Born in Wapakoneta on August 5, 1930, Armstrong had German, Scottish and Irish forebears. His father was and auditor for the Ohio State Government and, as a consequence, the Armstrong family moved around Ohio repeatedly living in sixteen towns over the next fourteen years. Armstrong fell in love with flying at a young age when his father took him for his first aeroplane ride when he was five years old. Attending Blume High School, Armstrong had his pilot's licence before he was old enough to drive. At the age of 17, in 1947 Neil Armstrong began studying aeronautical engineering at Purdue University.

In 1949, Armstrong was called up to do service in the US Navy. In 1950 he joined an all jet Navy squadron