query: military_branch allen l. seaman
supports: The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage. The U.S. Navy has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on active duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 aircraft in active service . Allen Lang Seaman was born on 21 December 1916 at New Haven , Connecticut , and educated at Duke University . He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 15 August 1938 and was ordered to Naval Air Station Pensacola as an Aviation Cadet five months later . Designated a Naval Aviator on 19 October 1939 , he was commissioned Ensign in the Naval Reserve on 24 November . After service in several patrol squadrons , he was assigned to a bomber squadron in May 1943 . He flew many missions including long range reconnaissance and bombing missions in support of major task force strikes in October 1943 against Wake Island , for which he was awarded the Air Medal , and missions in support of the Allied thrust toward Hollandia , New Guinea , in April 1944 , for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . Appointed Lieutenant Commander on 15 April 1944 , Seaman was declared missing in action on 1 May 1944 after inflicting substantial damage on enemy land and sea forces in the New Guinea area despite damage to his own aircraft . For that action and for his judgment and skill in crash landing his plane in such a manner as to save several members of his crew , he was awarded the Navy Cross . Declared dead as of 1 May 1944 , he was also awarded , posthumously , a Gold Star in lieu of a second Navy Cross for the skill , leadership , and courage he consistently showed in pressing home , with great accuracy , low level strikes against enemy installations and shipping in the New Guinea area from November 1943 to March 1944 . Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United States Navy base located next to Warrington, Florida, a community southwest of the Pensacola city limits. It is best known as the initial primary training base for all Navy, Marine and Coast Guard aviators and Naval Flight Officers, the advanced training base for most Naval Flight Officers, and as the home base for the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the precision-flying team known as the Blue Angels. Because of contamination by heavy metals and other hazardous materials during this history, it is designated as a Superfund site needing environmental cleanup. The Blue Angels is the United States Navy's flight demonstration squadron, with aviators from the Navy and Marines. The Blue Angels team was formed in 1946, making it the second oldest formal flying aerobatic team (under the same name) in the world, after the French Patrouille de France formed in 1931. The Blue Angels' six demonstration pilots currently fly the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, typically in more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in their inaugural 1946 season. An estimated 11 million spectators view the squadron during air shows each full year. The Blue Angels also visit more than 50,000 people in a standard show season (March through November) in schools and hospitals. Since 1946, the Blue Angels have flown for more than 260 million spectators. A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators) "per se", but they may perform many "co-pilot" functions, depending on the type of aircraft. Until 1966, their duties were performed by both commissioned officer and senior enlisted naval aviation observers (NAO).
candidates: aviation squadron united states navy
answer: united states navy