A sergeant pilot was a non-commissioned officer who had undergone flight training and was a qualified pilot in the air forces of several Commonwealth countries before, during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was also a term used in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, where they were commonly called

flying sergeants The Flying / Aviation Cadet Pilot Training Program was originally created by the U.S. Army to train its pilots. Originally created in 1907 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, it expanded as the Army's air assets increased. Candidates originally had t ...

. After World War II, non-commissioned pilots began to be phased out and today all air force pilots are commissioned officers.

Germany

Enlisted pilots made up a considerable portion of German fighter aces in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Sergeants who scored large numbers of aerial victories were often commissioned. A notable example was the trio of sergeant pilots dubbed the Golden Triumvirate;

Otto Konnecke Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

(35 victories), Fritz Rumey (45 victories), and Josef Mai (30 victories). Their combined victories came to almost half of all victories scored by the third most successful fighter squadron of the war, '' Jagdstaffel 5''.

United Kingdom and Commonwealth

In Commonwealth air forces, a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

pilot (pilot IV, III or II from 1946 to 1950) could be promoted to flight sergeant pilot (pilot I from 1946 to 1950) and warrant officer pilot (renamed

master pilot Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

in 1946). Many went on to be commissioned. There were still master pilots flying helicopters with the Royal Air Force at least until 1979, but all RAF pilots must now be commissioned officers. Other ranks may still qualify and operate as pilots in the British Army Air Corps. Until 2022, personnel had to hold the rank of lance corporal or above to apply for pilot training and were promoted to acting sergeant on completion of their training. Since 2022, privates have been permitted to apply for pilot training.

United States

The

originally favoured officer pilots and the few enlisted pilots were usually civilian-qualified. The adoption of transport and strategic bombing missions meant that a larger number of pilots were needed to perform monotonous and gruelling jobs. Officer pilots were usually assigned to fly fighters and fighter-bombers and commanded units. Enlisted pilots usually were assigned to fly light reconnaissance and artillery-spotter aircraft, cargo aircraft, and medium- and heavy-weight bombers. The Flight Officer Act of 1942 created the warrant officer rank of flight officer. All enlisted pilots were promoted to that rank and the rank of flight sergeant was discontinued. The flight officer rank was cancelled in 1945 due to there being adequate numbers of commissioned pilots. The United States Navy and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

had several programmes to train civilian pilots and enlisted personnel to become naval aviators. There were also programmes to train enlisted men to serve as enlisted pilots to fly torpedo and dive bombers, transport and reconnaissance planes, and airships. On 17 December 2015, the United States Air Force announced that it would begin training enlisted airmen to fly remotely piloted aircraft, specifically the RQ-4 Global Hawk. The first two enlisted pilots since 1961 soloed on 3 November 2016 at Pueblo Municipal Airport in a Diamond DA20. The first-ever female enlisted pilot completed RPA training at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph on 3 August 2017.

Footnotes

External links

*{{webarchive , date=2012-07-17 , url=https://archive.today/20120717164532/http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=31103853 , title='Flying Sergeants' helped forge Air Force legacy Military ranks of the Commonwealth Military ranks of Australia Military ranks of Canada Military ranks of the Royal Air Force