise and CarlVinson launch strikesagainst Taliban inAfghanistan as part ofOperation EnduringFreedom.

MARCH 21, 2003Aircraft from AbrahamLincoln, Constellation,Kitty Hawk, Harry S.Truman and TheodoreRoosevelt participate inOperation Iraqi Freedom“Shock and Awe” attacks.

APRIL 3, 2003Marine AV-8B Harriersparticipate in major airstrikes against Talibantargets in Afghanistan.


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MH-60R Seahawk helicopters fly intandem during section landings atNaval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.,June 10, 2009.

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and Strike systems), other unman-ned combat air systems also are indevelopment and operational test-ing. The Broad Area Maritime Sur -veillance system has been widelysuccessful in its demonstration —proving constant value to the com-batant commander as it deliveredeffect hundreds of miles inland.

Fire Scout is an unmannedrotary-wing asset that has alreadylogged more than a thousand flighthours. Fire Scout also will operatefrom the Littoral Combat Ship, to

complement our manned rotary-wing assets and yield a more effi-cient use of our aviation platforms.

Unmanned systems will certainlyplay a complementary role in navalaviation’s future and we are activelyworking on how this “family of sys-tems” will become integrated intofleet operations. For many mis-sions, such as those requiringextended time on station to conductsurveillance and reconnaissance, anunmanned platform offers an effi-cient and logical solution.

The challenge will be in deter-mining how to integrate this familyof unmanned systems with mannedaircraft efficiently and effectivelyleverage the most out of both. Whiletechnology continues to evolve sothat a UCLASS operates as part ofthe carrier air wing, there willremain a need for accountability forthe employment of weapons. Theexcitement and the challenge will bedetermining where that decisionmaker is located — whether ashore,on the carrier or even as the “wing-man” of the unmanned platform. Iam confident that as this technologydevelops, naval aviation will find theright way to embrace these capabili-ties to extend the area in which thesea base can deliver effects.

The same passion that inspiredLt. T.G. Ellyson, Naval Aviator No.1, and has inspired a century ofinnovation and success remainsstrong across the entire naval avia-tion team. Throughout this year, werecognize the brave pilots and aircrew, as well as the legion of main-tainers, ordnancemen, flight deckand other support personnel —military and civilian — who haveensured the aircraft were ready andsafe to launch. Our shared passionfor flight has fueled a century ofaccomplishment, and it will contin-ue to inspire our proud legacy forthe next 100 years. ■

Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers is command-er, Naval Air Forces, and commander,Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.


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An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator (UCAS-D) completes itsfirst flight at Edwards Air Force Base Feb. 4, 2011. The UCAS-D will demon-strate the capability of an autonomous, low-observable unmanned aircraft to per-form carrier launches and recoveries in preparation for development of theUnmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike system.

APRIL 16, 2003A P-3 Orion becomesfirst U.S. Navy aircraftto land at BaghdadInternational Airport.

FEBRUARY 8, 2006An F-14 Tomcat makeslast combat flight trapon Theodore Rooseveltafter the fighter’smore than 31 yearsof service.

JANUARY 10, 2009George H.W. Bushis last Nimitz-class air-craft carrier placed incommission.

NOVEMBER 14, 2009Keel of future Gerald R.Ford, first of new classof aircraft carrier, ceremo-niously laid at NorthropGrumman Newport NewsShipbuilding.

SEA NAVY / MARINE CORPS / COAST GUARD / MERCHANT … · 2011-05-02 · 2 CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF NAVAL AVIATION O n Feb. 17, 1911, inventor and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss —

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