Education And Technical Training
Introduction Page

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NATTC Norman, a vocational technical training school for the naval air function, was actually three schools in one. All activity of the training center focused on the objective of supplying naval aviation with a constant flow of trained mechanics, ordnancemen, metalsmiths, rubberized equipment repairmen, radar and line maintenance crews to keep Navy planes ready for combat. Sailors and Marines could not simply choose to be AMMs, AOMs or AMs but were hand selected by the Navy. Typically 16 - 24 weeks of coursework, both classroom and hands-on, were required to become certified. And that was condensed under wartime conditions. One might be tempted to think, oh it's vocational training it would have been easy. But nothing could have been further from the truth. Technology advanced rapidly during World War II and the school had to keep pace. Only those who showed a natural aptitude would be accepted into the program. Upon successful completion of training a sailor or WAVE would then go through an official graduation ceremony and await their next orders. Usually this meant active duty for the sailor in the combat zones, either on ship or land base. A WAVE would be assigned to a non-combat zone where her job was to free up a man for combat duty.