Navy Nomenclature

Until 1962, the US Navy and all its services - including the US Marine Corps and the US Coast Guard - used an aircraft designation system that was different from the USAAF & USAF. Thence, all Commandos transferred to the US Navy received a new designation. Here is an explanation of that system, sufficient to understand how Commandos are designated:

• Designation: this is a sample Commando designation.
• Mission: a letter that indicates the main mission the aircraft was designed to fulfil. All Commandos have the following mission:
  • R - Transport
• Design number: a number that indicates the model of aircraft, in sequential order for the mission for the manufacturer. Thus, the R5C was the 5^th transport aircraft model to be designed by Curtiss for the US Navy since 1922 when the system was implemented.
• Manufacturer: a letter that indicates the manufacturer of the aircraft. All US Navy Commandos were manufactured by Curtiss, thence they received the letter "C".
• Subtype: a number that indicates the subtype of the model. There has only ever been one subtype for US Navy Commandos, so they all received the "-1" suffix.
• Minor Modification: an optional letter that indicates a minor modification has been applied to the subtype. There was no standardization to these letters, but Commandos only ever had two:
  • T - Trainer
  • Z - VIP transport

Each individual US Navy aircraft is identified by a unique Bureau Number. It is given in sequence to aircraft as they are purchased by the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics. Several sequences have existed; all Commandos were purchased during a sequence that started in 1940.

For instance, Commando 39527 is the 39527^th aircraft to have been purchased by the US Navy since 1940.

The Bureau Number is usually painted on the tail of the aircraft, preceeded by "Bu.No.".

Only the command structure of US Marine Corps Aviation is described here as no Commando was ever operated directly by the US Navy for any length of time.

Marine Aviation is designed to provide air support to US Marine ground forces, or to naval units if the US Navy requires it. It is organized around the following entities, in descending order:

• Marine Aircraft Wing, abbreviated MAW - the largest unit in Marine Aviation, usually composed of several groups;
• Marine Aircraft Group, abbreviated MAG - usually composed of several squadrons with different functions (fighter, bomber, transport, etc). During the war, each MAG also had its own proprietary Service Squadron, abbreviated Servron, and sometimes also a Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron, abbreviated Fasron;
• Marine Transport Squadron, abbreviated VMJ, or VMR from late 1944 - an entity composed of approximately 12 to 25 aircraft.

Base designation in the US Navy and US Marines uses the following prefixes:

• NAS or MCAS - Naval or Marine Corps Air Station
• NAF or MACF - Naval or Marine Corps Air Facility, usually a base of lesser importance