This page from a flight instructor's personal scrapbook, captioned 'My First Navy Group,' documents an early class of aviation cadet candidates in the Navy's V-5 program, which sent young men through primary elimination flying before advancing to formal Naval flight training. The plain white-star aircraft insignia visible in the left photograph dates the image to 1941-1943, before the addition of insignia bars in mid-1943. Personal nicknames penciled beneath each name reflect the informal, evaluative bond between instructors and the students whose performance in light training aircraft determined their path toward Navy wings. Project: 218571