United States Naval Test Pilot School

United States Naval Test Pilot School
United States Naval Test Pilot School
Active	1945 - present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Navy
Role	Test pilot school
Part of	Active
Garrison/HQ	Naval Air Station Patuxent River
Nickname(s)	USNTPS

The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test flight officers in the processes and techniques of aircraft and systems testing and evaluation.^[1]

History

The school was established in 1945, when the Navy's Flight Test Group transferred from Naval Air Station Anacostia, Washington, DC to Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The selection process is highly competitive, and applicants are chosen by a selection board. USNTPS is the primary test pilot school for U.S. Army aviators, as it is the only U.S. military test pilot school to offer instruction on rotary-wing aircraft.

Notable alumni include astronauts Alan Shepard (in 1951), Scott Carpenter (1954), Jim Lovell (1958), Wally Schirra (1958), John Young (1959), John Glenn (class 12), Pete Conrad (1958), Alan Bean, Frederick Gregory (Class 58), Charles Bolden (former NASA Administrator and former Space Shuttle Commander), Pierre Thuot (Class 83), Mark Kelly, Richard Gordon (Class 19), William "Willie" McCool (Class 101), Sunita Williams (1993), and Stephen S. Oswald. Additional alumni include Edward "Whitey" Feightner (class 2), Paul Sohl, James Bond Stockdale, and Richard G. Thomas (class 31).