The First Yale Unit was started by then

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

F. Trubee Davison in 1915. The First Yale Unit is considered to be the first naval air reserve unit. Davison and 11 other Yale students were fascinated with the possibilities of aviation in general and of naval aviation specifically. After meeting with Admiral

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

to gain authorization for the unit, Trubee Davison acquired a

Curtiss Model F The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I. Widely produced, Model Fs saw service with the United States Navy under the designations C-2 through C-5, later r ...

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

and members of the First Yale Unit were trained as pilots during the summer of 1916. They were used as the first aerial coastal patrol unit. file:Rob't Lovett -- D.H. McCulloch -- A.D. Sturtevant -- Vorys -- Gould -- Davison -- Gates -- Farwell -- Ames circa 1915.jpg, 250px, Robert Abercrombie Lovett (1895-1986), David Hugh McCulloch (1890-1955), Albert Dillon Sturtevant (1894-1918), John Martin Vorys (1896-1968), Rear Admiral Earl Clinton Barker Gould (1895-1968), Frederick Trubee Davison (1896-1974), Artemus Lamb Gates (1895–1976), John Villiers Farwell III (1895-1992), and Allan Wallace Ames (1893-1966) in July 1916 at Port Washington, New York. Though they were still civilians and volunteers, the Yale students now had an official mission. On August 29, 1916, Congress passed the ''Naval Reserve Appropriations Act'' and established the Naval Reserve Flying Corps. In March 1917, 13 days before the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the First Yale Unit volunteers enlisted en masse. From this small group of 29 emerged an Assistant Secretary of War, an Undersecretary of the Navy and a Secretary of Defense. Lt. David Ingalls, a member of the First Yale Unit, flying a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

with the RAF, was the first US naval aviator to become an ace. He later served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Trubee Davison was injured in a crash during training and never saw combat. However, he went on to become the director of the Civil Aeronautics Board. First Yale Unit members Robert Lovett and

Artemus Gates Artemus Gates Artemus Lamb Gates (November 3, 1895 – June 14, 1976) was an American businessman, naval aviator, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air in charge of naval aviation efforts in World War II (December 7, 1941 – June 30, 1945). ...

became commandants of the Army and Navy air corps, respectively. The story of The First Yale Unit is chronicled in the 2015 documentary film '' The Millionaire's Unit'', based on author Marc Wortman's book of the same name.

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