The Flying Sergeants

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Those who have enjoyed the photograph of the bulldog draped nonchalantly over the “bird on the ball” Marine Corps emblem may not have noticed the pilot in whose aircraft an enterprising photographer has placed Jiggs, the Quantico mascot. Too bad. The fellow at the controls is First Sergeant Benjamin F. Belcher, one of the first of a whole new breed of Marine enlisted men.

The year 1982 marks the 70th anniversary of the birth of Marine Corps aviation. With Lieutenant Alfred R. Cunningham’s first attempt in July 1912 ^to take to the air in a rented biplane named “Noisy Nan,” the history of Marine aviation began. In No­vember of the same year, a second era of Marine ^aviation history was born when Sergeant James Maguire reported for duty to the Navy Aviation Camp at Annapolis, Maryland. With an aviation force comprised of a total of three men, two officers, and one enlisted man, it can easily be assumed that Maguire deserves the distinction of being the first enlisted Marine flyer. He can be credited with ush­ering in the period of Marine Corps history in which enlisted men could achieve pilot status. He is the predecessor to the grand and heroic legacy of the enlisted Marine flyer that would span a period of 60 years—the days of the “Flying Sergeants.”

Although a program for enlisted pilot training was not established until 1919, the enlisted personnel still found numerous opportunities to fly. In early 1914, the Navy transferred its flight training school from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, to Pensacola, Florida, and here the first Marine aviation unit, des­ignated the “Marine Section of the Navy Flying School,” was formed with the assignment of 2 lieu­tenants and 11 enlisted men. Among the enlisted personnel stationed there. First Sergeant Jacob Makohin was the first “detailed for duty involving flying heavier-than-air craft.” His assignment in May 1915 was quickly followed by those of Gunnery Sergeant Walter F. McCaughtry and First Sergeant Victor H. Czegka. These flyers had no formal train­ing, but they still did an excellent job of flying sup­port during the occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico.

The ingenuity of enlisted Marine aviation person­nel to take to the air can best be illustrated by the actions of a few men during World War I. Roger M. Emmons, historian. Marine Corps Aviation Asso­ciation, stated in a memo dated 15 August 1976 that “. . . it is worthy of careful note that no enlisted Marines were detailed for duty as pilots in the First Marine Aviation Force in France in 1918.”' Seem­ingly contradictory to that statement, records credit Sergeant Thomas L. McCullough with the Marines’ first “enemy kill” over Coremarch, Belgium, in Sep­tember 1918. It would seem that, despite a lack of any formal flying orders, enlisted aviation personnel were able to create opportunities to demonstrate their flying technique. Although a few lucky men were able to fly for their country, the majority of the Marine enlisted aviators had to wait until the interwar period to show their full potential as pilots.

In 1919, the Navy began using the designation “Naval Aviation Pilot” (NAP) for enlisted men qualified as pilots under the flight training program. Enlisted men received pilot status due to a shortage of pilots that developed in the Pacific Fleet. To offset this shortage, “on 21 June, 1923, the Major General

Commandant (John Lejeune) authorized command­ing officers of Marine squadrons to train and keep in training ‘at all times’ five enlisted men under their commands as Naval Aviation Pilots in accordance with the course prescribed in the ‘Syllabus for the Training of Naval Aviators and Naval Aviation Pilots—Airplanes’, approved March 1922 and reis­sued March 1923.”² Any enlisted man who could qualify under the course’s outline in practical and theoretical flying could be recommended for des­ignation immediately. Within three weeks, the com­manding officer of Marine Observation Squadron One in Santo Domingo recommended First Sergeant Benjamin F. Belcher, Gunnery Sergeant Neil W. Abbott, and Gunnery Sergeant Archie Paschal to receive the designation Naval Aviation Pilot.

On 14 September 1923, First Sergeant Belcher became the U. S. Marine Corps’ first NAP. Belcher had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1917. Although not actually designated a NAP until 1923, he had more than 300 hours solo time. Abbott had 200 hours and Paschal, 125 hours. This flight time had been picked up by the “seat-of-the-pants” method of the 1920s. By the end of 1923, Gunnery Sergeant Millard T. Shepard and Gunnery Sergeant Peter P. Tolus- chiak were designated the fourth and fifth NAPs, respectively. From this notable beginning, the Na­val Aviation Program would fill a vital shortage of pilots and produce some of the greatest aviators in the history of the Marine Corps.

Of these early flyers, Belcher and Toluschiak gained the most fame between 1923 and World War II. Most notable was their successful completion of the longest flight in American aviation history and the second longest in the world up to that time. This record-breaking flight was a round trip covering 10,953 miles between Haiti and San Francisco, Cal­ifornia. At noon on 19 September 1923, two DH-4 planes took off with Sergeant Belcher acting as co­pilot for First Lieutenant Ford O. Rogers and Ser­geant Toluschiak copiloting for Second Lieutenant Horace Palmer. In the next two and a half months, these men put in about 127 hours of flight time as they crisscrossed the country. They finally landed in Santo Domingo on 9 December 1923. Upon suc­cessful completion of this long distance flight, both NAPs received high praise for their actions. For example, Major General John Lejeune, Comman­dant, Marine Corps, wrote to Belcher stating: “Your services as mechanic and assistant pilot to

Proceedings / February 1982

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First Lieutenant Ford 0. Rogers in his record-break­ing flight of 10,953 miles from the Island of Haiti to San Francisco and return are deserving of the high­est commendations . . . .”³

As early as April 1924, the Navy Bureau of Aero­nautics tried to standardize NAP training and do away with the “seat-of-the-pants”-trained pilots. A directive from the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronau­tics stated that no training be conducted without the bureau’s authority, and that all training be con­ducted at Pensacola. This new policy allowed those enlisted men already in training in the various squad­rons to complete the course, but thereafter all men ^would report to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. Although this directive was issued in 1924, men continued to be squadron-trained at Quantico, Virginia, and Guam until 1927.

The Naval Aviation Pilot School at Pensacola opened in late 1923. Besides training enlisted Navy and Marine flyers, the school was the first attempt ^to set a uniform standard for NAPs. Along with Physical requirements, the school demanded its stu­dent pilots have a high school education or its equiv­alent. They must also hold an aviation rating, be serving in their second or third enlistment, and un­der the age of 31.

Surprisingly, “attrition rates during training pe­riod for enlisted men were considerably higher than auiong officers. . .crackups were considerably higher and it was concluded that training enlisted Phots was even more expensive than training officer Pilots.”^[1] In addition to this, in October 1929, the ^stock market crashed, bringing the military budget ^with it. The NAP program was seriously affected by the curtailment of funds during the economy drive featured in the first four years of the depres­sion. By April 1930, it was recommended that “the assignment of additional enlisted men to flight train- ^lr|g be suspended for an indefinite period.” The last men accepted into the NAP program in 1930 com­pleted the course in March 1932. Immediately after fheir graduation from the course, enlisted pilot train- ^lng was discontinued. Simultaneously, the Act of 24 ■lune 1926, stating that 30% of all naval pilots must ^come from the enlisted ranks, was rescinded, com­pounding the loss of enlisted pilots. In its place, the Act of 30 June 1932 set the rate at 20%, which was barely maintained after closure of the NAP school. Further budget reductions in 1930 forced graduates of NAP courses to retain their old pay grades. “This deprived them of extra pay to which their training ^entitled them and was taken, in some quarters, as another indication of the step-child treatment ac­corded the enlisted pilot group.”⁵

By 1936, the total of enlisted aviation pilots dropped to an all-time low. This low demanded the ^resumption of the Naval Aviation Pilot Program in order to keep the proportion of enlisted flyers at the dictated 20% rate. As the number of officer pilots coming out of the Aviation Cadet program grew, so, proportionally, did the NAP program. By early 1939, the total number of NAPs rose to 480, and by 1941 there were 850 NAPs, including 45 Marines. Within a year after the start of World War II, the total had jumped to 1,036 with 131 Marine NAPs. Hence, the Naval Aviation Pilots were ready to fight in another war.

World War II proved to be the greatest test for the second generation of flying sergeants. Their sto­ries of aviation gallantry and heroics fill the annals of Marine Corps history. The history of the NAPs in World War 11 began with the performances of Technical Sergeant William J. Hamilton and Staff Sergeant Robert O. Arthur at Wake Island, imme­diately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. In later island-hopping campaigns the list of heroes and heroics grew with such names as Bernard Hamilton, Charlton Main, Edward J. Wollof, Albert C. Beneke, Lytton Blass, Michael Savino, and finally one of the greatest air heroes of the war—Kenneth A. Walsh. Walsh received his flight training as an enlisted man, received his wings in 1937, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1942. In his first five minutes of battle, he had already gained his first two kills. He had a total of 21 kills and earned the Medal of Honor.

Of all the wartime flyers, Colonel William H. Klenke was the only Marine to earn his wings as a private. This distinction had both advantages and disadvantages. Because of his low rate, Klenke,

Ken Walsh, left, became the most famous flying sergeant by shooting down 21 planes and winning the Medal of Honor. Bob Lurie was one of only four remaining enlisted pilots when that designation was abolished in 1973.

when on board a Navy transport, which assigned duties according to pay grade rather than talent, became the only pilot to be put on mess detail. This situation, however, was the exception rather than the rule. In most cases, the NAPs received the same treatment as commissioned officers. Since almost every squadron had one or two NAPs, they gen­erally housed and messed with the officers. About the only social courtesy they did not receive was a salute from other enlisted men.

In the field, the Naval Aviation Pilots usually ful­filled the same duty slots as the commissioned of­ficers. Since most of the enlisted pilots had been members of the ground crew before receiving their wings, they were usually more technically knowl­edgeable of the planes than their officer-pilot coun­terparts. In many cases, NAPs had been Marine flyers for several years before the war and were held back from being commissioned only by their edu­cational background. This technical knowledge ul­timately directed NAPs to extinction in World War U.

The number of enlisted pilots reached its wartime high of 131 Marines in 1942 as a result of a policy which commissioned aviators soon after completion of flight training. Hundreds of enlisted men were designated pilots during the war, and most received their commissions. Thus, they were no longer con­sidered Naval Aviation Pilots. As the United States began to demilitarize after World War II, the NAP program was no longer deemed necessary and was discontinued with the graduation of the last class in December 1947. Budget restrictions forced com­missioned officers back to their enlisted status, and the number of NAPs soared to a high of 366 flyers. The final blow to the Naval Aviation Pilots occurred on 13 June 1949 when Congress repealed the ratio policy stating 20% of all pilots must be enlisted men.

By 1950 and the Korean conflict, the number of NAPs had dwindled to approximately 100. Most of these men were well experienced, having flown in World War II. The rest quickly gained their fighting skill under pressure of Korean fire. Here, as in the previous war, the heroes of Marine enlisted flyers became commissioned officer-pilots. The list of cou­rageous NAPs once again began to swell, including such names as Master Sergeant Leo J. Ihili, Tech­nical Sergeant Robert A. Hill, Technical Sergeant Dwight R. Francisco, and World War II aces Master Sergeant Jack Pittman, Jr., and Master Sergeant Herb Valentine.

Despite their achievements, the NAPs were be­coming a fading breed of men. More and more re­tired from the Corps during the late 1950s and early 1960s. When the United States became involved in Vietnam in 1965, only a handful of Marine enlisted aviators were in the action. Their exploits were fewer and less dramatic than in previous conflicts by virtue of their diminished number.

As Vietnam drew to a close, so did the era of the Naval Aviation Pilots. In early 1973, only four en­listed pilots were still on active duty with the Marine Corps. They were Master Gunnery Sergeants Rob­ert Lurie, Leslie T. Ericson, Joseph A. Conroy, and Patrick J. O'Neill; all were veterans of three wars. A Department of Navy memo dated 28 July 1972 stated, “. . . since all four of these Marines will have completed a full 30 years of active duty by 1 February 1973, that date would seem to be the most appropriate date to direct the retirement of the last four pilots and to bring an end to that era.” On 31 January 1973, all four remaining Naval Aviation Pilots were retired simultaneously. In a service-wide communication, General Robert E. Cushman, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote in tribute to them:

“The placement on the retired list Feb. 1, 1973 of the last four enlisted pilots on active duty brought to an end the era of the Naval Aviation Pilot. . . . The contributions and exploits of the NAPs are legend. With the retirement of the last four we honor these Marines and we also honor the splendid achievements of all former NAPs who contributed so much to Marine aviation.”⁶ The story of the Naval Aviation Pilots had reached its end.

As the Marine Corps enters the 1980s, its aviation program increasingly feels the hardship of a growing pilot shortage. Each year a large number of flyers leave the military for better paying civilian jobs in aeronautics. This shortage, coupled with a growing military budget under a new administration, may set the scene for the rebirth of the Naval Aviation Pilot. With such an outstanding record of service in the Corps behind them, the NAPs may be the answer to a problem worrying Marine aviation. From where will future pilots come?

Perhaps the United States will soon once again see the flying sergeants take to the air.

Midshipman Belcher is attending the Pennsylva­nia State University on an NROTC scholarship- He is the third generation of Belchers to elect to serve in the Marine Corps. He majors in jour­nalism and political science and will graduate in 1983 with two bachelor of arts degrees. In 1980, his article “Fear in Combat’’ was published in The Marine Corps Gazette. Midshipman Belcher currently resides at Hillcrest Heights, Maryland. ^{[2] 4}