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

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M . mumw. 1., meannm- Tra W wi 80 Tri re L 11111111 111111111 00111111101111 J0lli1 L. CIIITTENDEN, USN Rodd Auxiliary Naval Air STaTion, placed in commission June 7, 1941, was The TirsT auxiliary field To be compIeTed for use in The CadeT Training program. The field is a small ediTion of The Main STaTion and provides compIeTe faciliTies Tor , use in The cadeT TlighT Training. Rodd Field was named as a TribuTe To ThaT disTinguished Naval AviaTor, LieuTenanT Commander HerberT C. Rodd, USN, who lost his life in a plane crash aT EasT Camp Flying Field, HampTon Roads, Virginia, June 15, 1932. Commander Rodd was one of our TirsT Naval AviaTors and, Through his early experimenTs wiTh aircraTT, has played a I maior role in The developmenT of Naval AviaTion. As a member of The Seaplane NC-4, he parTiCipaTed in The firsT successfui 1 Trans-ATlanTic flighT. For This ouTsTanding conTribuTion To aviaTion, he was awarded The Navy Cross for I'DisTingUished Service in The line of his Profession ,- The Air Force Cross Tram GreaT BriTain, and The Order of The Tower and Sword from PorTugal. Commander John L. ChiTTenden, USN, is The Commanding Officer of Rodd Field. He assumed This duTy in November 1943, following a Tour of acTive duTy in The AleuTians. Commander ChiTTenden was graduaTed from The U. S, Naval Academy in 1932, and received a furTher assignmenT To duTy as CommunicaTions WaTch Officer on board The USS. Colorado. ATTer serving in This capaciTy unTiI 1935, he was assigned To duTy aT N. A. 8., Pensacola Tor TlighT Training. In 1935, he received The wings and designaTion of a Naval h AviaTor. AT The beginning of The War, Commander ChiTTenden was on board The Cruiser Quincy and on ThaT TaTeTul day in December ; 1941, when The Japs aTTacked Pearl Harbor, he was aTTached To a PaTrol Squadron. As commander CT a paTr01 squadron, he was immediaTely Transferred To The AIeuTian Island Area The Air Medal was awarded him for his courageous launching of a lone dive-bombing aTTack againsT enemy insTallaTions in Kiska Harbor, compleTing The mission despiTe The facT ThaT his crafT was heavily iced. Page 30

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LT. 80L. INJBERT E. GALER, USMC QWCER Jim: mm; aic CAFFTT whim LieuTenanT Colonel RoberT E. Galer, USMC, holder of The Congressional Medal of Honor and one of The Marine Corps mosT disTinguished AviaTors, assummed command of The AviaTion CadeT RegimenT on 3 AugusT 1945, replacing LieuTenanT Colonel John W. Sapp, Jr., who was deTached. Colonel Galer, a naTive of SeaTTle, WashingTon, enTered The TIighT Training program in January 1936. On 13 April 1937 he was commissioned as a Second LieuTenanT in The Marines and designaTed as a Naval AviaTor. On The day of The Jap aTTack on Pearl Harbor, Colonel Galer was aTTached To a squadron sTaTioned aT Oahu. Shorle afTer The aTTack he was assigned To command The famous RockeTs which laTer landed on Henderson Field aT Guadalcanal. The squadron engaged The enemy almosT immediately and over a shorT period of Time accounTed Tor 65V2 Jap aircrafT, 13 of which were To Colonel Galer's crediT. For his exTraordinary heroism and disTinguished ser- vice, Colonel Galer was awarded The NaTion's highesT honors, The Congressional Medal of Honor and The Navy Cross. He also holds The BriTish DisTinguished Flying Cross, along wiTh The PresidenTial UniT CiTaTion. REGIMENTAL STAFF Left To right, Front row: Lt. Tigi E. A. La Hue, LT. H. S. Olson, LT. Comdr. ArmsTrong Thomas, Ex-officio; LT. Col. J. W. Sapp, Jr., LT. E. E. Stevens, Ex-officio; Capt. R. F. Ramsey, Ex-officio; LT. T. R. Deering, Ex-officio . . .Back row: Ensign K. F. Parsons, LT. K. J. Parsons, LT. W. F. Kuykendail, LT. iigi J. A. Mason, Ensign A. H. Sundstrom, Ensign W. R. Morken.

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COMMAN11EIT S. . WELLER, SN Cabaniss Auxiliary Naval Air STaTicn, second of The Naval Air Training Bases, was placed in commission July 9, 1941. Cabaniss Field is The home of Squadrons 12C and 12D, where The syllabus is devoTed To The basic sTages of The TlighT Training program. The powerful VUlTee low-wing monopiane is used To acquainT The cadeT wiTh The heavier Type aircraTT. The VulTee is also used To Train cadeTs in The arT of miIiTary TormaTion flying. Cabaniss Field was named in honor of The U. S. Navy's TwenTy-sixTh naval aviaTor, Commander RoberT WrighT Cabaniss, who won his wings aT Pensacola in 1917. He was a pioneer in The field of Naval AviaTion and during his career was insTru- menTal in promoTing The progress of aviaTion Through various experimenTs. He was awarded The Order of The BusT of Bolivar by The Republic of Venezuela, Tor excepTional and ouTsTanding work in The Caribbean Area. During an experimenTal Trip in The WesT Indies, his plane crashed on Navassa Island and Commander Cabaniss IcsT his life. Commander S. P. Weller, USN, began his Tour of duTy as Commanding Officer of Cabaniss Field in December 1943, replacing Commander Anderson OffuTT, USN. Commander Weller enTered The U. S. Naval Academy in 1926. AfTer graduaTion in 1930, he served on board The U.S.S. Oklahoma, and IaTer was Transferred To a desTroyer group for Training. In 1934, he received an assignmenT To The flighT Training program aT Pensacola, winning his wings and designaTion as a Naval AviaTor in 1935. Before The war began, he was sTaTioned in AusTralia as an AviaTion Observer. He held This pcsiTion unTil U. S. Naval uniTs arrived and Then was assigned To The sTaTT of Commander of Allied Forces in ThaT Area. Prior To reparTing aboard, Commander Weller was in charge of AviaTion Training aT N. A. S. Q , :1 x559, zww