The good news is that we're starting to see order activity increase in the third quarter and our overall A&D segment orders increased by more than 40% compared to last year's third quarter.
Our USG business continues to outperform from a profitability perspective with year-to-date adjusted EBIT margins of 19.4% compared to 15.1% last year.
We did see sales growth from delve over approximately 8% in the quarter, we have not yet seen demand return to pre-pandemic levels.
Sales in the third quarter grew by 5% with A&D up 1.8%, USG up 12% and Test growing 4.6%.
Adjusted EBIT margins were 12.7% in the quarter compared to 14.2% in the prior year quarter.
No bad product were sent or billed to customers, but we did have charges recorded in the quarter of $2.1 million and year-to-date charges of $4.4 million.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.67 per share in the quarter below prior year $0.76 per share.
Adjusted pre-tax dollars were down 2.5% compared to prior year Q3 and we had an exceptionally low tax rate in prior year Q3 which further reduced EPS.
The Navy business grew by over 20%, which more than offset declines in the commercial aerospace sales of approximately 10%.
USG saw growth of 12% in the quarter.
The Utility business did grow in Q3, but it is not return to pre-pandemic levels adjusted EBIT margins were 18.3% in Q3 compared to 14.8% in the prior year Q3.
The test business grew 4.6% in the quarter, continued steady performance from this group, margins were down in the quarter due to mix and timing issues.
Year-to-date, operating cash flows of over 40%.
Year-to-date, our adjusted EBITDA was nearly $91 million with a 17.8% margin compared to 18% in the 2020 year-to-date.
We booked $203.8 million of new business in the quarter ended with a backlog of $539 million and a book to bill of 112%.
This represents 29% growth compared to prior year Q3, strength in orders came from all three segments with A&D orders increasing 44%, USG increasing 10% and Test increasing 28%.
As we continue navigating through what we hope is the near end of COVID, our number 1 focus remains the same increasing and maximizing our liquidity to position us for future M&A growth and increased investment in new products and solutions.
We have delivered free cash flow conversion at 118% of net earnings for the first nine months.
The guidance for Q4 is a range of $0.73 to $0.78 per share.
The sales levels in Q4 are key issue as we think about the guidance and this range is predicated on a sales level in the range of $190 million to $200 million.

Summary:
Sales in the third quarter grew by 5% with A&D up 1.8%, USG up 12% and Test growing 4.6%.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.67 per share in the quarter below prior year $0.76 per share.
The guidance for Q4 is a range of $0.73 to $0.78 per share.