The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps
[, Appendix 2] (1907–1914) was the first heavier-than-air military aviation organization in history and the
progenitor
In genealogy, a progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; or ''Ahnherr'') is the founder (sometimes one that is legendary) of a family, line of descent, gens, clan, tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines Geschlec ...
of the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
.
A component of the
U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Aeronautical Division procured the first powered military aircraft in 1909, created schools to train its aviators, and initiated a rating system for pilot qualifications. It organized and deployed the first permanent American aviation unit, the
1st Aero Squadron, in 1913. The Aeronautical Division trained 51 officers and 2 enlisted men as pilots, and incurred 13 fatalities in air crashes. During this period, the Aeronautical Division had 29 factory-built aircraft in its inventory, built a 30th from spare parts, and leased a civilian airplane for a short period in 1911.
[S.C. No. 30, a Curtiss J, was to have been the 31st aircraft, but although ordered at the same time as S.C. No. 29, was not delivered until September.]
Following statutory authorization of an
Aviation Section in the Signal Corps by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
in 1914, the Aeronautical Division continued as the primary organizational component of the section until April 1918, when its inefficiency in mobilizing for
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
caused the
War Department to replace it with an organization independent of the Signal Corps that eventually became the foundation of the Army's
Air Service.
Birth of an air arm
The
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
Signal Corps
A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army.
Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...
became associated with
aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere.
While the term originally referred ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, when
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe was named chief of the
Union Army Balloon Corps. In 1892, Major General
Adolphus Greely,
Chief Signal officer of the Army, formulated plans for a War Balloon detachment for the Signal Corps and authorized the purchase of a balloon from France, dubbed the ''General Myer'',
[The ''General Myer'' and Fort Myer, Virginia, were named for Colonel Albert J. Myer, Signal Officer of the ]Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...
during the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. Ironically, Myer snagged John Wise's balloon in trees trying to deliver it to the Bull Run battlefield, then in August 1863 rejected the balloon unit outright as costing more than it was worth. () based at
Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...
in 1893 and
Fort Logan in 1894. When the ''General Myer'' deteriorated, a second balloon, the ''Santiago'', was manufactured by members of the Signal Corps in 1897 using the ''General Myer'' as a model, and served in combat in
Cuba in 1898.
[The ''Santiago'', after observing Spanish movements near El Caney on June 30, 1898, was placed within 650 yards of the Spanish trenches on San Juan Hill on July 1, where it was struck repeatedly by small arms fire and shrapnel. Badly damaged, it was not used again. (Greely, "Balloons in War", pp. 48–49)]
In 1898–99, the
War Department accepted the report of an aeronautically minded investigating committee that included
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...
and invested $50,000
for the rights to a heavier-than-air flying machine being developed by
Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley (August 22, 1834 – February 27, 1906) was an American aviation pioneer, astronomer and physicist who invented the bolometer. He was the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and a professor of astronomy a ...
, Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
. Although Langley's "Aerodrome" failed embarrassingly, the Army later resumed its interest in aviation as a result of the success of the
Wright Brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
and entered into protracted negotiations for an airplane.
All balloon school activities of the U.S. Army Signal Corps were transferred to
Fort Omaha, Nebraska, in 1905. In 1906, the commandant of the Signal School in
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...
,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
,
Major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
George O. Squier, studied aeronautical theory and lectured on the Wright flying machine. One of his instructors—
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...
—was also a student of aviation and taught the use of
reconnaissance
In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
balloons. Squier became executive officer to the Chief Signal Officer,
Brigadier General James Allen, in July 1907, and immediately convinced Allen to create an aviation entity within the Signal Corps.
The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, consisting at its inception of one officer and two enlisted men, began operation on August 1, 1907. Captain
Charles deForest Chandler was named to head the new division, with
Corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...
Edward Ward and
Private First Class Joseph E. Barrett as his assistants.
[Ward was commissioned during World War I and received a balloonist license. Barrett, with a fear of hydrogen balloons, deserted soon after the establishment of the Division but served honorably later in the U.S. Navy. (Correll, "First of the Force", p. 51)] 1st Lt.
Frank P. Lahm, a cavalry officer, was also detailed to the division and joined it September 17, 1907. Both Chandler and Lahm were
balloonists. Lahm had earned renown the year before when he won the inaugural
Gordon Bennett Cup, an international balloon event, while Chandler was already a member of the
Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New E ...
. He remained head of the division until 1908, then again from 1911 to 1913. During the interim, he was relieved by Lahm and from May 1910 to June 1911 (while Chandler attended the Signal School Course at Fort Leavenworth) by Capt.
Arthur S. Cowan, a former infantry officer and non-aviator assigned to the Signal School.
On December 23, 1907, the Signal Corps issued Specification No. 486 for a heavier-than-air flying machine and requested bids. A copy of the specification was sent to the Wrights on January 3, 1908. The following April 30 Lahm and 1st Lt.
Thomas E. Selfridge[Selfridge was a ]Field Artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the ear ...
officer interested in aeronautics who had been working with Canadian inventor Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...
since the summer of 1907 after being turned down by the Wright Brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
reported to New York City along with civilian balloonist
Leo Stevens to familiarize 25 members of the First Company, Signal Corps, a unit of the
71st New York Infantry, in the use of hydrogen-filled
kite balloons. The company was organized to provide the
New York National Guard with an "aeronautical corps" for balloon observation, commanded by Major Oscar Erlandean.
[Long Island Unit Gave Birth to “Citizen Airmen”](_blank)
Eric Durr, 2008, Division of Military and naval Affairs, ny.gov, retrieved 12-13-2014
Acquisition of aircraft
In 1908, the Aeronautical Division, at the intercession of President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
in the acquisition process, purchased a nonrigid
dirigible
An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat ( lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ...
from
Thomas Scott Baldwin
Thomas Scott Baldwin (June 30, 1854 – May 17, 1923) was a pioneer balloon (aircraft), balloonist and United States Army, U.S. Army major (rank), major during World War I. He was the first American to descend from a balloon by parachute.
Early ...
for ,
and an airplane from the Wright Brothers for . Specification No. 486 required both types of aircraft be able to carry two persons. The dirigible had to be able to carry a load of and reach a speed of ; the airplane's requirements were a load of , a speed of , and a flying distance of at least .
The dirigible was delivered first, in July 1908, after Baldwin submitted an extremely low bid to ensure receiving the contract. Baldwin and
Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early a ...
flew the test trials over
Fort Myer
Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...
and met all specifications except speed, which was just under the requirement. It was designated
Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1. During August, Baldwin trained three officer candidates to fly the dirigible: Lahm, Selfridge, and 1st Lt.
Benjamin Foulois
Benjamin Delahauf Foulois (December 9, 1879 – April 25, 1967) was a United States Army general who learned to fly the first military planes purchased from the Wright brothers. He became the first military aviator as an airship pilot, and achie ...
,
Infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
. Foulois was trained as the first dirigible pilot and prepared to move the ship from Fort Omaha to
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. A small portion of the city extends north into Andrew County, Missouri, Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the princ ...
, for a
state fair
A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in t ...
exhibition. However, the first solo ascent in the dirigible, and the first flight solely by army pilots, did not occur until May 26, 1909.

The Wright Brothers, who had been asking for their airplane, then agreed to sell a
Wright Model A
The Wright Model A is an early aircraft produced by the Wright Brothers in the United States beginning in 1906.
It was a development of their Wright Flyer III, Flyer III airplane of 1905. The Wrights built about seven Model A's in their bicycle ...
satisfying the requirements for $25,000 (they also received a bonus for exceeding the speed requirement). The airplane was delivered to
Fort Myer
Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, on September 1, 1908, for trials. The first acceptance flight of the airplane was made on September 3 at Fort Myer, with Orville at the controls. Selfridge and Lahm were named official observers of the trials of the Wright aeroplane for September 1908. Both Lahm and Squier made acceptance flights as observers, and on September 13, Wright kept the airplane aloft for an hour and ten minutes.

On the afternoon of September 17, 1908, two officers of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, Lieut. George C. Sweet and Naval Constructor (Lieut.) William McEntee, and another from the
Marine Corps, 2nd Lt. Richard B. Creecy, were present at Fort Myer as official observers, accompanied by
Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...
Victor H. Metcalf. Under orders to travel to St. Joseph for the dirigible exhibition, Selfridge asked to take Sweet's place on a scheduled test flight, conducted in front of 2,500 onlookers.
[31-year-old George Cook Sweet was not a prospective aviator but an expert in the new field of wireless telegraphy. The ''Washington Post'', reporting Creecy's suicide in 1930, stated that he lost his place on the flight in a coin toss with the Selfridge. This assertion, possibly a family anecdote, is unsubstantiated by any other source.] During the flight, flying at , a
propeller
A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
split and shattered on the fourth lap, severing a guy wire to the rudder, and caused the airplane to crash.
[Because Sweet was his heaviest passenger to date (his weight variously given as ), Wright had installed new, slightly longer propellers for the flight. Lahm was of the opinion that the propeller failure occurred when vibration caused its extended length to nick the guy wire repeatedly until the propeller broke, pulling the wire from its socket at the same time. ]Octave Chanute
Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviation enthusiasts, including the Wright brothers. At his death, he was hailed as the father of ...
testified to the investigating board that the spruce wood of the propeller was brittle. The crash convinced Secretary Metcalf not to pursue naval aviation and may have led to his resignation two months later for reasons of health. Sweet, however, was encouraged by Rear Adm. William S. Cowles, brother-in‑law of President Roosevelt and Chief of the Bureau of Equipment, to continue lobbying the Navy to acquire and test an airplane. The 29-year-old McEntee, an aviation enthusiast, was assigned three years later to the staff of Capt. David W. Taylor at the Experimental Model Basin at the Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is a ceremonial and administrative center for the United States Navy, located in the federal national capital city of Washington, D.C. (federal District of Columbia). It is the oldest shore establishment / base of ...
, helping develop the Navy's first seaplanes. During World War I, at the end of his naval career, Sweet built a powerful radio transmitter in France and was awarded the Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...
.
. Wright was hospitalized, and Selfridge—the Army's only officer experienced in heavier-than-air flight—was killed in the first fatal crash of an airplane.
[Selfridge had nearly been killed the previous December 6 in the crash of one of Bell's kites, AEA ''Cygnet'', at the end of a test flight.]
Orville Wright, along with
Wilbur this time, returned to Fort Myer in June 1909 with a new though smaller and faster airplane, powered by the engine from the wrecked 1908 Flyer. The brothers spent the better part of July fine tuning the airplane and warming up for the final tests while bad flying weather hampered much of the month. For 1909's acceptance trials both Lahm and Foulois were named as official observers.
Lahm flew with Wright on July 27, and on July 30, with President
William H. Taft as a spectator,
Foulois and Wright in the final acceptance trial made a cross country flight of around
Shuter's (or Shooters) Hill between Fort Myer and Alexandria, Virginia.
This flight broke all of the existing records for speed, duration with a passenger, and altitude with a passenger. Pleased with the performance of this airplane the Army purchased it awarding the Wrights plus an added bonus of ($1,000 for each mile achieved over ). The plane's best speed had been , bringing the total sale price to .
Airplane operations
First solo flights
The Army accepted the
Wright A Military Flyer on August 2, 1909, designating it "Signal Corps (S.C.) No. 1". On August 25, the Army leased of land along the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...
at
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...
, for use as a training field. The newly purchased airplane was delivered to College Park on October 7, assembled by Wilbur Wright, and flown for the first time the next day. Wright began instruction of Lahm and
2nd Lt Frederic E. Humphreys, detailed from the
Corps of Engineers, flying constantly in front of often large crowds of curiosity seekers, newspaper reporters, and dignitaries. Both soloed on October 26, Humphreys going ahead of Lahm (the detachment commander) because it was his turn to fly. Although both flights were of less than 15 minutes in duration and of altitude, late in the day Lahm remained aloft for 40 minutes, telling Wright he landed only because it was suppertime.
The Army's contract with the Wright Brothers ended with the completion of training of the two student pilots, and Wilbur Wright made his last public flight on November 2.
Later that day, Lahm took Lieut. Sweet up as a passenger and he became the first naval officer to fly.
On November 5, both pilots were aboard the airplane, with Lahm at the controls, when it crashed in a low altitude turn. Although neither pilot was injured, and the Wrights bore the expense of repairs, the crash ended flights until 1910. Both Lahm and Humphreys returned to duty with their respective branches.
[Correll, "The First of the Force", p.48.][Henry H. Arnold recorded in his memoirs that Humphreys was recalled to the Corps of Engineers after being detached only two months because of a "holier than thou" attitude by the Corps, while Lahm had been recalled to the Cavalry because it was reported he had taken a woman up in his plane. In actuality, it had been Wilbur Wright who flew Sarah (possibly Sadie) Van Deman, the wife of Capt. Ralph H. Van Deman of the 21st Infantry, as a passenger on October 26 to fulfill a pledge made to this friend of his sister Katherine. While Humphreys was not a "Manchu Law" victim, and resigned his commission the next year as a result of his recall, Lahm's time away from the Cavalry had reached its four-year maximum. (Pool, pp. 344–345; Allen, "Wright Military Training")]
Foulois and Beck
The dirigible service proved short-lived, as the corrosive effects of weather and the
hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
gas used to lift the ship caused the gasbag to leak with increasing severity. The dirigible was condemned and sold at
auction
An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
. Foulois had been a vocal critic of the dirigible, recommending that it be abandoned, and although one of the two candidates selected to be trained as an airplane pilot, he was sent to
Nancy, France
Nancy is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, annexed by France under King Louis X ...
instead as a delegate to the International Congress of Aeronautics.
Foulois arrived back from France on October 23 and was given some preliminary flight time with Wilbur Wright, even though Wright was not contractually obligated to do so, with the intent that Humphreys would complete Foulois' training.
In November 1909, Foulois became the only officer detailed to the Aeronautical Division. He accrued three hours and two minutes total flying time at College Park but did not solo.
Because of inclement winter weather at College Park, Foulois was assigned to move the flying program to
Fort Sam Houston
Fort Sam Houston is a United States Army, U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas.
"Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam", it is named for the first president o ...
, an Army post near
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
. Foulois and eight enlisted men
[The enlisted men, representing the entire air corps of the Army in 1910 and early 1911, were Sgt. (later lieutenant colonel) Stephen J. Idzorek, Sgt. Herbert Marcus, Cpl. (later colonel) Vernon L. Burge, Pvt. Glenn R. Madole, Pvt. R.W. Brown, Pvt. Felix G. Clarke, Pvt. William C. Abolin, and Pvt. Bruce Pierce. Pvt. Kenneth L. Kintzel was detailed to the detachment after it reached Texas. He and Burge accompanied S.C. No. 7 to the Philippines in 1912. (, and )] disassembled the still-damaged S.C. No. 1, shipped it to Texas in 17 crates, and reassembled it on February 23, 1910, after building a shed to house it on the Arthur MacArthur Field used for cavalry drill.
[Cragg (1983), p. 272] On 2 March 1910, after training himself, Foulois logged his first solo from 9:30am to 9:37am
and four flights in total, crashing the S.C. No. 1 on its final landing. He achieved a maximum altitude of and a speed of in logging 59 minutes and 30 seconds of flight time.
He flew the repaired craft five times on March 12, and received written instruction by mail from the Wright Brothers.
[Correll, "The First of the Force", p. 49.] Until 1911, Foulois remained as the Army's sole aviator and innovator. He stated in annotating the aircraft's flight log that he installed a leather
cinch strap from the Cavalry
saddlery as a safety belt on the S.C. No. 1 on March 12, 1910, then on August 8 he and
Oliver Simmons bolted wheels from a
cultivator
A cultivator (also known as a rotavator) is a piece of agricultural machinery, agricultural equipment used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with ''teeth'' (also called ''shanks'') that pierce the soil as they ar ...
onto the landing skids to provide the first landing gear. S.C. No. 1 made its last flight, and the 66th on it by Foulois, on February 8, 1911.
In early 1911, the United States gathered much of the Regular Army in south Texas as a show of force to Mexican revolutionaries, forming the "
Maneuver Division". In March 1911 near
Fort McIntosh at
Laredo, Texas
Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...
, Foulois and Wright instructor
Philip Orin Parmelee demonstrated the use of airplanes in support of ground maneuvers for the first time. The S.C. No. 1 was not sufficiently airworthy for the reconnaissance and messaging missions it performed, and for a nominal fee of one
dollar
Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...
, Foulois rented the
Wright B Flyer privately owned by
Robert J. Collier, owner of ''
Collier's Weekly
}
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'', on February 21. Foulois and Parmalee landed the rented airplane in the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
during their second flight, on March 5.
[Flying at 75 feet, the Collier Wright B lost altitude when the pilots accidentally killed the engine while admiring a flight of ducks. It flipped over onto its back when the engine restarted at full throttle as it skimmed the water during their frantic attempts to regain powered flight. When it was retrieved, it was found that little actual damage had been incurred, and the aircraft was repaired and placed back in service. (Pool, p. 359)]
Squier, now Chief Signal Officer of the Maneuver Division, formed a provisional aero company on April 5, 1911, the first aviation unit in American history,
[In May 1908, 25 members of the 1st Signal Company, New York National Guard, formed an unofficial balloon unit ("aeronautical corps") instructed by Lahm, Selfridge, and civilian balloonist Albert Stevens. By 1910 it had acquired a home-made aircraft using private funds and transported it to summer maneuvers, but it was not flown. The aircraft was destroyed in a crash but another was acquired which did fly in the 1912 summer maneuvers. This group sometimes referred to itself as the "1st Aero Company" but was never authorized or officially recognized. In November 1915 it was officially authorized by the governor of New York.] in anticipation of training 18 additional pilots.
[Squier became Chief of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps in 1916. The 18 pilots were volunteers who were permitted to train in their spare time while conducting their regular duties. Only two qualified as rated pilots before World War I. ()] Five new airplanes were authorized for purchase, and two were received at Fort Sam on April 20, a
Curtiss 1911 "Type IV military aeroplane" (
Curtiss Model D) designated Signal Corps No. 2, and a new Wright Model B that became S.C. No. 3. Both came equipped with wheels rather than skids, and the Curtiss aircraft was powered by an 8-cylinder, engine in sharp contrast to the 4-cylinder training engines the student pilots were accustomed to. Two civilian pilots,
Frank Trenholm Coffyn of the Wright Company and
Eugene Ely
Eugene Burton Ely (October 21, 1886 – October 19, 1911) was an American aviation pioneer, credited with the first shipboard aircraft takeoff and landing.
Background
Ely was born in Williamsburg, Iowa, and raised in Davenport, Iowa. Having co ...
from Curtiss, arrived with the aircraft to assist in instruction. All three of the Army's aircraft took to the air at the same time on April 22, 1911, during a parade and review of troops of the Maneuver Division at Fort Sam Houston, captured in a
panoramic photograph linked below.
After Army acceptance of the aircraft on April 27, Foulois and Ely then undertook training a small group pilot candidates on the Curtiss machine, including three (Capt.
Paul W. Beck, 2nd Lt.
George E.M. Kelly, and 2nd Lt.
John C. Walker, Jr.) who had been partially trained as prospective Curtiss instructors by
Glen Curtiss at
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
,
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, before being ordered to Texas. Student pilots were divided into separate sections because the flight controls on the two types were markedly different and the single-seat Curtiss machines did not allow for dual instruction. S.C. No. 1, judged no longer airworthy due to many rebuilds, was retired from service on May 4 and sent to the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
in October.
The most proficient new pilot was Beck, who by seniority was made commander of the provisional aero company, causing a permanent rift between himself and Foulois, by far the more experienced pilot. The Curtiss machine, S.C. No.2, nearly crashed on May 2 with Walker at the controls, nose-diving when Walker attempted a turn. The plane cartwheeled and although Walker miraculously regained control, he was so badly shaken that he voluntarily withdrew from flying. The next day Beck crash-landed S.C. No. 2 when its engine failed while he was at , severely damaging it. On May 10, Kelly, the least experienced pilot, was killed flying the same airplane on his qualification flight when he crashed while landing in gusty wind conditions. The division commander, Major General
William H. Carter, immediately withdrew permission to fly at Fort Sam.
[According to one source, Carter disliked airplanes and believed they had no military value whatsoever. (Pool, p. 366) However, another states that Carter, a cavalry veteran of the Indian Wars, was impressed when Foulois delivered orders to troops more than 25 miles from his headquarters and returned within an hour. His views regarding the utility of the airplane as a military tool may have been influenced by the death of his own son a few months earlier in an industrial accident. (Machoian, pp. 19–20)] Foulois, who was a
mustang officer and a combat veteran of the
Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
, blamed the crash on improper repairs to the Curtiss D, and indirectly, on Beck. Foulois also refused to serve under Beck, who took over as instructor and moved the school back to College Park with S.C. No. 3 in June.
[S.C. No. 2, the Curtiss D in which Lt. Kelly was killed, was not returned to service until July 25, after its engine had been swapped with a less powerful one from the new Curtiss Model E, S.C. 6 (Cameron, p. 44).] Foulois remained behind with the Maneuver Division and was removed from aviation in July by assignment to the Militia Bureau in Washington, D.C. Beck served as the Curtiss instructor at College Park until May 1, 1912, when he was returned to the Infantry by enforcement of the so-called "Manchu Law".
[The "Detached Service Law", familiarly known in the Army as the "Manchu Law", was a provision of the Army appropriations act passed by Congress on 24 August 1912 that required a ''Detached Officers List'' be kept by the Army to enforce its regulation limiting the amount of time an officer could spend away from the organization in which he was commissioned. Prior to passage of the act, detached service was limited by policy, using a regulation created and enforced by War Department General Order No. 68 (26 May 1911), issued in response to criticism of the forming of a General Staff in 1903, which many philosophically opposed in a standing army. The regulation was also intended to curb favoritism shown in embassy and other "soft living" assignments perceived as "homesteading", and affected many Army agencies and all aviation officers except those permanently assigned to the Signal Corps. The regulation varied in wording from year to year but all variations stressed that at least one-third of an officer's time in service be spent with a "troop unit." Regulations in succeeding years tended to be more complex and legalistic as challenges to the policy grew in the officer ranks, and after 1914, included all officers in the grade of colonel or lower. The regulation required an officer to serve troop duty in his "arm of the service" (branch) for at least two years in any six-year period. Leave, illness, and travel time did not count towards the two required years. The Manchu Law was rigorously enforced by the General Staff and was much hated by the field forces. It was suspended during World War I and repealed by the ]National Defense Act of 1920
The National Defense Act of 1920 (or Kahn Act) was sponsored by United States Representative Julius Kahn (congressman), Julius Kahn, Republican Party (United States), Republican of California. This legislation updated the National Defense Act ...
. The term arose in usage comparing staff officers sent back to their regiments to bureaucrats of the Manchu dynasty ousted by revolution in China at the same time. In Beck's instance, the applicable regulation was "Article VI 'Details', Paragraph 40, ''Regulations for the army of the United States, 1910''.
Arnold and Milling

While stationed in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
in 1908,
2nd Lieutenant Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (25 June 1886 – 15 January 1950) was an American General officers in the United States, general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army and later, General of the Ai ...
assisted Capt. Arthur S. Cowan (then in the Infantry) in a military mapping detail. Cowan returned to the United States, transferred to the
Signal Corps
A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army.
Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...
, and was assigned to recruit two lieutenants to become pilots. Cowan contacted Arnold, who cabled his interest in also transferring to the Signal Corps but heard nothing in reply for two years. In 1911, relocated to
Fort Jay
Fort Jay is a coastal bastion fort and the name of a former United States Army post on Governors Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. Fort Jay is the oldest existing defensive structure on the island, and was named for John Jay, a m ...
,
New York, Arnold sent a request to transfer to the Signal Corps, and on April 21, 1911, received orders detailing him and 2nd Lt.
Thomas D. Milling to
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
, for flight instruction at the
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
' aviation school.
[1st Lt. Roy C. Kirtland had also been selected to train on the Wright machine with Arnold and Milling, but his flying training was delayed while he supervised selection and construction of the facility at College Park. (Cameron, p. 44)] Beginning instruction on May 3, Milling had soloed on May 8 after two hours of flight time while Arnold made his first solo flight May 13 after three hours and forty-eight minutes of flying lessons.
In June, he and Milling completed their instruction and were sent to
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...
, as the Army's first flight instructors, on June 14. Two Wright B airplanes were available for use in instruction when S.C. No. 4 was delivered five days later and joined S.C. No. 3, newly arrived from Texas. The school officially opened on July 3, 1911, and taught ten students, including two members of the National Guard
[Pfc. Beckwith Havens of New York, FAI Certificate N. 127; and Lt. Col. Charles B. Winder of Ohio, FAI Cert. No. 130. (Hennessy, p. 246)] and Chandler, who had been assigned to command the school and division again after graduation from the Signal School.
[Chandler's training under Arnold was minimal, and he actually earned his qualification flying with Orville Wright in Dayton at the end of the summer of 1911. ()] S.C. No. 2, repaired and returned to service,
[S.C. No. 2 was involved in another fatal accident on May 9, 1913, in which 1st Lt. Joseph D. Park was killed near ]Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...
. The cause of that accident was judged as pilot error (attempting to take off in fog, Park flew into a tree) and S.C. No. 2 was again repaired. It continued in service until permanently grounded with all other pusher airplanes in 1914. () was joined at the end of July by S.C. No. 6, a new
Curtiss E "scout",
[The 4-cylinder engine that came with the two-seat S.C. No. 6 was swapped with the more powerful 8-cylinder engine that had been installed on the single-seat S.C. No. 2 when it was repaired. S.C. No 2 was then used a training plane for beginner pilots. (Hennessey, p. 50)] and Milling became the only aviator able to master the significantly different flight controls of each type. A split developed between the "Wright pilots" and the "Curtiss pilots" that was not resolved until the Wright machines were phased out in 1914 for safety reasons.
[Because the Wright airplanes were equipped with only a single warp (rudder control) lever between the pilot seats, the arrangement also produced "right seat pilots" and "left seat pilots" until 1912, when dual controls were introduced. Lahm and Humphreys, as an example, flew with each other to gain "left seat" experience for instructing purposes. ()]
Milling won the Tri-State Biplane Race in a Wright B against a field of experienced fliers, flying a course from
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, to
Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. It is on ...
, to
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
, to
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
and back to Boston, a total of 175 miles, without the use of a compass. It was also his first night flight, with several large bonfires providing guidance to the landing field.
Arnold set an altitude record of on July 7, 1911, and twice broke it. In August, he experienced his first crash, trying to take off from a farm field after getting lost. At the end of the November the school disassembled its four aircraft and moved to
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
, for the winter, flying from a leased farm. One of its students, Lt. Col.
Charles B. Winder of Ohio, was the first National Guard officer to complete flying training and receive an F.A.I. certificate in the spring of 1912.
[The Army pilots were not happy training Winder, however. The cost of the training was paid from the Aeronautical Division's limited funds, not by the State of Ohio; pilot training would have been provided by the manufacturer when the state purchased an aircraft; and Winder immediately put his certificate to private commercial use by advertising himself as a barn-stormer. This last point seems to have been the major irritant, since no similar criticism is documented against Private Havens of New York, who was both a salesman for Glenn Curtiss and a member of his exhibition team. "Becky" Havens undertook the training to enable him to fly for the New York Guard during its 1912 summer maneuvers. (Cameron, pp. 48–49)]
Arnold accepted delivery of the Army's first tractor plane (with a
propeller
A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
and engine mounted on the front) on June 26, 1912, but crashed into the bay at
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, during takeoff. Arnold began to develop a phobia about flying, intensified by the fatal crashes of the Wright Company instructor who taught him,
Arthur L. Welsh on June 12, and an academy classmate of Arnold's, 2d Lt. Lewis Rockwell, on September 18, 1912, both in the new
Wright C "speed scouts".
In October 1912, Arnold and Milling were sent to
Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...
,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, to experiment with
spotting for the
field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the ear ...
. On November 5, Arnold's Wright C stalled, went into a spin, and he narrowly avoided a fatal crash. He immediately and voluntarily grounded himself, then returned to the Infantry in 1913 after closing down the school at College Park, which was discontinued in favor of one with favorable flying conditions year-round on North Island at
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, later named
Rockwell Field
Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California.
This airfield ...
in 1917 in memory of Arnold's classmate.
Appropriations, growth, and "incipient mutiny"

In 1911, the Aeronautical Division received its first direct
appropriation from
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
for aviation ($125,000 for
Fiscal Year
A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...
1912,
[$2.9M in 2012] half of what was proposed), and added five airplanes to its inventory. In addition to S.C.s 2, 3, 4, and 6, a Wright B was ordered to be built under license by
Burgess Company and Curtis as its "Model F" (S.C. No. 5). A sixth aircraft, a Wright B Flyer designated S.C. No. 7, was assembled at
Fort McKinley in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
and used by Lahm to make the first flight of an American military airplane outside the continental United States on March 21, 1912.
[A third school was established at Fort Kamehameha in ]Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
by 1st Lt. Harold Geiger in July 1913, using S.C. 8 and 21, but trained no students after preliminary flying was suspended in September because of treacherous winds. The aircraft went into storage in November. The following year the engines were shipped back to the United States, Geiger and his detachment were sent home, and the two aircraft were sold at auction for a combined total of $450.
Rules of the ''
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...
'' (FAI) were adopted, including standards for the certification of pilots, and Arnold and Milling became the first two Army pilots to be FAI certified. On February 23, 1912, the U.S. Army established its own
military aviator rating and issued the first five (of 24) to Arnold, Chandler, Milling, Beck, and Foulois in July 1912.
In February 1912, recognizing a need for specialized aircraft in field service, the Aeronautical Division drew up its first new specifications for aircraft since 1907, creating a "Scout" classification for a two-man, slow speed, tactical reconnaissance airplane; and "Speed Scout", for a lighter, faster, one-man airplane for strategic (longer ranged) reconnaissance. In May 1912, the division purchased its first Speed Scout, a Wright C. The aircraft crashed during its acceptance trials on June 11 at College Park, killing
2nd Lt. Leighton W. Hazelhurst, who had been among the first class of student pilots, and
Arthur L. Welsh, the Wright Company instructor who had taught Arnold to fly. Arnold himself was flying a Wright C (S.C. No. 10) in November 1912 at
Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...
,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, when he was nearly killed.
[S.C. No. 10 crashed on February 9, 1914, killing 1st Lt. Henry B. Post.] In total the division purchased six Wright Cs (not including the one flown by Welsh and Hazelhurst) and a Burgess Model J (a Wright C made under license), six of which crashed. This led to the grounding on February 24, 1914, of all
"pusher" aircraft, including the sole Wright C survivor and a Burgess model rebuilt to Wright C standard.
In anticipation of a possible war with
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, Chandler, four pilots, 21 enlisted men and a detachment of
Curtiss JN-3
The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft f ...
airplanes were sent from the Aviation School's winter location at
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
, to
Texas City, Texas, on February 28, 1913. Ultimately, eight pilots and nine airplanes trained with the
2nd Division on the Gulf Coast and San Antonio. Organized as a provisional unit on March 5, the
1st Aero Squadron became the first permanent unit of the air force on December 8, 1913.
[The term "squadron" was derived from cavalry terminology and was used by early military air organizations internationally. In 1913, Chief Signal Officer Scriven testified during the HR5304 hearings before Congress that "the aeroplane is an adjunct to the cavalry." When the time came to form a tactical aviation organization, planners adapted the cavalry squadron organization to their purposes. Like cavalry squadrons, the new aero squadrons were administrative and tactical units, which usually consisted of two or more elements. In England, the Royal Flying Corps formed the first two aero squadrons in May 1912. The US Army followed the British example.]
While at Texas City, the junior pilots complained directly about safety concerns to new Chief Signal Officer Brig. Gen.
George P. Scriven, who had come to Texas on an inspection trip after reading adverse newspaper reports on the squadron, in effect delivering an ultimatum to Scriven that either Chandler be replaced or they would withdraw from aviation. Despite calling the incident an "incipient mutiny", Scriven relieved Chandler on April 1 and transferred him to
Fort McKinley in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, replaced on an interim basis by Cowan, who was already in Texas City as the signal officer of the mobilizing 2d Division.
[Another historian, however, wrote that Chandler may have been deposed by the division commander, Gen. Carter, who was also in command of the Central Department, in order to hand-pick a non-aviator as his replacement (Carter's signal officer, Cowan). The inadequacy of the field at Texas City and Chandler's complaints about it were apparently the catalyst for his relief, whichever general initiated it, but the pilots viewed Chandler as a non-aviator and held him responsible for the acquisition of inadequate, underpowered and unsafe aircraft. From then forward Chandler's aviation activities were limited to ballooning. (Pool, "Military Aviation in Texas", p. 432; ] In September, Lt. Col. Samuel Reber—a former balloonist and influential member of the
Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New E ...
—became the new head of the Aeronautical Division.
[Reber had arranged for the first firing of a weapon (a rifle) from a flying airplane by Lt. Jacob E. Fickel on August 20, 1910.] Both Cowan and Reber were non-aviators, causing further friction with the pilots and creating a permanent consensus among them that only an aviator was qualified to command flying units. When the 1st Aero Squadron joined the Curtiss airplanes at North Island in June,
[College Park was abandoned in June 1913 at the expiration of the lease, despite congressional pressure to buy it, because the cost of purchasing the property ($400,000) was considered exorbitant by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. Arnold supervised the closing of the facility as his final task with the Aeronautical Division. ()] Reber made Cowan commandant of the Aviation School at North Island, deepening the divisions.
The United States
landed Marines and armed Bluejackets in the Mexican city of
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
on April 21, 1914. By April 24 they had completely occupied the city after severe fighting and were provided reconnaissance support by five Navy seaplanes assigned to the
United States Atlantic Fleet
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
. Two days later, to reinforce the Navy's aviation detachment, Foulois and four pilots of the 1st Aero Squadron, soon designated the squadron's 1st Company, crated their three
Burgess H tractors and shipped them by rail to
Fort Crockett at Galveston, leaving only two aircraft and five pilots in San Diego. 1st Company was itself reinforced by six new pilots but never uncrated their airplanes and left Texas on July 13, 1914.
Expansion of the aviation service
Beck was possibly the first advocate of an air service separate from the Army ground forces. In 1912 Beck authored an article for the ''Infantry Journal'' entitled, "Military Aviation in America: Its Needs", promoting the concept of an independent air force with its own missions. After he returned to the Infantry, he continued to lobby friends in Congress to return to aviation. In February 1913,
Representative James Hay (Democrat-Virginia) introduced a bill intended to transfer aviation from the Signal Corps to the line of the Army as a semi-autonomous "Air Corps". The bill was considered too radical and died in committee, but when the 1913 appropriations bill included many of its provisions, Hay offered a revised bill in May, HR5304 "An Act to Increase the Efficiency in the Aviation Service". Hearings were held on the new bill in August 1913. Beck appeared to testify on behalf of the bill, the only officer to do so, and was opposed by Major Billy Mitchell, representing the General Staff, and Foulois, Arnold, and Milling representing the Signal Corps. That bill had its original language expunged and was written to become the enabling legislation for the
Aviation Section, Signal Corps on 18 July 1914.
Appropriations for aviation fell to $100,000, in part because the Signal Corps had spent only $40,000 of the Fiscal Year 1912 funding. However, as a result of the high number of fatalities, flight pay (35% increase above base pay) and accelerated promotion for pilots were approved by Congress on March 3, 1913, in the appropriations legislation and the Aeronautical Division grew from 14 to 18 pilots. The ''Army Air Forces Statistical Digest (World War II)'' listed the strength of the division at 51 officers and men on November 1, 1912, and 114 on September 30, 1913. Statistics compiled for the HR5304 hearings showed that United States ranked 14th in expenditures among the nations with air services.
In the following year, Congress increased the size and prestige of Signal Corps aviation when it established the Aviation Section, with the Aeronautical Division continued as its headquarters component issuing orders in the name of the Chief Signal Officer. Reber became chief of the section and was promoted to lieutenant colonel, delegating the duties of head of the Aeronautical Division to another non-aviator, Major Edgar Russel, senior instructor and assistant commandant of the Signal School.
[Russel eventually became Chief Signal Officer of the AEF during World War I and a major general. Russel Hall, the headquarters building at Fort Monmouth, is named for him.] In February 1917 the Aeronautical Division was one of three divisions in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (OCSO) comprising the Aviation Section, the others being the Administrative Division and Engineering Division. On October 1, 1917, during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the Aeronautical Division was renamed the ''Air Division'' and was abolished altogether by the War Department on April 24, 1918.
Between August 1, 1908, and June 30, 1914, the Signal Corps spent $430,000 on aeronautics,
[Approximately $10,000,000 in 2012] funding the purchase of 30 aircraft and the building of a 31st (S.C. No. 23) from spare parts.
[The manufacturers delivered 32 airplanes, but two crashed before acceptance. One (the Wright C Scout S.C. 10) was assigned a number before acceptance that was duplicated by its replacement, but the other, the Burgess F intended to be S.C. No. 5, was not. The leased Collier Model B was not assigned an SC number. As noted earlier, S.C. No. 30 was not delivered until after creation of the Aviation Section.] By 1914, only nine of the surviving 23 remained in service, and two of those that were retired never flew operationally.
[S.C. 19 and 20 were experimental Wright D Speed Scouts never placed in service after flight acceptance flights.]
Aircraft of the Aeronautical Division
SOURCES: Hennessy, ''The United States Army Air Arm, April 1861 to April 1917'', Chapters 2–6, pp. 28–102; Warnock, "From Infant Technology to Obsolescence: the Wright Brothers' Airplane in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1905–1915"
Heads of the Aeronautical Division
The executive head of the Aeronautical Division had no official title between 1907 and 1914 but was usually referred to as the officer in charge (OIC). The history of assignments of heads of the division in official orders is murky and confused between 1908 and 1916. The four recognized by the USAF as the OICs of the division during this period, and thus as "head" of its progenitor arm, are denoted by a bullet point. All others are on lists in official studies published by the Office of Air Force History or its successor AFHRA. After July 18, 1914, the division was a part of an aviation section authorized by statute, with a Chief of Division who as head of the headquarters component also exercised control of the section.
August 1, 1907, to July 18, 1914:
*Captain
Charles deForest Chandler (August 1, 1907 – May 13, 1908)
:1st Lt. Frank P. Lahm (May 14, 1908 – December 1909)*
:Unknown (December 1909 – June 30, 1910)
*Capt. Arthur S. Cowan (July 1, 1910 – June 19, 1911)
*Capt.
Charles deForest Chandler (June 20, 1911 – April 1, 1913)**
:2nd Lt.
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (25 June 1886 – 15 January 1950) was an American General officers in the United States, general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army and later, General of the Ai ...
(September 18, 1912 – December 14, 1912)
[Maurer (1983), p. 14.][If Arnold were officially recognized, he would have twice commanded U.S. military aviation, once as a second lieutenant and once as a general of the army.]
:Maj. Edgar Russel (December 15, 1912 – September 9, 1913)
*Lt. Col. Samuel Reber (September 10, 1913 – July 17, 1914; Chief of Division July 18, 1914 – May 5, 1916)
;Acting Chief of Division
[The ]United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
passed S.J. Resolution 65 on March 16, 1916, calling for an investigation of malfeasance in the Aviation Section, causing the immediate appointment of an acting head of the division/section. See "The Goodier court-martial" at ''Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps''
:Capt. George S. Gibbs (March 17, 1916 – April 2, 1916)
:Major
Billy Mitchell
William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force.
Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...
(April 3, 1916– May 20, 1916)
;Chiefs of Division (and Aviation Section head), 1916–1918
:Lt. Col.
George O. Squier (May 20, 1916 – February 18, 1917)
["Biographical Memoir of George Owen Squier 1865–1934"]
by Arthur E. Kennelly, National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...
, Biographical Memoirs Volume XX, presented to the Academy at the Annual Meeting, 1938. Retrieved Apr 1, 2010. (Documenting date of appointment)[ (Documenting relief date)]
:Lt. Col. John B. Bennet (February 19, 1917 – July 29, 1917)
:Maj.
Benjamin D. Foulois (July 30, 1917 – November 5, 1917)
:Brig. Gen.
Alexander L. Dade (November 5, 1917 – February 14, 1918)
[Cullum, Bvt-Brig-Gen George W. (Col. Wirt Robinson, editor) ''Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York'', Supplement, Volume VI-A 1910–1920, Seeman and Peters, Saginaw, Michigan, p. 1887][Dade, a colonel of cavalry, became school commander of the Signal Corps Aviation School on April 11, 1917, when Col. William A. Glassford reached the mandatory retirement age of 64. Glassford had purchased the ''General Myer'' and commanded the first Signal Corps War Balloon Company in 1894 at Fort Logan. Dade was promoted to temporary general of the Signal Corps on December 17, with a date of rank of October 29, and appointed to command the Air Division, and by seniority, the Aviation Section.]
:Col. Laurence Brown (February 28, 1918 – April 24, 1918)
*The Air Force does not acknowledge Lahm as OIC of the Aeronautical Division between 1908 and 1910. However, Chandler's biography and Hennessy's history (page 14) indicate that from May 1908 to July 1910 Chandler was commander of the Signal Corps Balloon Station at Fort Omaha, Nebraska. Also, Lahm was mandatorily returned to the Cavalry in late 1909, and no replacement is given, although if one was assigned, it was likely Foulois.
**Chandler was also Chief of the Aviation School and commander of the 1st Provisional Aero Squadron when those organizations were active. He was relieved of duty on April 1, 1913, and transferred to the Philippines. Capt. Cowan replaced him in command of the 1st Aero Squadron and as acting OIC of the Aeronautical Division.
Military aviation pioneers with the Aeronautical Division
*1st Lt. Henry H. Arnold, 29th Infantry – second
rated Military Aviator (July 5, 1912)
*Capt. Paul W. Beck, Signal Corps – first nominal head of an operational aviation unit in 1911–12, first advocate of a separate air service
*2d Lt.
Lewis H. Brereton, Coast Artillery Corps – only member to retire (1948) as part of USAF
*Cpl.
Vernon L. Burge, Signal Corps – first FAI certified enlisted pilot (June 14, 1912)
*Capt. Charles deF. Chandler, Signal Corps – balloonist, twice head of the Aeronautical Division, and third rated pilot (July 5, 1912)
*1st Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois, Signal Corps – third solo pilot, first Army instructor pilot
*2d Lt Leighton W. Hazelhurst, 17th Infantry – second student pilot fatality (June 11, 1912)
*2d Lt. Frederick E. Humphreys, Corps of Engineers – first to solo in a military aircraft (October 26, 1909)
*2d Lt. George E. M. Kelly, 30th infantry – first student and pilot fatality (May 10, 1911)
*1st Lt. Frank P. Lahm, 6th Cavalry – second solo pilot, first licensed military pilot, and first Army aviator overseas
*2d Lt.
Moss L. Love, Signal Corps – first pilot trained overseas (killed September 4, 1913)
*Sgt.
Herbert L. Marcus, US Signal Corps, circa 1911 -1914. aircraft mechanic, flew with Lt. Townsend Dodd in Burgess H tractor biplane, setting American distance (245 miles) and duration (2hr,43 min.) record on Feb.14,1914.
*1st Lt. Thomas DeW. Milling, 15th Cavalry – first rated Military Aviator (July 5, 1912)
*2d Lt.
C. Perry Rich, Philippine Scouts – first overseas fatality (November 14, 1913)
*2d Lt.
Lewis C. Rockwell, 10th Infantry – first licensed pilot fatality (September 18, 1912)
*Corp.
Frank S. Scott, Signal Corps – first enlisted and second passenger fatality (September 18, 1912)
*1st Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, Jr., 1st Field Artillery – first Army officer to learn to fly, first airplane fatality (September 17, 1908)
File:Thomas selfridge smoking pipe.jpg,
File:Foulois4.jpg,
File:Thomas DeWitt Milling.jpg,
File:021002-O-9999G-013.jpg,
See also
*
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the aerial warfare service of the United States from 1914 to 1918, and a direct statutory ancestor of the United States Air Force. It absorbed and replaced the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, Aer ...
Lineage of the United States Air Force
* Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps August 1, 1907 – July 18, 1914
*
Aviation Section, Signal Corps July 18, 1914 – May 20, 1918
*
Division of Military Aeronautics May 20, 1918 – May 24, 1918
*
Air Service, United States Army May 24, 1918 – July 2, 1926
*
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
July 2, 1926 – June 20, 1941
*
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
June 20, 1941 – September 18, 1947
*
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
September 18, 1947 – present
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
*
*Bowman, Martin W., "Background to War", ''USAAF Handbook 1939–1945'',
*
*Correll, John T. "The First of the Force", ''AIR FORCE Magazine'', August 2007, Vol. 90, No. 8,
Air Force Association, Arlington, Virginia
*Cragg, Dan, ed., Sgt.Maj. USA (Ret.) (1983). ''The guide to Military Installations'', Stackpole Books, Harrisburg
* AFD-100928-011 (Air Force Historical Studies Office document)
*Greely, Gen. Adolphus W. (1900). "Balloons in War", ''Harper's Monthly Magazine'', CI (DCI), pp. 33–50.
*
*
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*Lienhard, John H.
Inventing the Air Force "The Engines of Our Ingenuity" Episode 1974.
*
*Maurer, Maurer (1983)
''Air Force Combat Units of World War II'' Office of Air Force History, "Introduction"
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*"2005 Almanac", ''Air Force Magazine'', May 2005, Vol. 88, No. 5, the Air Force Association, Arlington, Virginia
External links
Provisional Aero Company in flight, Fort Sam Houston, TexasParade of the Maneuver Division on April 22, 1911, with S.C. No. 2 (Curtiss D) at right, S.C. No. 3 (Wright B) at center, and S.C. No. 1 (Wright A) at left
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Aeronautical Division, Army Signal Corps
Signal units and formations of the United States Army
Aeronautical Division, Army Signal Corps
Aeronautical Division, Army Signal Corps
20th-century history of the United States Air Force
Military units and formations established in 1907
Military units and formations disestablished in 1914
1907 establishments in the United States
1914 disestablishments in the United States