According to Wikipedia, he received the Air Medal and one Gold Star, for 78 missions over Korea - how does that compare to the standard for Korea-era Naval Aviators? What were the requirements for NACA test pilots? Edwards pilots, in general?
I understand that there was something of a rotation for the astronauts but why give the Apollo 11 command to an astronaut with just one mission's experience? (And a mission cut short, at that.) Armstrong was clearly doing something right but so were the rest of the astronauts, many of whom were more experienced.
Related, I've seen a few vague references to particular astronauts having been "groomed" for major assignments, including speculation that Grissom was the early front-runner to be the first American on the moon; what are the details on that? (I imagine it's in Slayton's book, if it's in any, but I'm currently trudging through "Seven Pillars of Wisdom.")
Thanks.
I can't answer all of your questions, but I can clear up one thing:
I understand that there was something of a rotation for the astronauts but why give the Apollo 11 command to an astronaut with just one mission's experience?
I think you have the order backwards here. NASA probably had some idea of the rough order of missions when they assigned crews to Apollo numbers, but when Armstrong-Collins-Aldrin pulled the Apollo 11 assignment, there was no guarantee that that would be the first lunar landing.
And in fact, they were almost 12 and Conrad-Gordon-Bean 11. Armstrong's crew was backup for Borman-Lovell-Anders, and consequently three slots ahead of them in the flight rotation. Conrad's backed up McDivitt-Scott-Schweikart. McDivitt's crew originally had the Apollo 8 spot and Borman's crew 9. But McDivitt really wanted the first LEM test flight, and it wouldn't be ready for 8. Borman jumped at the lunar orbit mission. So they became 8, and consequently Armstrong's crew moved into the 11 spot.
You might be interested in perusing Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, which is actually available for free on NASA's history website!