Early life[ edit ] Naumenko was born on 7 January to a Ukrainian pesant family in Zlynka village, Kirovgrad oblast. After completing his ninth grade of school in he worked at a labor colony in Odessa before entering the military in In he graduated from the K.
In the early part of the war with Germany he was a mechanic, but in April he was sent for training to become a pilot. However, he did not return to the front until November since attended command courses after flight school.
Upon his return to the front he became a flight commander in the th Fighter Aviation Regiment, but he did not see combat in the war. In the dogfight he used sharp vertical climb techniques to out-maneuver the Fs, which could not climb as sharply and hence ended up falling into his gunfire. They saw one get catch fire and go down, and the other four bombers tried to get away from the fighters.
Two of those bombers were hit, but the MiGs did not continue to pursue them due to fuel shortages. After analysis of post-flight data, the mission was credited with taking out three Bs, of which one was credited to Naumenko. However, they managed to dodge the initial attack by climbing sharply. After returning to engage the Fs, lieutenant Serafim Volodkin lagged behind the rest of the jets, and as a result separated from his wingman Ivan Grechko.
With the Fs at a moment of strategic advantage, they rushed in to target Volodkin, who was saved by Grechko coming to his aid. After the intense dogfight the Fs eventually disengaged. Later combats would be even more difficult due to increased US aviation presence. The next day he engaged Fs attacking a Sensen railway station, but was soon forced to temporarily disengage after entering an unequal battle, having made several mistakes in the initial attack.
