Duckworth enlisted in the
United States Army Air Corps as a Flying Cadet in 1927 and received his wings and reserve commission at
Kelly Field,
Texas, the following year. After graduation, he flew for
Ford Motor Co.,
Curtiss-Wright Flying Service, and
Eastern Air Lines. It was during this time that he developed his knowledge of instrument flight (obtaining a law degree from the
University of Miami in the meantime). In late 1940, Duckworth was called to active duty in the rank of a major and promoted to
lieutenant colonel soon after the US joined
World War II. He was shocked at the profound ignorance of instrument flying throughout the Air Corps, and appalled that the losses sustained from that type of ignorance were greater than losses due to actual combat. During the rest of the war, he introduced his knowledge of instrument flying at various flying schools, first at
Columbus Army Flying School in
Columbus, Mississippi, then at
Bryan Air Base, and helped to standardize instrument flight instruction within the Air Corps. Duckworth’s most notable single achievement occurred on July 27, 1943, when he flew an
AT-6 single engine trainer into a small but strong
hurricane in the
Gulf of Mexico near
Galveston, Texas, becoming the first person to safely fly through a hurricane. After the war, he served as the head of the safety bureau of the
Civil Aeronautics Board, retiring from the Air Force in 1955 after serving as base commander of
Hickam AFB,
Hawaii. ==Later life==