National Defense: AIR: Pilots, Pilots

On a bend on Florida's wide, meandering, moss-fringed St. Johns River, where once only loglike alligators drowsed, a big bird alighted last week. It carried the Navy's crinkle-eyed Air Chief Jack Tow ers. Startled alligators gave the spot a wide berth. Less than a twelvemonth before, the bend had been a National Guard camp in typical northern Florida terrain —flat, sandy, scraggly with pine. Last week, six months ahead of schedule, it was a $15,000,000 naval air base, combed, brushed and parted with runways, hang ars, shops and barracks. The airborne Navy...

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