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For military tacticians , aircraft offered the ability to cross enemy lines at will on either combat or reconnaissance missions. The U.S. Army Signal Corps, the branch of the Army con- cerned with communications and surveillance, formed the Aeronautical Division on August 1, 1907. In 1909, it received its first aircraft, a later version of the Wrights’ Flier, and by 1913, the Army had a fully operational unit, the 1st Aero Squadron. However, military aviation was still young. The Army relied more on hot-air balloons and airships to conduct its reconnaissance, as it had since the Civil War (1861–1865) and the Spanish-American War (1889). It would take a world war to change this way of thinking. The Growth of the Air Force In 1914, Europe was plunged into World War I, a war that raged across the continent, and it soon became clear that aircraft could make a significant contribution. Although the United States did not join the war for another three years, the government realized that it lagged be- hind the European powers, having few aircraft and scant resources. Even before war broke out, Congress established the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps on July 18, 1914. Nonetheless, this was weak when compared to the air forces of the warring nations, all of which had large units of combat aircraft. And when the United States entered the war in 1917, the government faced criticism about the lack of air power. In response, President WoodrowWilson formed the Army Air Service on May 24, 1918, and invested in its strength and technology. Many U.S. pilots had already gained air combat experi- ence by flying with other Allied air forces or as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), which was established in 1917 and fought in the final year of World War I. Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker, for instance, became a true fighter ace, personally shooting down 26 enemy aircraft. Taking advantage of such experience, President Wilson passed legislation that brought the Army Air Service to a strength of nearly 200,000 men and 11,754 aircraft by November 1918. However, November 1918 was also the month in which the war ended, and the Army Air Service was dramatically cut back.

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