Naval Service
After graduation, Baker completed flight training and earned his Wings of Gold as a Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Chase Field, Beeville, Texas, in 1977. In 1978, he was assigned to Attack Squadron 56 (VA-56), embarked on the USS Midway, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, where he flew the A-7 Corsair II. In late 1980, he was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 30 as the Air Wing Landing Signal Officer.
He attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981 and, after graduation, was assigned to the Carrier Suitability Branch of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate. While there, Baker conducted carrier suitability structural tests, aircraft carrier catapult and arresting gear certification tests, and automatic carrier landing system certification and verification tests on the various aircraft carriers of the Navy's fleet in the A-7 Corsair II aircraft.
In 1983, he returned to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as an instructor. He was then assigned as the U.S. Navy exchange instructor at the Empire Test Pilots' School in Boscombe Down, England, teaching performance, flying qualities and systems flight test techniques.
He has logged over 5,400 hours flying time in approximately 50 different types of airplanes, including tactical jets, VSTOL, multi-engine transport and rotary wing aircraft, and has over 300 carrier landings to his credit.
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