JULY 20, 2026 – The oldest living Medal of Honor recipient returned July 15 to the base where he earned his wings of gold, joining Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC) to congratulate 29 student naval aviators who completed Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE) training, the first milestone on the path to those same wings.
Retired Capt. E. Royce Williams, 101, enlisted during World War II and earned his wings at Naval Air Station Pensacola in August 1945, going on to fly combat missions in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He received the Medal of Honor Feb. 24, 2026, for a 1952 solo engagement against seven Soviet MiG-15s that remained classified for more than 50 years. He is the only living Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War.
For the student naval aviators seated in front of him, the medal was not the point. The wings were. Williams earned his at the end of the same training pipeline these students have entered, and 81 years later he came back to tell them what carried him through it.
“He is the living, breathing standard, the embodiment of what it means to be a United States naval aviator,” said Capt. Ron Rumfelt, NASC commanding officer. “This is the history and heritage you join today.”
NASC, a subordinate command of Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), trains and develops future naval aviators, naval flight officers and aircrew for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. NIFE is the entry point of that pipeline, combining aviation ground school and introductory flight instruction to screen and prepare students before they report to primary flight training.
Rumfelt told the graduates that the connection between Williams’ era and theirs is the training itself.
“We are the best trained aviators in the world. We do it better than anybody,” Rumfelt said. “It starts with preparation. It ends with debriefs. We call that the relentless pursuit of perfection, because you do not know when that training is going to be called upon, when you will be challenged like Capt. Williams was challenged.”
After the ceremony, Williams took questions from the graduates. Asked what advice he would give a student naval aviator for success, he pointed to the same standard.
“You have to want it. The word that comes to mind is push. Be diligent,” Williams said. “Each one of you is different, but you are all trying to attain the same goal the best you can. I took every activity as a challenge.”
That approach, he told the students, never changed across a career that spanned three wars and ended with his retirement as a captain in 1980. “It was not a game. It was business,” Williams said. “I applied myself, and the rewards were good.”
The graduates now report to primary flight training, where they will fly the T-6B Texan II or enter the helicopter training track on the way to their own wings.
NASC is one of the learning centers of NETC, whose mission is to recruit, train and deliver those who serve our nation, taking them from street to fleet by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational and battle-ready Sailors and warfighters.
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From Austen McClain