Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (JBAB) is a 905-acre (366 ha) military installation, located in Southwest Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The legislation ordered the consolidation of Naval Support Facility Anacostia and Bolling Air Force Base (BAFB), which were adjoining but separate military installations into a single joint base, one of twelve formed in the country as a result of the law. The base hosts the Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters amongst its other responsibilities. The only aeronautical facility at the base is a 100-by-100-foot helipad.
Frank Wilbur "Spig" Wead was a U.S. Navy aviator who helped promote United States Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. Commander Wead was a recognized authority on early aviation. Following a crippling spinal injury in 1926, Wead was placed on the retired list. In the 1930s, he became a screenwriter, becoming involved in more than 30 movies. He also published several books, short stories and magazine articles. During World War II, he returned to active duty. He initially worked in a planning role, but later undertook sea duty in the Pacific, where he saw action against the Japanese in 1943–44 before being placed on the retired list in mid-1945.
The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (i.e., responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and related systems. Aerial weapons, however, were under the cognizance of the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd).
Frederick Trubee Davison was an American World War I aviator, assistant United States Secretary of War, director of personnel for the Central Intelligence Agency, and president of the American Museum of Natural History.
John Henry Towers CBE was a highly decorated United States Navy four-star admiral and pioneer naval aviator. He made important contributions to the technical and organizational development of naval aviation from its beginnings, eventually serving as Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics (1939–1942). He commanded carrier task forces during World War II, and retired in December 1947. He and Marc Mitscher were the only early Naval Aviation pioneers to survive the hazards of early flight to remain with naval aviation throughout their careers. Towers spent his last years supporting aeronautical research and advising the aviation industry.
Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins, a World War II C-47 pilot who died near Sicily.
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the Selected Reserve (SELRES), the Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR), the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or the Retired Reserve.
Artemus Lamb Gates was an American businessman, naval aviator, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air in charge of naval aviation efforts in World War II. He also was briefly Undersecretary of the Navy. He was, at various times, president of New York Trust Company, and a director of Union Pacific, Time, Boeing, Middle South Utilities, Safeway Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co., and Servo Corp.
David Sinton Ingalls was the US Navy's only flying ace of World War I, with six credited victories; thus he was the first ace in US Navy history.
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces, and the Shore Establishment.
The United States Marine Corps Aviation (USMCA) is the aircraft arm of the United States Marine Corps. Aviation units within the Marine Corps are assigned to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, as the aviation combat element, by providing six functions: assault support, antiair warfare, close air support, electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, and aerial reconnaissance. The Corps operates rotary-wing, tiltrotor, and fixed-wing aircraft mainly to provide transport and close air support to its ground forces. Other aircraft types are also used in a variety of support and special-purpose roles. All Marine Corps aviation falls under the influence of the Deputy Commandant for Aviation, whose job is to advise the Commandant of the Marine Corps in all matters relating to aviation, especially acquisition of new assets, conversions of current aircraft, maintenance, operation, and command.
Marine Observation Squadron 6 (VMO-6) was an observation squadron of the United States Marine Corps which saw extensive action during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The squadron was the first Marine Corps helicopter squadron to participate in combat operations when it participated in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter in August 1950. The squadron was decommissioned on 1 January 1977.
Fighter Squadron Composite 204 (VFC-204), also known as the "River Rattlers", is a United States Navy Reserve adversary squadron, slated to fly the F-5N/F Tiger II after having previously flown the F/A-18C/D Hornet. The squadron is based out of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, Louisiana, and is part of the U.S. Navy Reserve's Tactical Support Wing. Their radio callsign is "River" and their tail code is "AF".
Richard C. Mangrum was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1965 to 1967. Mangrum was a Marine Corps aviator who was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during the Guadalcanal Campaign in World War II.
Scott Eugene Sanders received his commission in May 1980 from the United States Naval Academy and was designated a naval aviator in 1982. After completing training in the E-2C, he reported to the Seahawks of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 126. While at VAW-126, he made deployments to the Mediterranean and Caribbean aboard USS John F. Kennedy.
The US Navy had four programs for the training of naval aviators.
The Northern Bombing Group consisted of United States Navy and United States Marine Corps squadrons conducting strategic bombing of German U-boat bases along the Belgian coast during World War I. The first United States military unit sent to Continental Europe (France) was the First Aeronautic Detachment of seven naval officers and 122 enlisted men who arrived in France on 5 June 1917. These men became the nucleus of the United States naval aviation forces in Europe. They formulated a strategic bombing plan approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 30 April 1918, but chronic difficulties in obtaining aircraft prevented establishment of an effective bombing campaign before the war ended six months later.
The Naval Reserve Flying Corps (NRFC) was the first United States Navy reserve pilot procurement program. As part of demobilization following World War I the NRFC was completely inactive by 1922; but it is remembered as the origin of the naval aviation component of the United States Navy Reserve, the Naval Air Reserve.
U.S. Naval Air Station Lough Foyle was a seaplane station at Lough Foyle in Ireland, which was operated by the United States Navy (USN) and commissioned on July 1, 1918 with Commander Henry D. Cooke, USN as the commanding officer. Located near Quigley's Point in County Donegal, and approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Derry in County Londonderry, the station was disestablished in early 1919.
David Hugh McCulloch was an early American aviator who worked with Glenn Curtiss from 1912. Curtiss was a contemporary and competitor to the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, who had made the first flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Curtiss won the world's first air race at Reims in France in August 1909, and was now becoming the driving force in American aviation. McCulloch's early work with Curtiss consisted of demonstrating, training and selling Curtiss planes and participating in early developments of flight. He trained the First Yale Unit, and in two consecutive days in 1917, he and several of his pupils from the First Yale Unit made flights that convinced the Navy to bring aircraft aboard ships. Later, McCulloch was co-pilot with Holden C. Richardson and flight commander John Henry Towers of the NC-3, the leader of the three Navy flying boats making the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
