November 1927, Schilt was ordered to Managua, Nicaragua, where he joined Observation Squadron 7-M. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism from 6 to January 8, 1928, at Quilali, Nicaragua, where two Marine patrols were ambushed and cut off by Sandino forces. Then a lieutenant, he voluntarily risked his life to make ten flights into the besieged town, evacuating 18 casualties and carrying in a replacement commander and badly needed medical supplies. To make a landing strip on the village's rough, rolling, main street, the Marines on the ground had to burn and level part of the town, and since his O2U Corsair biplane had no brakes they had to stop it by dragging from its wings as soon as it touched down. Hostile fire on landings and take-offs, plus low-hanging clouds, mountains and tricky air currents, added to the difficulty of the flights, which the citation describes as feats of "almost superhuman skill combined with personal courage of the highest order." He returned to the United States in August 1929, and after commanding Fighter Squadron 5-N at Quantico, was named Chief Test Pilot and Flight and Aerological Officer at the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia. He served in that capacity for two years before returning to Quantico in June 1932, to enter the Company Officers' Course at the Marine Corps Schools. He completed that course in July 1933, and a month later entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Montgomery, Alabama. Graduating from the tactical school in June 1934, Schilt began another four years at Quantico, where he was air officer on the staff of the commanding general, Fleet Marine Force, and later a squadron commander with Aircraft One, Fleet Marine Force. He then served from May 1938 to June 1940, as executive officer of the Marine Corps Air Station St. Thomas, on the Virgin Islands. After that he returned to Quantico to complete the Senior Course in the Marine Corps Schools and serve with Base Air Detachment 1, Fleet Marine Force. He left Quantico in May 1941, when he was assigned to the American embassy in London, United Kingdom, as an assistant naval attache for air. In that capacity he traveled through England and Scotland and served as a naval observer in North Africa and the Middle East. He returned to the United States in August 1941, and was assigned to Quantico as engineer and supply officer