he received an appointment as midshipman from his home state on june 16, 1920 and graduated with the united states naval academy class of 1924. following his initial sea duty aboard "seattle" (ca-11), waldron went to naval air station pensacola, florida, where he received his wings in the summer of 1927. over the ensuing months, waldron flew with torpedo squadrons (vt-1s and vt-9s and received his promotion to lieutenant, junior grade, on february 16, 1928. he served at the naval academy from may 24 to september 13, 1929, where he instructed midshipmen in the field of aviation. then, after duty as an instructor at the nas pensacola, between october 1929 and june 1931, waldron went to sea again, this time with scouting squadron 3b (vs-3b), based aboard "lexington" (cv-2), reporting for duty on july 1, 1931.