First two enlisted pilots complete solo flights

Very cool, while an officer during WWII & Korea, my Dad was a flying Sergeant before, between and afterwards: died flying at Lowry 1957.

In WWI, US forces made their pilots officers simply because they were more likely to be taken prisoner, due to their most-often operating on or behind enemy lines. Since officers were treated better than enlisted men in POW camps, they gave them commissions. The Navy and Marine Corps had training programs for enlisted pilots until after WWII, some serving until retirement in the 1970s. I had the privilege of meeting one such Chief Petty Officer at the Richmond Municipal Airport (VA) in 1992 or so, when I was taking flight lessons. He told me that Navy enlisted pilots were made 2nd Class Petty Officers (E-5) upon being designated Naval Aviators. He also told me how the scouts launched and recovered on Cruisers and Battleships, which had no flight decks.