392

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1994-Contin ued

20 October Dwight D. Eisenhower completed a

Mediterranean deployment. She initially had the most

advanced technology available in the fleet and be-

come the first aircraft carrier to have women perma-

nently assigned.

25 October Lieutenant Kara S. Hultgreen, the first

woman to fully qualify as an F-14 Tomcat pilot, was

killed in a training accident while attempting to land

on board Abraham Lincoln. She was with VF-213.

28 October Ground was broken for a hangar that

would become the new home of VP-30 at NAS

Jacksonville, Fla. The fleet readiness squadron trained

Navy pilots, naval flight officers, airborne systems spe-

cialists and ground maintenance personnel in the op-

eration of the P-3 Orion patrol aircraft. VP-30 became

the sole Navy P-3 fleet readiness squadron in October

1993 upon the disestablishment of VP-31 on the West

Coast.

15 November Commander Donnie Cochran as-

sumed command of the Blue Angels, becoming the

first African-American skipper of the Navy's flight

demonstration squadron. Commander Cochran had

commanded VF-11, NAS Miramar, Calif., and had

flown with the Blues from 1985 to 1988.

CO of the Blue Angels, Commander Donnie Cochran.

6 December The "Spirit of Naval Aviation" a monu-

ment dedicated to the thousands of Navy, Marine

Corps and Coast Guard aviation personnel who have

earned Wings of Gold, was unveiled at the

Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, Washington,

D.C. The monument would be displayed at the

National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Fla.

8 December NASA announced the selection of five

Naval Aviators to be among its 19 new astronaut candi-

dates for the space shuttle pilot instruction program:

Lieutenant Commander Scott Altman, VF-31; Commander

Jeffery Ashby, VFA-94; Lieutenant Commander Joe

Edwards, Jr., Joint Staff; Commander Dominic Gorie,

VFA-106; and Lieutenant Susan Still, VF-lO 1, the first

female Naval Aviator to be chosen for this program.

Naval reservist Lieutenant Commander Kathryn Hire

was also selected for training as a mission specialist.

20 December Robert C. Osborn died at his home in

Salisbury, Conn., at the age of 90. He had drawn the

cartoon "Grampaw Pettibone" in Naval A viation News

for over 51 years. During World War II he was the cre-

ator of the "Dilbert the Pilot" and the "Spoiler the

Mechanic" posters, which were seen throughout the

Navy, and the "Sense" pamphlets.

...

!.

Robert C. Osborn in his later years.