Japanese naval aviation grew from a small officer-led cadre by adding NCO, direct-entry enlisted, and reserve pilots while preserving demanding selection and training standards. Lower formations acquired more responsibilities without receiving a Western-style squadron command structure. The kokutai combined administration and support with functions that a British or American reader might associate with a squadron, while more junior leaders controlled the flying elements below it. Units can perform similar operational tasks from different places in their command hierarchies, so equivalent labels do not describe identical institutions.
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An indigenous structure defies Western equivalents
Japan expanded an officer-led aviation cadre by adding NCO, enlisted, and reserve pilots, producing a hierarchy whose levels never became exact Western squadron equivalents.