Marine Corps Aviation began on May 22, 1912, when First Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunningham reported to the Naval Aviation Camp in Annapolis, Md., "... for duty in connection with aviation." During the next four years, four other Marines joined him in learning to fly, forming the first nucleus of Marine aviators. The growth of Marine Air in the years preceding World War I was modest. Despite it being the last of the services to be involved with aviation, the Marine Corps was the first service to send a fully trained and equipped squadron overseas when the First Marine Aeronautic Company deployed to the Azores soon after the United States became involved in World War I.
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