Early aviation at Great Lakes included both pilot training and schools for enlisted Aviation Quartermasters, Machinists Mates, Aviation Armorers, and Ordinancemen [sic]. The first pilots were from among wealthy Illinois families who not only encouraged Captain Moffett, the base commander, to establish the program, but also provided their own seaplanes. These planes, including Curtiss Flying Boats, were housed in the seaplane hanger, which still stands, across from the original Boathouse. In the late 1930s, the aviation program outgrew the base and was moved to Naval Air Station Glenview.
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