Alfred A . Cunningham Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Austell Cunningham ( March 8 , 1881 - May 27 , 1939 ) was a United States Marine Corps officer who became the first Marine Corps aviator and the first Director of Marine Corps Aviation . His military career included service in the Spanish - American War , World War I , and U . S . operations in the Caribbean during the 1920s . Early life and career . Cunningham was born in Atlanta , Georgia . His interest in aviation began in 1903 when he watched a balloon ascend one afternoon . The next time the balloon went up he was in it and from then on he was considered himself a " confirmed aeronautical enthusiast " . He enlisted in the 3rd Georgia Volunteer Infantry regiment during the Spanish - American War and served a tour of occupation duty in Cuba . He spent the next decade selling real estate in Atlanta . During this time evinced an interest in aeronautics , making a balloon ascent in 1903 . At the age of twenty - seven , he returned to the military life , mostly because he thought that he would be given the opportunity to fly . He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps on 25 January 1909 . Supporter of Marine Corps aviation . As a Lieutenant , Alfred Cunningham retained an interest in aeronautics , he found at Philadelphia a likewise avid group of civilians and off - duty military men who harbored an interest in the same thing . He rented an airplane and gained permission from the Commandant of the Navy Yard to use an open field at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for test flights . He also joined the Aero Club of Philadelphia , and commenced " selling " Marine Corps aviation to members of the Aero Club , who , through their Washington connections , began to pressure a number of officials , including Major General Commandant William P . Biddle , himself a member of a prominent Philadelphia family . Cunningham was an avid supporter in the new conceptual Advanced Base Force and though he saw a role for aircraft , requesting assignment to the Navy ' s flying school at Annapolis . Cunningham served in the Marine guards of " New Jersey " ( BB - 16 ) and " North Dakota " ( BB - 29 ) , and the receiving ship , over the next two years . In 1911 , while he was stationed at the Marine Barracks , Philadelphia Navy Yard , he developed the inspiration to fly . Leasing a plane from a civilian aviator only $ 25 a month , he experimented in the airplane , nicknamed the " Noisy Nan " . He was promoted to the rank and grade of 1st Lieutenant in September 1911 . Although the plane never left the ground , his profound faith and love of flying was rewarded . On 16 May 1912 , Cunningham received orders and stood detached from duty at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia , and was ordered to the aviation camp the Navy had set up at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis , to learn to fly . He reported six days later , on 22 May 1912 , which is recognized as the birthday of Marine Corps aviation . Actual flight training was given at the Burgess Plant at Marblehead , Massachusetts , because only the builders of planes could fly in those days and after two hours and forty minutes of instruction , Cunningham soloed on 20 August 1912 . He flew the Curtiss seaplane and became Naval Aviator No . 5 , and Smith became Naval Aviator No . 6 . Between October 1912 and July 1913 , Cunningham made some 400 flights in the Curtiss B - 1 , conducting training and testing tactics and aircraft capabilities . In August 1913 , Cunningham sought detachment from aviation duty , on the grounds that his fiancée would not marry him unless he gave up flying . Although assigned duty as assistant quartermaster at the Marine Barracks at the Washington Navy Yard , the first Marine aviator continued to advocate Marine Corps aviation and contribute significantly to its growth . By November 1913 , the Navy Department had assigned Cunningham ( and Smith ) to return to the Advanced Base School with the understanding that they would create an aviation section for the force . Cunningham performed important reconnaissance roles for the force , which was fully functionable by 1914 . Later , he served on a board , headed by Captain Washington I . Chambers , USN , tasked with drawing up a comprehensive plan for the organization of a naval aeronautical service . It was upon the recommendation of that board that the Naval Aeronautical Station at Pensacola , Florida , was established in 1914 . The following February , Cunningham was assigned duty at the Washington Navy Yard , assisting Naval Constructor Holden C . Richardson in working on the D - 2 flying boat . Ordered to Pensacola for instruction in April 1915 ( his wife apparently having relented in allowing her husband to fly ) , Cunningham was designated Naval Aviator No . 5 on 17 September 1915 . World War I service . After heading the motor erecting shop at Pensacola , he underwent instruction at the Army Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego , whence he was assigned to the Commission on Navy Yards and Naval Stations . Cunningham received orders on 26 February 1917 , to organize the Aviation Company for the Advanced Base Force , at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . Designated as the commander of this unit , Cunningham soon emerged as de facto director of Marine Corps aviation . He sought , and got , enthusiastic volunteers to become pilots , and soon embarked on a determined campaign to define a mission for land - based marine air . In addition , he served on a joint Army - Navy board that selected sites for naval air stations in seven naval districts and on the east and gulf coasts . Detailed to Europe to obtain information on British and French aviation practices , he participated in a variety of missions over German lines . Returning to the United States in January 1918 , he presented a plan to use Marine aircraft to operate against submarines off the Belgian coast and against submarine bases at Zeebrugge , Ostend , and Bruges . The Northern Bombing Group emerged from these plans — four landplane squadrons equipped and trained in five months ' time . On 12 July 1918 , 72 planes , 176 officers and 1 , 030 enlisted men sailed for France on board the transport " DeKalb " , arriving at Brest on 30 July 1918 . The Marines were sent to the fields at Oye , Le Fresne , and St . Pol , France ; and at Hoondschoote , Ghietelles , Varsennaire and Knesselaere , Belgium . Despite shortages of planes , spare parts , and tools , the Marines participated in 43 raids with British and French units , as well as 14 independent raids , and shot down eight enemy aircraft . Planes of the group also dropped 52 , 000 pounds of bombs , and supplied 2 , 650 pounds of food in five food - dropping missions to encircled French troops . For his service in organizing and training the first Marine aviation force , Cunningham was awarded the Navy Cross . Post - war activities . After World War I , Cunningham returned to the United States to become officer - in - charge of Marine Corps aviation , a billet in which he remained until 26 December 1920 , when he was detailed to command the First Air Squadron in Santo Domingo , Dominican Republic . Ordered thence to general duty at Marine Corps Schools , Quantico , Major Cunningham then served as assistant adjutant and inspector , and then division marine officer and aide on the staff of Commander , Battleship Division 3 . On temporary detached duty in Nicaragua from June 1928 , he served with the 2nd Brigade of Marines as executive officer of the Western Area at Leon , Nicaragua . Retirement and last years . Subsequently , becoming executive officer and registrar of the Marine Corps Institute from 1929 to 1931 , Cunningham finished up his career as assistant quartermaster at the Marine Barracks , Philadelphia . His health failing , Cunningham retired on 1 August 1935 . Promoted to lieutenant colonel while on the retired list , he died at Sarasota , Florida , on 27 May 1939 . He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery . Honors . The destroyer USS " Alfred A . Cunningham " ( DD - 752 ) is named in his honor . In 1965 , Cunningham was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame . See also . Also The Alfred Cunningham Drawbridge in New Bern NC is named in his honor