The history of the United States Navy flight surgeon/naval aviator program

Early in the history of aviation the need for a special kind of physician who could understand the physical and psychological problems encountered by flyers was well recognized. These physicians were called flight surgeons. In 1922, RADM W. A. Moffett, USN, the first Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and the "Father of Naval Aviation," called for a group of Navy medical officers to be trained as flight surgeons. He believed that all Navy flight surgeons should be trained as pilots "primarily in order that they may experience the emergencies and conditions that arise in flying." This article traces the history of the Navy flight surgeon/naval aviator. It chronicles the evolution of the Navy's flight surgeon/naval aviator program from the World War I doctor who flew seaplanes at a Naval Air Station in Italy to the present day flight surgeon/naval aviator who flys operational and test aircraft as a research pilot.