Air Force·Consolidated / merged·In Memoriam
Navigator
Served: WWII–2009
Found the airplane's position with maps, sextants, dead reckoning, and (later) inertial systems. For 60+ years there was an officer on every multi-engine flight whose job was knowing where they were.
The Story
The 2009 CSO consolidation merged three former rated tracks — Navigator, WSO, and EWO — into one career field. The last "pure" navs are essentially gone. Some of the C-130 and B-52 Nav stations were physically removed from the cockpit years before the rating died.
Epitaph
“Killed by GPS. The most accurate cause-of-death on this entire page.”
Sources
- Wikipedia — Combat Systems Officeren.wikipedia.org