Florida Senate - 2010 (Corrected Copy)(NP) SR 2328
By Senator Aronberg
27-00215C-10 20102328__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing 2011 as the “Centennial Year
3 of U.S. Naval Aviation.”
4
5 WHEREAS, on January 26, 1911, Glenn H. Curtiss conducted
6 the first successful demonstration of a sea plane in San Diego
7 Harbor, thus affirming the application of airplanes for naval
8 purposes, and
9 WHEREAS, on May 8, 1911, Capt. Washington Irving Chambers
10 prepared a requisition for the purchase of the U.S. Navy’s first
11 aircraft, and this date would later be designated as the
12 birthday of U.S. Naval aviation, and
13 WHEREAS, during the first century of naval aviation,
14 numerous milestones have been observed, including the birth of
15 Marine Corps aviation on May 22, 1912; the commission of the
16 U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, in 1922;
17 the first takeoff from, and landing on, a U.S. Navy aircraft
18 carrier, also in 1922; and, in 1942, the first naval engagement
19 in which ships of the opposing forces were not in sight of each
20 other, and
21 WHEREAS, on February 20, 1962, Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr.,
22 USMC, became the first American to orbit the earth, and
23 WHEREAS, on July 20, 1969, former naval aviator Neil
24 Armstrong became the first American to set foot on the surface
25 of the moon, and
26 WHEREAS, on February 22, 1974, Lt. j.g. Barbara Ann Allen
27 (Rainey) became the first female naval aviator in our nation’s
28 history, and
29 WHEREAS, among the many milestones that have marked the
30 first century of U.S. Naval aviation, a number of significant
31 achievements within the State of Florida have had considerable
32 impact, both nationwide as well as statewide, and
33 WHEREAS, Florida is home to four Naval air stations, NAS
34 Pensacola, NAS Whiting Field in Milton, NAS Key West, and NAS
35 Jacksonville, with Jacksonville also being the home to Naval
36 Station Mayport, which supports air operations, and
37 WHEREAS, on April 23, 1940, Naval Air Station (NAS)
38 Jacksonville became the only military installation in the United
39 States that was given as a gift from the people to the United
40 States government, and
41 WHEREAS, the gift of NAS Jacksonville was followed by the
42 official commissioning of the naval air station on October 15,
43 1940, and
44 WHEREAS, NAS Jacksonville was the original home of the
45 Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team, who performed
46 their first show at Craig Field in Jacksonville on June 15,
47 1946, and
48 WHEREAS, NAS Jacksonville also became the home of the
49 Naval Air Advanced Training Command, and
50 WHEREAS, in 1914, the Pensacola Navy yard was officially
51 changed from a naval yard to a naval air station, thus becoming
52 the first naval air station in the U.S. Navy and the primary
53 training facility for all naval aviators and enlisted aircrew
54 personnel, and
55 WHEREAS, in 1954, NAS Pensacola became the new home of the
56 Navy’s Blue Angels, and
57 WHEREAS, in July 1943, NAS Whiting Field opened as a
58 training facility to fulfill the need for pilot training
59 commands in World War II, and
60 WHEREAS, today NAS Whiting Field is responsible for an
61 estimated 46 percent of the Chief of Naval Air Command’s total
62 flight time and over 10 percent of the Navy’s and the Marine
63 Corps’ total flight time, and
64 WHEREAS, every year an estimated 1,200 personnel complete
65 their essential flight training at NAS Whiting Field on their
66 way to becoming naval pilots, and
67 WHEREAS, on October 21, 1948, Jesse Brown became the U.S.
68 Navy’s first African-American pilot when he was awarded his
69 wings at NAS Jacksonville, and
70 WHEREAS, it is with great pride and sense of accomplishment
71 that the citizens of the State of Florida join with all citizens
72 of the United States in recognizing 2011 as the “Centennial Year
73 of U.S. Naval Aviation,” NOW, THEREFORE,
74
75 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
76
77 That the Senate recognizes 2011 as the “Centennial Year of
78 U.S. Naval Aviation.”