First Aero Squadron
Texas City, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First tactical air unit, U. S. Army; was stationed here 1913-1915 during U. S. border troubles caused by revolution in Mexico. The 7 planes, 5 officers, and 21 enlisted men were not in combat, but made aerial maps and achieved a long distance flight record.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The First Aero Squadron, the U.S. Army's first tactical air unit, was stationed here from 1913 to 1915 amid border tensions stirred by the Mexican Revolution. Though its seven planes, five officers, and twenty-one enlisted men never saw combat, they made aerial maps and set a long-distance flight record. It was pioneering work in the earliest days of military aviation.
Why it matters
This was America's first step toward military airpower, launched barely a decade after the Wright brothers first flew.
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Related events
- · Mexican Revolution border troubles
Themes & tags
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