While waiting for Admiral Reeves to return from Denver and his Navy Day speech, I familiarized myself with the local setup. The Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, was a part of the battle-fleet organization whose backbone was a dozen battleships that based behind the breakwater ninety miles farther north at San Pedro or Long Beach, and exercised in the open sea nearby. Duty in the organization constituted “sea duty” but the aircraft squadrons were based on shore at the San Diego Air Station. Nominally assigned to the _Langley_ for duty, Admiral Reeves and his small staff were given working quarters in a wing of the Administration Building. All save the admiral lived ashore, either in Coronado or San Diego; the admiral, during Mrs. Reeves’s absence in Switzerland, lived in a room off the corner office assigned to him. My office was next to his in the opposite corner of the wing. The air station, built to conform to local architecture, was surrounded by pleasant lawns and attractive plantings. It provided operating facilities and repair shops for FLEET AIR, and while under a separate command, had established a reputation for cheerful cooperation, a circumstance not often encountered in the naval establishment. The admiral had built up his staff from among the personnel of his squadrons. His operations officer, Frank D. Wagner, more commonly known as “Honus,” had come up from Fighting One, the swank combat squadron with a reputation for high hat that one day gave it a replica of a top hat for its squadron insignia. Frank had dragged his feet on leaving Fighting One, but had brought to the staff a unique appreciation of the squadron point of view. Under Admiral Reeves’s watchful eye, he had conducted the tactical exercises of the summer concentration, and evolved some advanced tactical concepts for air combat. The admiral’s flag secretary was Seth Warner; his flag lieutenant, Les Arnold; and his radio officer, Gordon Rowe. I, as his chief of staff, would supervise the administrative functions and have general charge of matériel. The aircraft squadrons themselves were in the process of organization. The twelve battle wagons at San Pedro operated three Voughts apiece, and since the battleships constituted three divisions, their aircraft formed three squadrons of the observation wing. There were no facilities at San Pedro for aircraft operations, so the observation wing based at San Diego except when needed aboard their ships for gunnery or the monthly fleet tactical exercises. During the summer months, when personnel shifts took place, all aircraft based at San Diego for the summer concentration period, where they broke in new crews and tried out new air tactics under Wagner.