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→Naval Aeronautic Station
==Naval Aeronautic Station==
[[Image:NavalOfficers1914.jpg|thumb|right|The detachment of Naval officers who established the Aeronautic Station (Mustin is fourth from right)]]
{{main|Naval Aeronautic Station}}
In [[1913]], plans for a national naval air service were taking shape, and Pensacola was chosen over Annapolis as the site of a training facility, as the warmer [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf]] weather would be better for year-round flying. On [[December 31]], [[1913]], Mustin reported for duty as executive officer of the USS ''Mississippi'', a battleship being sent to [[Pensacola Bay]] for training purposes. On [[January 6]], [[1913]], under a new ranking system for officers, Mustin was designated Navy Air Pilot No. 3 (after [[Theodore G. Ellyson]] and [[John H. Towers]]). A detachment of nine officers and about two dozen enlisted men arrived at Pensacola on [[January 20]] and began to establish the new school. It was operational by February. Mustin and his wife and two sons, Lloyd and Henry Ashmead, moved into [[Quarters A]] on the station.
[[Image:USNAircraftVeracruz1914.jpg|thumb|right|Naval aircraft over Veracruz in [[1914]]]]
Following the [[Wikipedia:Tampico Affair|Tampico Affair]] on [[April 9]], 1914, the United States sent a squadron of gunships to Veracruz. After first sending three planes aboard with the USS ''Birmingham'', Mustin then led a second aviation detachment, along with 500 Marines, aboard the ''Mississippi'' to the campaign. They arrived at Veracruz on the evening of [[April 24]]. The [[Wikipedia:United States occupation of Veracruz|occupation of Veracruz]] marked the first use of operational use of naval aircraft. The ''Mississippi'' began its voyage back to Pensacola on [[June 12]] to make repairs to the aircraft which had seen continued use without means of maintenance. In July Mustin took the ''Mississippi'' to Norfolk to be sold to Greece.
[[Image:MustinCatapult1915.jpg|thumb|right|Mustin makes the first catapult launch on [[November 5]], [[1915]].]]
He was named commandant of the Naval Aeronautic Station in April [[1915]]. With $1 million in funding for the year, the Station conducted antisubmarine patrols, worked on the development of a new bombsight and a gyroscopic sextant, and saw the arrival of ten new students in July. A new Station Ship, the USS ''North Carolina'', arrived in Pensacola on [[September 9]]. On [[November 5]], Mustin launched himself from the vessel via catapult in an AB-2.
