Signal Corps aviation. He died when the aircraft piloted by Lt L. C. Rockwell crashed at College Park. Scott and Rockwell were buried in Arlington National Cemetery on 1 October 1912.
On 20 July 1917, in accordance with the standard procedure of naming aviation fields for those servicemembers who died “during the ‘experimental’ era” of aviation, Scott Field was named for the first American enlisted man to die in an aircraft accident. Scott Air Force Base remains the only USAF base named for an enlisted individual. Scott’s recognition underscores the Air Force’s acknowledgment of the sacrifices made by enlisted personnel from the very beginning of its aviation history. (US Army Image)