Naval Air Training - Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

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ij, NAVAL AIR TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTER MEMPHIS I5, TENNESSEE I V E I ! I 1 l 1 October 1949 ' To the personnel of the Naval Air Technical Training Center: A Technical training is one of i i' ftheutools with which we mold,,lour the :'I vveaporiff it has lii 'shown itself to F., be inftheiiiavcid illi fitestlv i'ci' off The Tirr 'finesyt planes and equipmentfiare in- , effective'unlessl.fmannegdibyfproperly trained men. I I 5 It The schools of the Naval Air Technical Training Center, Memphis, I provide this training. Those who attend these schools today will to- I TQ morrow be the backbone of fil our,mo,derniAir Navy. Those who teach in 1 d these schools or provide administrative support for them, are making T an invaluable contribution to the efficiency of our Naval Air Arm. :I lo l I It is to all of you--Students, Instructors, and Ship' s Company be I ' ci you Officers, Sailors or Waves--that this book is dedicated. May the 1 2 pictures on these pages serve as a reminder of your stay at the Naval , H v- Air Technical Training Center, and may that memory be a satisfying I oneg the memory of an important task well done. b CI W. S. Curmin am Captain, U. S. Navy + I Commanding Officer 1 Cl K

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The Sta 9 NATTII MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE HEAIIIIUAHTEHS NAVAL AIR TECH IIIAI. TRAINING lhe atomic bomb and the supersonic jet have not changed the theory behind General Nathan fl. Forrest's cogent observation on how to win wars: Get Thar Fustest with the Mostest. During the Civil War, that meant plenty of horses and forced marches. Today, it means a lot of things-among them-Naval Air Technical Training. Although the .general public knows little about the vital postwar operations of Naval Air Technical Training, the growth of this inner cog of Naval Aviation from a conglomerate maze of shops, classrooms, and laboratories into the Enlisted's Man's Annapolis has been phenomenal. Born under the stress of war, the Naval Air Technical Training Command supplied the Combat fleets with more than 360,000 trained aviation technicians, devoted to aircraft upkeep and repair, thus, contributing much to the development of the aircraft carrier and the task force. Equally valiant and equally unsung are the maintenance crews trained by the Command for their peacetime mission-to keep the planes and the carriers of the Navy ready for any emergency. The peacetime flying Navy, exploiting the scientific potentialities of research in all phases of air technical problems, has directed its program to the progress of aeronautical science, both for the furtherance of its own military stature and for the benefit of the land it was created to protect. Early in World War II it was discovered-in the headlines-in the reorganization of the Naval High Command to emphasize Navy Air-in the victorious defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific-that pilots wearing Navy wings had ended an epoch in Naval warfare by taking to the air in an ofensive drive against the enemy. And for every plane and every pilot, ten to 20 technicians were needed. Skilled crewmen were needed to man new equip- ment used in the instruction of the Navy's new Naval Air Arm. Service schools were set-up to teach aircraft Maintenance subjects of the most fundamental kind. These schools were small and incapable of coping with the vastly stepped-up Naval Air program. On 11 September 1942, the Naval Air Technical Training Command was established to train officers and men in technical aviation duties-to produce trained personnel in quan- tities and qualities as required by the Navy Department. A modern system of training-the set-up of know-how-was quickly inaugurated. The learn while doing program advised by the top-flight faculty called for the furnishing of practical basic instruction to new recruits, while fleet-experienced technicians, veterans of actual service at sea, were supplied with refresher training and advanced schooling. Business and industry contributed their knowledge along with specialists of many sorts, developing scientifc training techniques that set new patterns for vocational education everywhere. The basic idea was to completely familiarize aviation personnel with all equipment which could be expected to be used during service in the Fleets. This could best be accomplished through formalized, shore-base instruction, supervised and directed by specially trained personnel. Today Naval Air Technical Training exists only to provide the fleets with trained tech- nicians. Training aviation specialists and keeping them skilled in their services-whether they be active or ready reserve personnel-is the function of Naval Air Technical Training in the postwar era. The training methods designed and so successfully promulgated in accomplishing the magnificent wartime success of Naval Air Technical Training have remained to become the best vocational education of its type available in the period of peacetime preparedness. From Memphis, Tennessee, NATTC, the Chief of Naval Air Technical Training, Rear Admiral H. M. Martin directs a closely integrated structure of aviation technical training which extends from coast to coast. The leading character in the story of Naval Air Technical Training is the Naval Air Technical Training Center at Memphis-the starting point of a never ending program in aviation technical training. H. M. MARTIN Rear Aclmnral Chief of Naval Air Technical Training

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The Commanding ffiaer WINFIELD SCOTT CUNNINGHAM Capfain Commanding NATTC Capfain. Cunningham, born in Roclcbridge, Wisconsin, February I6, I900, was appoinfed fo fhe U. S. Naval Academy from his nafive sfafe in I9I6. Graduafed and commissioned Ensign in June I9I9, wifh fhe Class of I920, he progressed in grade unfil his promofion fo Capfain, Augusf 20, I945, fo rank from June I0, I942. Affer graduafion in I9I9, Capfain Cunningham was assigned fo 'rhe naval fransporf MARTHA WASHINGTON. Subsequenfly fransferred fo dufy wifh fhe European and Asiafic Fleefs, he had dufy in fhe Near Easf, and fhe Philippine Islands. Affer his refurn fo fhe Unifed Sfafes, he ioined fhe USS MILWAUKEE prior fo her commissioning on June 20, I923, and served on her unfil ordered fo fhe Naval Air Sfafion, Pensa- cola, Fla., for fIigh+ I-raining. Designafed Naval Aviafor Sepfember II, I925, he rejoined 'rhe MILWAUKEE in Ocfober of fhaf year, and frans- ferred fo fhe aviafion unif of fhe baffleship OKLAHOMA in March I926. In I927, Capfain Cunningham ioined 'Ihe USS LANGLEY, serving as ship's officer on fhaf aircraff carrier unfil June I928. The fwo suc- ceeding years he was on dufy af fhe Naval Air Sfafion, Pearl Harbor, T. H. During his nexf four of sea dufy he served wifh fhe aviafion unif of fhe baffleship CALIFORNIA. From June I933 unfil July I935 he was execufive officer of Training Squadron 8D5 af 'I'he Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, and fhe following year was execufive officer of Fighfing Squadron 2, based on fhe aircraff carrier LEXINGTON, In No- vember I936 he was assigned du'I'y in charge of assembling and fraining a fighfer squadron of fhe USS YORKTOWN, and from April I937 unfil June I938 commanded Fighfing Squadron 7, Iafer redesignafed Fighfing Squadron 5, based on fhaf aircraff carrier. The 'Iwo succeeding years he was in charge of fhe Naval Reserve Aviafion Base, OaIcland,California. In May I940, Capf. Cunningham ioined fhe USS WRIGHT, serving as her navigafor unfil November I94I. He reporfed for dufy, on Novem- ber 28, as Officer in Charge, All Naval Acfivifies, Walce Island. For his defense of Walce in December I94I he was awarded fhe Navy Cross wifh fhe following cifafion: NAVY CROSS For disfinguished and heroic conducf in fhe line of his profession in fhe defense of Walce Island, December 7 fo 22, l94I. Following fhe capfure of Walre Island by fhe Japanese on December 23, I94I, Capf. Cunningham was a prisoner of war of fhe Japanese. On Augusf 23, I945, he was confacfed by an Army Emergency Liaison Team from fhe Peiping Area in China, affer escaping fwice and be- ing refalcen by fhe Japanese. He was subsequenfly refurned fo fhe Unifed Sfafes by air fransporfafion, and received orders under dafe of Sepfember I0, I945, cancelling fhe unexecufed porfion of his orders of Ocfober 3l, I94l-fo dufy as Commander, Naval Air Sfafion, John- Sfon Island-defaching him from all dufies and ordering him fo fhe Nafional Naval Medical Cenfer, Befhesda, Maryland, for a physical checlrup. Capf. Cunningham reporfed for femporary dufy in fhe Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Depf., Washingfon, D. C., in November I945, and on May 3, I946, he was ordered fo dufy as Commanding Officer of fhe USS CURTISS, AV 4. Defached from fhaf command in July, I947, he was ordered fo dufy in command of fhe Naval Air Technical Training Cenfer, Memphis, Tenn. In addifion fo fhe Navy Cross, Capf. Cunningham has fhe WWI Vicfory Medal, P.V.C., Exp. Medal wifh silver W, and is enfifled fo fhe American Defense Service Medal, fhe Asiafic-Pacific Area Campaign, American Area, China Service, Occupafion, and fhe World War II Vicfory Medals. Capf. Cunningham's official address, and fhaf of his wife, fhe former Louise Dadey of Oakland, California, is Annapolis, -Maryland.