Aviation Cadet Training Program (USN)
In 1908 at Fort Myer, Virginia, a demonstration of an early "heavier-than-air" craft was flown by a pair of inventors named Orville and Wilbur Wright.
From 1911 to 1914 the navy received free flying lessons from aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss at North Island, San Diego, California.
Students at several Ivy League colleges organized flying units and began pilot training at their own expenses.
After three years of active service they were reviewed and could be promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) in the naval reserve and receive a $1,500 bonus.
Personnel at Chapel Hill included future presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford, along with MLB star Ted Williams, where they were known as the Cloudbusters.
The V-12 program differed in that it was focused on college education and it eliminated the Naval Flight Preparatory School and War Training Services stages.
All Aviation Officer Candidates (AOCs) were 4 year college or university graduates instructed by Navy personnel and trained by Marine Corps Drill Instructors.
In contrast, NavCads, who had some college, but typically lacked a bachelor's degree, attended their entire flight school program as non-commissioned candidates.
Upon completion of their first squadron tour, they would then be sent to the Naval Postgraduate School or a civilian college or university on their first shore duty assignment in order to finish their baccalaureate degree.
Graduates of classes so impacted would have their commissioning delayed but would receive retroactive dates of rank of as Ensigns for relative seniority purposes.
NavCad was temporarily reopened in March 1986 to meet the demands of the expanding Navy of the Reagan presidential administration and was integrated back into the Aviation Officer Candidate School program.
Two Petty Officers (Harold H. "Kiddy" Karr and Clarence Woods) received both French and Italian pilot's wings.
Ferry Pilots flew jury-rigged damaged planes to rear-area depots for extensive repairs that couldn't be done in the field.
After the war, the Navy decided that the dreary task of flying transport planes or dirigibles should fall to enlisted men.
The last enlisted Marine Corps NAPs (Master Gunnery Sergeants Joseph A. Conroy, Leslie T. Ericson, Robert M. Lurie and Patrick J. O'Neil), simultaneously retired on 1 February 1973.
Later, the midshipmen were informed that their two years spent in training and active service as a pilot didn't count towards seniority, longevity pay or retirement benefits.
Graduates were promoted to aviation midshipmen fourth class and wore a khaki uniform with black dress shoes; they had no collar insignia badge.
Pre-flight training was a refresher in math and science coursework and taught military skills like transmitting and receiving Morse Code.
Graduates of pre-flight were promoted to midshipmen third class; they wore a single gold fouled anchor badge on their right collar.
Graduates were promoted to Midshipmen First Class and got to wear gold fouled anchor badges with eagles perched on them on each collar.
Graduates of Pre-Flight in November and December 1948 were assigned to the USS Wright (CVL-49) to do maintenance and guard duty until a slot opened up for them at Whiting Field to begin Basic.
In the fall of 1950 they were told that they could remain on active duty "indefinitely" (i.e., until the end of hostilities), but pre-war limits on promotion and pay would still be in force.
On 8 April 1950, Ensign Thomas Lee Burgess of Patrol Squadron 26 (VP-26, the "Tridents"), became the first aviation midshipman to die while on active service.
Burgess' PB4Y-2 Privateer, based at NAS Port Lyautey, Morocco, was shot down over the western Baltic Sea in international waters by the Soviet Air Force.
Although he finished his education at United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1952, Jim Lovell began as a midshipman cadet at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1946.
One hurdle was a three-year minimum service requirement after completing flight training, which caused hesitation among potential officer candidates.
With helicopter requirement looming large for Vietnam, MarCads shifted from flying the T-28C after carrier qualification to multi-engine training in the SNB (C-45), in which they obtained an instrument rating.
Most MarCads signed a contract to remain on active duty for three years after the completion of flight training in this time period.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 18 July 1966, for his valorous actions supporting Marine ground forces near Dong Ha, Vietnam during Operation Hastings.
On 6 October 1962, First Lieutenant Michael J. Tunney USMC not only became the first MarCad to die in combat, but did so in the first fatal Marine Corps helicopter crash in Vietnam.
