![US Army Air Roundel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/US_Army_Air_Roundel.svg)
This is a partial list of original
Air Service, United States Army
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
"Aero Squadrons" before and during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Units formed after 1 January 1919, are not listed.
Aero Squadrons were the designation of the first
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
aviation units until the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. These units consisted of combat flying, training, ground support, construction and other components of the Air Service. After World War I ended, the majority of these squadrons were demobilized. Some however were retained during the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, and served in all theaters of operation during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Today, the oldest squadrons in the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
and
Air National Guard can trace their lineage back to the original Aero Squadrons of World War I.
Overview
In January 1918 a new numbering scheme for aero squadrons was set up. Numbers 1–399 would be for Aero Service Squadrons (AS). 400–599 Aero Construction Squadrons (ACS), 600–799 Aero Supply Squadrons and 800–1099 Aero Repair Squadrons. Non-notable support squadrons are not listed.
The numerical designation of school squadrons at the various flying fields in the United States was discontinued in July 1918, and replaced by letter designation. For example, the 2d Aero Squadron became Squadron A, Kelly Field. In November 1918, the personnel of the lettered squadrons of each flying field was merged into a single Flying School Detachment at such station.
In addition to the Aero Squadrons, whose mission supported airplanes in one way or another, Air Service Spruce Squadrons have been noted and listed. A part of the Signal Corps, they were located in Oregon and Washington states. When the U.S. entered World War I, it was quickly discovered that the nation had no capacity to build warplanes in quantity. Spruce timber, vital to wing construction was in critically short supply. In 1918, the United States Army stepped in and took over the production of airplane spruce in the pacific northwest, with the
Spruce Production Division organizing loggers and constructing a plant to process the wood, construct roads and railroads into the forests to access and cut the timber.
Men in the Spruce Squadrons were part of the Signal Corps along with the Aero Squadrons, as the Signal Corps oversaw all Army aviation. About 50,000 soldiers were assigned to Spruce Squadrons, overseeing about 100,000 lumber workers, were assigned to small camps in the Pacific Northwest. Many of these men were itching to go "over there" and take part in combat, however, their labor and skills to produce spruce lumber were needed far more, in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to produce the materiel needed to build aircraft. The camps where the soldiers were located are listed on the individual squadron entry.
Squadrons
1st to 24th Aero Squadrons
At the time of the United States entry into World War I in April 1917, three Aero Squadrons had been formed. The 1st and 3d were in the United States, and the 2d was in the Philippines. The 6th, being destined for Hawaii and the 7th, destined for the Panama Canal Zone were organizing. The 4th and 5th, to be based in the continental United States had yet to receive personnel.
25th to 49th Aero Squadrons
50th to 74th Aero Squadrons
75th to 99th Aero Squadrons
100th to 149th Aero Squadrons
150th to 199th Aero Squadrons
200th to 249th Aero Squadrons
250th to 299th Aero Squadrons
300th to 324th Aero Squadrons
325th to 349th Aero Squadrons
350th to 399th Aero Squadrons
400th to 449th Aero Squadrons
450th to 499th Aero Squadrons
500th to 799th Aero Squadrons
800th Aero Squadron and above
Provisional squadrons, Spruce Production Division
See also
*
Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps
The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, Appendix 2 (1907–1914) was the first heavier-than-air military aviation organization in history and the progenitor of the United States Air Force. A component of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Aeronaut ...
1 August 1907 – 18 July 1914
*
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, Signal Corps, and con ...
18 July 1914 – 20 May 1918
*
Division of Military Aeronautics
The Division of Military Aeronautics was the name of the aviation organization of the United States Army for a four-day period during World War I. It was created by a reorganization by the War Department of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps ...
20 May 1918 – 24 May 1918
*
United States Army Air Service
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...
24 May 1918 – 2 July 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 r ...
2 July 1926 – 20 June 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 ...
20 June 1941 – 18 September 1947
*
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
18 September 1947–present
*
List of World War I flying aces from the United States
The following is a list of flying aces from the United States of America who served in World War I
Overview
Even before the United States entry into World War I in April 1917, many Americans volunteered to serve in the armed forces of Great B ...
*
List of Training Section Air Service airfields
With the purchase of its first airplane, built and successfully flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright, in 1909 the United States Army began the training of flight personnel. This article describes the training provided in those early years, though W ...
*
*
*
Spruce Production Division
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Kroll, Harry David. – ''Kelly Field in the Great World War''. – Press of San Antonio. – 1919. – Page 8
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100324025204/http://www.afhra.af.mil/index.asp
* http://www.usaww1.com/index.php4
Equipment for aero units of the Aviation Section (Signal Corps), tentative, 1916Gorrell's History – AEF Air Servicesquadron assignmentsSquadron Insignias* http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/airserv1.htm
* http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/AirForce/AirForceHeraldry.aspx
National Personnel Records Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Aero Squadrons
Squadrons of the United States Army Air Service
Lists of flying squadrons
Lists of military units and formations of World War I
Lists of United States Army units and formations
cs:Letecká sekce Spojovacího sboru Spojených států