History 

Tailcodes 

History 

VT-31 began life as an Advanced Training Unit in 1958 and utilised a variety of aircraft through the years. The first aircraft on strength with the Wise Owls was the Beechcraft SNB (a US Navy version of the successful Beech 18), initially used for instrument and navigation training. The squadron then moved to the Lockheed P-2V Neptune in 1960 and soon after was designated VT-31. Following the P-2V the Martin P5M Marlin flying boat was integrated. In 1963, Aircraft Carrier qualification was entered into the syllabus and with this new role came a new airframe - the Grumman TS-2A Tracker. The Tracker flew with VT-31 for the next 14 years, until during 1977 Beechcraft made a return to the squadron in the form of the T-44A Pegasus. The Pegasus brought with it an advancement in navigation, Radar, avionics, fault insertion system, as well as air conditioning and a fully pressurised cabin. These improvements made training for the SNAs a lot more comfortable. 
In 1996 VT-31 expanded because of the success with the joint training scheme with the USAF. Due to the higher demand for training, the Beechcraft UC-12B Huron was procured to augment the now out of production T-44A. In 1999 VT-31 relinquished their TC-12Bs and transferred them to its sister squadron (the newly formed VT-35), and reverted back to flying purely the T-44A. The squadron also has T-44C aircraft on strength, which boast an upgraded cockpit suite compared to the original T-44A, helping student pilots to convert to the more modern follow on aircraft in the Navy fleet.
To date the “Wise Owls” continues to train SNAs in multi-engine flight, it's student pilots being drawn from the USN, USMC and also the United States Coast Guard.