Military

The United States Naval Academy was founded in 1845 in Annapolis, Maryland, after experience showed that the policy of training naval officers solely through shipboard experience was ineffective. The development of aircraft in the early 20th century was a technological change that impacted the academy. The efforts of naval aviation advocates, led by Capt. Washington I. Chambers, resulted in the Navy acquiring its first aircraft in 1911 and basing them near the US Naval Academy where sufficient land and material resources were available to support flight operations. Later, under Supt. Adm. Louis W. Nulton, aviation entered the curriculum as an element of fundamental naval education, taking a place among major subjects such as seamanship and gunnery. Classroom instruction and indoctrination flights provided all midshipmen with a familiarization in aviation as an important element in their development as naval officers before circumstances forced a shift of training to other facilities by 1962.

Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River) played a crucial role in forging America's naval air arm. This unique center proved to be vital for flight testing and evaluating naval aircraft and weapons systems destined for operational fleet service. NAS Pax River taught fleet pilots new tactics by conducting aircraft weapons tests, a tradition supplemented today by ground-based simulation. During and after World War II, it served as a primary center for flight testing and evaluating foreign aircraft. Some of the world's best test pilots and eventual astronauts came to NAS Pax River to hone their flight skills and to participate in the testing of naval aviation's premier aircraft. It is also home to the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) and the US Naval Test Pilot School, and it is the headquarters of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).