Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP), established in 1914, has long been called the "Cradle of Naval Aviation." Its programs turned out pilots skilled in combat and able to fly the most advanced aircraft of their day.
A World War II–era postcard of Naval Air Station Pensacola. U.S. Navy
Training for war
| Pilots graduated in World War II | 28,625 — nearly half of all naval aviators who served |
| Students a month | grew from 800 to 2,500 |
| Naval Photography School | became the largest program of its kind in the world |
| School of Aviation Medicine | the Navy's only one, qualifying flight surgeons |
Nearby Eglin Army Air Field, one of the largest installations of its kind, was a proving ground for aircraft armament and a research and development center. In 1942, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle trained his "Doolittle Raiders" there for their raid on Tokyo: sixteen B-25 bombers carried out the attack, forcing Japan to redesign its coastal defenses. Training like Pensacola's was essential in the Pacific.
African American veterans
Many African Americans in Pensacola volunteered for the war effort despite segregation and discrimination in the armed forces. Their story is told at the Chappie James Jr. Museum downtown, in the childhood home of Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. — a Pensacola native, Tuskegee Airman, and later a four-star general. The "Chappie" James House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
How Pensacola remembers
The county and city honor their World War II heritage with museums, parks and monuments: Barrancas National Cemetery, the National Museum of Naval Aviation, the World War II Memorial in Admiral Mason Park, and Veterans Memorial Park, where the World War II monument is among the most prominent.
| Historic place | Recognition |
|---|---|
| Pensacola Naval Air Station historic district | National Historic Landmark, 1976 |
| Fort Barrancas | National Historic Landmark, 1960; National Register, 1966 |
| Fort Pickens and its historic district | National Register, 1972 |
| NAAS Corry Field historic district | locally significant, 1984 |
| Saufley Field historic district | eligible for the National Register, 1996 |
| Barrancas National Cemetery | National Register, 1998 — still open to the public |
Sources
Based on "Pensacola & Escambia County, Florida," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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