The All American Pathfinders aeroplane unit was a squadron with 13 aircraft and associated road vehicles used in the "1919 Air Service Transcontinental Recruiting Convoy" [1] from Hazelhurst Field to California that began on August 14, 1919. The convoy was en route to California simultaneously with the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy and included a "Balloon and Airship section" and a "Searchlight and Field Lighting section" (the convoy commander, Major Ora M. Baldinger, operated the unit as a "mobile army post".) The convoy was over 1/2 mile long and was "to secure accurate information to be used in connection with the carrying of mails by airplanes, and for military purposes, as well as commercial purposes." [2]
Airfields used by the squadron included:
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1918 and 1926 and a forerunner of the United States Air Force. It was established as an independent but temporary branch of the U.S. War Department during World War I by two executive orders of President Woodrow Wilson: on May 24, 1918, replacing the Aviation Section, Signal Corps as the nation's air force; and March 19, 1919, establishing a military Director of Air Service to control all aviation activities. Its life was extended for another year in July 1919, during which time Congress passed the legislation necessary to make it a permanent establishment. The National Defense Act of 1920 assigned the Air Service the status of "combatant arm of the line" of the United States Army with a major general in command.
Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field for the Air Service, United States Army during World War I.
Mitchel Air Force Base also known as Mitchel Field, was a United States Air Force base located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, United States. Established in 1918 as Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2, the facility was renamed later that year as Mitchel Field in honor of former New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel, who was killed while training for the Air Service in Louisiana.
Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located 1.1 miles northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California.
The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron, assigned to the 9th Operations Group, Beale Air Force Base, California.
15th Attack Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 432d Wing, 732nd Operations Group at Creech Air Force Base near Indian Springs, Nevada. It flies the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.
The Transcontinental Motor Convoys were early 20th century vehicle convoys, including three US Army truck trains, that crossed the United States to the west coast. The 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco used the incomplete Lincoln Highway.
The 5th Reconnaissance Squadron is part of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, assigned to Beale Air Force Base, California. It is stationed at Osan Air Base, South Korea as a Geographically Separated Unit (GSU). The squadron is the fifth oldest United States Air Force squadron, its history dating to 5 May 1917 as the World War I 5th Aero Squadron.
The 2nd Air Refueling Squadron, sometimes written as 2d Air Refueling Squadron, is a unit of the United States Air Force. It is part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The 2nd Air Refueling Squadron is the second-oldest squadron in the Air Force, having over 100 years of service to the nation. Deployed to the Philippines after World War I, during the 1941-1942 Battle of the Philippines, it was wiped out, with the Japanese forcing some of the personnel to endure the Bataan Death March. It was re-formed as an air refueling squadron by Strategic Air Command in 1949. Today, it operates the KC-10 Extender aircraft, conducting aerial refueling missions.
The 17th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
Payne Field is a former World War I military airfield, located 4.3 miles (6.9 km) north-northeast of West Point, Mississippi. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army between 1918 until 1920.
Harold Huston George was a general officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He began his military career before World War I when he enlisted as a private in the 3rd New York Infantry Regiment. Joining the Air Service, he became an ace in France in 1918, credited with five aerial victories.
The 33rd Special Operations Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 27th Special Operations Group at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. The squadron operates the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper.
The 394th Combat Training Squadron was a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 509th Operations Group until inactivated on 13 April 2018. It was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The mission of the squadron was to train Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit aircrews, a mission now executed by the 13th Bomb Squadron. The 394th is the fourth oldest squadron in the United States Air Force. Its history dated to 5 May 1917 as the 4th Aero Squadron.
The 135th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I.
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 World War I, and the immediate years after the war until the establishment of the United States Army Air Corps Flight Training Center in San Antonio, Texas during 1926.
Gerstner Field is a former World War I military airfield, located 11.1 miles (17.9 km) southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army between 1917 until 1919. The airfield was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established in 1917 after the United States entry into World War I.
The 168th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I.
The 54th Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron stationed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The squadron is an active duty associate unit aiding the 932d Airlift Wing in performance of its airlift mission. The first predecessor of the squadron was formed in August 1917 as the 54th Aero Squadron and served in France during World War II. In 1936, this unit was consolidated with the 54th School Squadron, a pilot training unit that became the 54th Bombardment Squadron, which became a demonstration unit for the Air Corps Tactical School, and later a test and evaluation unit for medium bomber aircraft and tactics.
Grower, 1st Lt. R. W., to Hazelhurst Field, to accompany the Air Service Transcontinental Recruiting Convoys, then to station in this city.