Fort Novosel is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It is named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously named for a Civil War officer, Confederate Colonel Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the United States Army Aviation Museum. Small sections of the post also lie in Coffee, Geneva, and Houston counties. Part of the Dale County section of the base is a census-designated place; its population was 4,636 at the 2010 census.
Elizabeth Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license, and is the earliest known Black person to earn an international pilot's license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921.
Robert Lee Stewart is an American retired military officer and NASA astronaut who was a brigadier general of the United States Army.
Patrick Graham Forrester is a NASA astronaut, engineer, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. He is a retired United States Army colonel and Army aviator. He is married and has two children.
Charles Donald "Sam" Gemar is an American former astronaut with NASA and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. Gemar has flown on three Space Shuttle missions. Gemar has completed 385 orbits of the Earth and over 581 hours in space. He has also served in different positions in NASA, including as a CAPCOM for Shuttle missions. Gemar was the first astronaut to be born in the state of South Dakota.
Major General Glenn K. Rieth served as Adjutant General of New Jersey and the commander of the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard, which compose the New Jersey Department of Military Affairs. His service began in March 2002 and ended with his resignation in December 2011.
Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Deal Burrow, United States Marine Corps, is the first female Marine who selected for Naval aviation training in 1993, and subsequently became the Marine Corps' first female aviator in 1995.
The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps (1907–1914) was the first heavier-than-air military aviation organization in history and the progenitor of the United States Air Force. A component of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Aeronautical Division procured the first powered military aircraft in 1909, created schools to train its aviators, and initiated a rating system for pilot qualifications. It organized and deployed the first permanent American aviation unit, the 1st Aero Squadron, in 1913. The Aeronautical Division trained 51 officers and 2 enlisted men as pilots, and incurred 13 fatalities in air crashes. During this period, the Aeronautical Division had 29 factory-built aircraft in its inventory, built a 30th from spare parts, and leased a civilian airplane for a short period in 1911.
Cairns Army Airfield is a military airport forming a part of Fort Novosel, in Dale County, Alabama, USA, and is owned by the United States Army. The airfield is south of the town of Daleville, which sits between it and the main post.
Richard Arthur "Dick" Cody is a retired United States Army general who served as the 31st Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from June 24, 2004, to July 31, 2008. He retired from the Army on August 1, 2008.
Marie Therese Rossi-Cayton was the first woman in American military history to serve in combat as an aviation unit commander, during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and the first woman pilot in United States history to fly combat missions. She was killed when the CH-47 Chinook she was piloting crashed in Saudi Arabia, on March 1, 1991.
The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the United States Army Aviation Branch's headquarters, and it's training and development center, located at Fort Novosel, Alabama. The Aviation Center of Excellence coordinates and deploys aviation operations and trains aviation officers in a variety of topics, including classroom navigation instruction, aircraft piloting, and basic combat.
The Betsy Ross Air Corps (1931–1933) was a pre–World War II organization of female pilots formed to support the Army Air Corps and to be of service in times of emergency. Founded during the Great Depression by aviator Opal Kunz and named after Revolutionary War hero Betsy Ross, the short-lived corps was never formally recognized by the U.S. military.
Lauretta M Schimmoler was an aviator who was the first woman in the United States to establish an airport in the United States, the first woman to command an American Legion post and was the founder of the Aerial Nurse Corps of America the predecessor of the flight nurses of the United States Air Force.
The Department of Air Training was originally a part of the U.S. Army Ground Force's Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It trained Forward Observer pilots to act as organic spotter units for U.S. Army artillery battalions and brigades. The pilots were eventually not just used to adjust artillery fire, but to support naval gunfire, direct bombing missions, perform aerial reconnaissance, conduct medical evacuations, and perform liaison and command and control duties as well.
Edna Gardner Whyte was an American aviator whose career as a pilot and instructor spanned more than four decades. She was also an air racer who won more than two dozen races.
Daniel Robert Hokanson is a retired United States Army general who last served as the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau. He previously served as the 21st director of the Army National Guard. His previous military assignments include serving as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, deputy commander of United States Northern Command, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, and commander of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Just Cause.
Major General Carol A. Timmons was an American military officer who served as Adjutant General of Delaware from February 1, 2017, until her retirement on March 2, 2019. She was also the first female general in Delaware National Guard history.
Tammie Jo Shults is an American retired commercial airline captain, author, and former naval aviator. She was one of the first female fighter pilots to serve in the United States Navy. Following active duty she became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. She retired from Southwest Airlines in 2020.
CW4 Amy Sheridan was the first American woman officer to command a United States military aviation company stationed outside of the United States and the first Jewish woman to become a career aviator in the United States Armed Services.
