US Naval Air Training Center - Yearbook (Corpus Christi, TX)

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'M 4 Lieutenant Commander Ira Smalling USN, Commanding Officer, Waldron Auxiliary Naval Air Station, WAL FIELD Waldron Field, home of Squadron 16A and 1613, is a self contained Auxiliary Station and has all the facilities neces- sary for the administration, instruction and entertainment the hundreds of cadets training here require. The syllabus is devoted to specialized training of Torpedo Bomber Pilots. Waldron Field, commissioned in April 1943, was dedicated to the memory of that outstanding Naval Aviator, Lieu- tenant Commander J. C. Waldron, USN. He was the famous skipper of Torpedo Squadron 8, who led his squadron against hopeless odds to meet the Japs, in the battle of Midway Island. It was in this action that he lost his life and Naval Aviation lost a gallant Pilot. Training at a field named in honor of this courageous skipper, future Torpedo Bomber Pilots share the heritage that makes Naval Aviation a dynamic factor in this world struggle for Freedom. Lieutenant Commander Ira Smalling reported aboard this Center in September 1942, as Gunnery Officer. In July 1943, he became Commanding Officer of Waldron Field, replacing Lieutenant Commander Charles T. Fritter. Lieutenant Commander Smalling entered the Navy during World War I and served on the Destroyers USS Barry, USS Dale and the Submarine K-7. After the war he returned to college and maiored in Engineering and Economics. He re-enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve in April 1924 and reported for primary flight training at Great Lakes, Illinois. In 1926 he was sent to Hampton Roads, Virginia for advanced training and received his commission as an Ensign in October 1926. , Since then he has had various assignments connected with Naval Aviation. He has been connected with Aviation Cadet Training Program since 1935. Page 44 9

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'A' ir ir Ill VILLE FIELD Under the command of Commander D. S, lviclviahon, Kingsville Auxiliary Air Station was commissioned on July 4, l942. Commander McMahon was executive officer of a squadron of PBY's that made a non-stop flight from San Diego to Panama in 22 hours, a record at that time. He also engaged in another nan-stop flight of two PBY's from Panama to Anacostia, D. C. Located almost 35 miles southwest of the main station, near Kingsville, Texas, it is the largest of the auxiliary air fields. Kingsville Field is, as are the other outlying fields, an integral unit in itself. Here, the cadet takes his advanced specialized flight training necessary for the use of service type planes of the fleet. Kingsville is the home of Fighter and Dive Bomber Squadrons and continues the training that has already been given by the other squadrons on the center. Students pile up many hours of gunnery, formations, acrobatics, navigation, and night flying In N b ' ' ovem er i9-42, Commander Thweatt became Commanding Officer af the Station. Prior to reporting aboard the Naval Air Station, he was Assistant Air Officer aboard the USS Wright, an Aviation Tender with the Pacific Fleet. Commander Thweatt enlisted in Naval Aviation in April i9l7. He trained at Pensacola, and after intensive training was sent to France. Following trainin in b th l d s A ' ' g o an and -eaplanes, he was assigned to coastal patrol over the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. 1-.li . . 4 we t 'full ' .-.- ff f k,.,,X,, . i ,I sv fi , ' .,,.. ' v Commander Troy N. Thweatt, USN, Commanding Officer, Kingsville Aux- iliary Naval Air Station Page 43 X 1-I r .,, we ..,,,f?,, .x ,M , , ,M

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,Y uv, CX! Hi' yi V. l llHi-li FIELD Chase Field, named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Nathan Grown Chase, USN, pioneer and early experimenter of Naval Aviation, is the only one of the Auxiliary Fields that devotes its entire syllabus to instrument training. Lieutenant Commander Chase entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis in l908, and after graduation, served in various capacities, ashore and afloat, until assigned to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida for flight training in l9l6. After two years at Pensacola, he had a chain of commands until l9l9, when he was sent to Carlstrom Field, Florida, where he underwent training in land machines. l-le ioined the USS Aroostook, Flagship, Aircraft Squadron Battle Fleet in October of l922 and served there until his untimely death, in a plane crash near Pearl Harbor on June 23, l925, Instrument training consists of two stages-the first consists of level, climbing and gliding turns, stalls, spins, unusual positions, and several different patterns, which teach the student pilot timing and smoothness. The second stage is entirely devoted to the flying of beams, and radio ranges. Much of the time spent in this squadron is spent on the ground, in Link Trainers. By the time the cadet has completed this course, he has acquired a knowledge of orientation, beam bracketing, unknown beam work, and recognition of a high and low cone. Commissioned .lune l, lf?-43, Chase Field is now under the command of Commander A. R. Nash, USN. Commander Nash is a graduate of the Naval Academy and also a graduate of the training at Naval Air Station, Penscola, Florida, where he received the wings of the Naval Aviator. Commander Nash has spent eighteen years of service in Naval Aviation, and has servecl with Scout Squadrons, Fighter Squadrons and Patrol Squadrons. lt was in the capacity of Operations Officer of a Patrol Wing based at Naval Air Station, Seattle, Washington, that he saw duty in the Northwest Pacific and Alaskan areas, on the outbreak of hos- tilities with Japan. l-le reported aboard the Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas, July 30, l943, fresh from action in the Aleutians campaign. Commander A. R. Nash, USN, Com- manding Officer, Chase Auxiliary Naval Air Station 5 A kv -E . . . 5 2 y i ' Q,- 5 S 1- mit .tiilfl Q .7491 3 Jr ' X c x Emi 'Ir if 'A'