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NAS Ft. Lauderdale training squadron markings of FT-28, Taylor's
Avenger
In 1942 the Navy selected Merle Fogg Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to expand into a Naval Air Station for pilot training of Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers.[1] This even included facilities to train other aircrew (such as bombardiers or gunners) as well as instruction for ground crew support.[1] Among the Avenger pilots who graduated NAS Fort Lauderdale was former president George HW Bush, from a class in 1943.[1][2]
Training was difficult, and dangerous. From 1942 through 1946, 94 trainees lost their lives while serving at the Naval Air Station. Fourteen of those men made up a flight now known as Flight 19. [1] The need to train Avenger crews having passed, the station was decommissioned after 1946.
- See also: Flight 19
- ^ a b c d Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association website discussing history of the facility: During 1942 the Merle Fogg Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was selected by the United States Navy to be improved into a naval aviation facility
- ^ Florida military bases, from FSU Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale was one of the bases where former President George Bush received his training.
