Early Life and Career
Mitscher was born in Hillsboro, Wisconsin on January 26, 1887, the son of Oscar and Myrta (Shear) Mitscher. Mitscher's grandfather, Andreas Mitscher (1821–1905), was a German immigrant from Traben-Trarbach. In 1854, Andreas married Constantina Moln, who was also of German descent. During the western land boom of 1889, when Marc was two years old, his family resettled in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his father, a federal Indian agent, later became that city's second mayor. Despite the family settling in Oklahoma, records attest that Mitscher attended elementary and secondary schools in Washington, D.C. and received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1904 through Bird Segle McGuire, then U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.
An indifferent student with a lackluster sense of military deportment, Mitscher's career at the naval academy did not portend the accomplishments he would achieve later in life. Nicknamed after Annapolis' first midshipman from Oklahoma, one Peter Cassius Marcellus Cade who had "bilged-out" the year before in 1903, upperclassmen compelled young Mitscher to recite the entire name as a hazing. Soon he was being referred to as "Oklahoma Pete", with the nickname shortened to just "Pete" by the winter of his youngster year. Managing to amass 159 demerits and showing poorly in his class work, Mitscher was saddled with a forced resignation at the end of his sophomore year. At the insistence of his father, Mitscher re-applied and was granted reappointment, though he had to re-enter the academy as a first year plebe. This time the stoic Mitscher worked straight through, and on June 3, 1910, he graduated 113th out of a class of 131. Following graduation he served two years at sea aboard USS Colorado, and was commissioned ensign on March 7, 1912. In August 1913, he served aboard the USS California on the West Coast of the U.S. during the Mexican Campaign
Mitscher took an early interest in aviation, requesting a transfer to aeronautics while aboard the Colorado in his last year as a midshipman, but his request was not granted. After graduating he continued to make requests for transfer to aviation while serving on the destroyers USS Whipple and USS Stewart in charge of the engine room, before receiving his orders to transfer to the Naval Aeronautic Station in Pensacola, Florida. There, he was assigned to the armored cruiser USS North Carolina which was being used to experiment with aircraft, having been fitted with a catapult over her fantail. Mitscher trained as a pilot, earning his wings and the designation Naval Aviator No. 33 on June 2, 1916. Almost a year later, on April 6, 1917, he reported to the renamed armored cruiser USS Huntington for duty in connection with aircraft catapult experiments. The Navy was interested in using aircraft for scouting purposes and as spotters for the direction of their gunnary. Lieutenant Mitscher was then put in command of NAS Dinner Key in Coconut Grove, Florida. Dinner Key was the second largest naval air facility in the U.S. and was used to train seaplane pilots. On July 18, 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant commander. In February 1919, he transferred from NAS Dinner Key to the Aviation Section in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, before reporting to Seaplane Division 1.
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