CHRONOLOGY
Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale
​1942 - 1946

1942

27 April
​Contractor notified to proceed on field contract (Howland Construction Company).

3 June
Construction begins at the Main Station.

26 September
First building (Barracks), completed. 

1 October 
 Station is officially commissioned. Officers in command: Capt. Donald E. Wilcox, USN as Commanding Officer; Cmdr. Joe Taylor, USN as Aviation Training Officer, and Lt. Commander Henry J. White as Executive Officer. 

7 October 
First training planes arrive: Seventeen TBF-1 Avengers aircraft.

12 October
First student pilots commence flight training. 

17 November
First air crewman (35 Marines) report.  

30 November 
First pilots (10), complete training here. 

December 
Boat Facility begins operations (under Miami) .  

12 December 
Dispensary opens. 

1943

​25 January 
Instructors assigned to each class. 

4 February 
Boat Facility is transferred to NAS Fort Lauderdale.  

7 February 
First British student pilots report. 

10 February 
First student pilot retained as instructor. 

15 February 
Instrument instruction begins. 

1 March 
Training capacity increased from 50 to 100 planes, and from 75 to 180 students.  

15 March 
West Prospect satellite field opens. 

19 April 
Pilot training program lengthened to 8 weeks. 

29 April 
The Executive Officer is now  Lt. Moreau L. Stoddard, USNR.

May 
Wing Shop is organized. 

15 May 
North Pompano satellite field opens. 

19 May 
"Live" torpedo drops begin.  

28 May 
Capt. Wilcox is detached; Capt. John L. Pratt, USN is the new Cmdr. 

22 June 
"USS Absecon" begins work as a target vessel for training exercises.

16 July 
​​First WAVE reports: Ensign Gretchen Kramer.

4 August
First major revision of in-flight training syllabus. ​

Cont'd 1943

1 October 
Crash boat officer training starts at Boat Facility, Port Everglades. 

31 October 
Cmdr. Taylor is detached; Cmdr. Stephen Jurika, USN is now Aviation Officer. 

1 November 
Air crewmen Training Department is organized. 

1 November 
VTB OTU's #2  transferred from NAS Jacksonville; Mayport Torpedo Shop is consolidated with the shop here; also the "USS Absecon"begins full - time operations here.  

23 December ​
Coast Guard personnel and dogs report for duty. 

28 December 
​Executive Officer is detached; Lt. Commander M. Tharpe is now the Executive Officer.

1944

1 January
Station placed under Miami for supplies and accounts. 

1 February 
93 -hour mandatory flight syllabus is adopted. 

15 February
Enlisted men's raining started at Boat Facility.

27 April 
Commanding Officer is  detached; Capt. L. E. French is now commanding.

1 May
Air Plot is established.

​12 June 
Squadron Able completes training.

25 June
Aviation Training Officer is detached; Cdr. M. T. Hatcher is now AT Officer.

15 July 
Expense Control Board is established.

15 August
10,669 flying hours; maximum to date.

15 August
Present 96-hour flight training syllabus adopted.

12 September
Hurricane evacuation.

29 September
Executive Officer is detached; Lt. Cdr. L. W. Alford, USNR is now XO.

18 October
Hurricane evacuation.

​1945

8 May
formal acceptance by the Allies, of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.

2 September
Japan signs unconditional surrender, ending World War II.

5 December
Flight 19 - The Lost Patrol: a crew of 14 men in 5 TBM Avenger planes disappear over the Bermuda Triangle.

1946

Training continues at NAS Fort Lauderdale throughout 1946. 

1 October 
The base is officially de-commissioned. 200+ buildings are abandoned, but some are used as classrooms.

---

NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum founder: Allan McElhiney, USNR WWII & Korea.

​-1989: Walter Houghton gets permission to build the Navy Park on the east side of the FAA tower. It was completed in 1990. 

-1989: Bob Jenny paints his mural "On Final Approach"at the U.S. Naval Surface Warfair Center (The old JOBQ Building #15). 

-October 3, 1992: President George H. W. Bush visits the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center to sign and date Jenny's mural. 

- 1998: The mural is dismantled and relocated to the Link Trainer Building #8. 

-May 20, 1998: The Link Trainer Building #8 is added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. 

-1999: Broward County Commissioner Lori Nance Parrish locates a $200,000 grant and is able to save the building from demolition. 

-1999 -2000: The Link Trainer Building #8 is moved (with Jenny's mural inside) to its current location at 4000 Perimeter Road.

​-October 15, 2005: U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R -Fort Lauderdale sponsors  H. Resolution 500 ​

Allan McElhiney
NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum Founder 
Chronology of Events 

​- November 9, 1925 Allan McElhiney is born in Lynn, Massachusetts. 

-December 7, 1941: the United States enters WWII.

-1942: Allan joins the U.S. Navy at the age of seventeen and serves abroad the USS Asheville from 1942 to 1946 in Korean war until 1953. 

-October 1st 1942: NAS Fort Lauderdale is established. 

​-December 5, 1945: Flight 19 - The Lost Patrol. A crew of 14 men in 5 TBM Avenger planes disappear over the Bermuda Triangle. A rescue mission PBM sea plane is sent from NAS Banana River in Melbourne and also disappears with a crew of 13 men. 

-1947: Allan marries Carolyn Mulock of York Beach, Maine. Parents to: Stephen, Donna, Deborah, Glenn, and Diane. Grandparents to: Aaron, Jakob, Troy, Stephanie, Jason, Justin, Glen, Dylan, Allan the lll and Mitchel. Great - grandparents to: Brittney, Ivan, Kaitlynn, Luke, Jack, Jordan, and Allan the IV. 

-1970's: Allan joins the Fort Lauderdale Navy League Council and a later becomes Director and Chairman of the Fort Lauderdale Navy League Sea Cadets. 

-1978: While giving a tour of the Navy grounds with Steve Sedilo, Allan forms the idea of starting a memorial service for Flight 19. 

-1979: The Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association begins to take shape, with 4 members. 

Founders of NAS Fort Lauderdale Museum: Veterans, Langley, Sedilo, McElhiney, & Rawls.