Captain Paul Austin was born on Aug. 17, 1936, in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Pennsylvania Military College with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and began flight training in November 1959 at NAS Pensacola.

After earning his wings in 1960, Captain Austin reported to VA-66, where he served in the Maintenance Department and became a qualified landing signal officer. The squadron completed one deployment aboard USS Intrepid and three aboard USS Enterprise , including participation in the Cuban Missile Quarantine.

Following U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a two-year tour at the Naval Aviation Safety Center, he helped commission VA-37 in 1967 at Jacksonville, Florida. He served as the squadron landing signal officer and operations officer while completing a comb

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