naval flight officer

A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or "mission specialist" functions, depending on the type of aircraft. Until 1966, their duties were performed by both commissioned officers known as Naval Aviation Officers (NAO) and senior enlisted personnel known as Naval Aviation Observers (NAO). In 1966, enlisted personnel were removed from naval aviation observer duties. The principal catalyst for this action was due to many of the aircraft that NAOs flew having nuclear weapons missions and concerns within the OPNAV staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense over enlisted personnel having t...