What To Know About The Incredible Expansion Of The US Air Service In WWI

Through the 19th century, the United States was an emerging power, but military power still lay with the Great Powers of Europe. As war broke out in Europe, the US was a laggard in aviation; when it entered the war in April 1917, it was far behind its European peers. So, while the United States famously dominated aviation production in the next war – World War II – what was the US contribution in WWI?

The emergence of air fighting

The earliest use of air assets in the US military was with the Union Balloon Corps in the Civil War. However, the corps was disbanded. Until the outbreak of WWI, aircraft and balloons were seen as little more than reconnaissance assets.

The Air Force notes, “When the Great Powers of Europe entered WW1 in 1914, they had small air forces poorly integrated with the existing branches of the military (army and navy). However, the aircraft rapidly developed, and soon, these countries not only built up effective aviation fighting forces but created a new service“.

“…airplanes that could scout enemy positions, pursue enemy fighters, and bomb enemy positions, types of airplanes that did not exist before the war.” – NPS

For thousands of years, countries had two force types – navies and armies, and seemingly overnight, a third – the air force, came into existence. Somewhat reminiscent of this, faced with Russian invasion and with the burgeoning development of drones, Ukraine has established the world’s first ‘drone force’ – the Unmanned Systems Forces.

The US lagged in WWI

When the US entered WWI, it lacked a military air arm capable of fighting an enemy—it had just a single combat-ready squadron. However, unravished by war, the US had plenty of potential.

The National Park Service goes as far as to say the United States “lagged far behind” aviation in Europe. Surprisingly, one of the factors holding US aviation development back was a battle of patent infringement between Orville Wright (and his brother Wilbur before he died in 1912) and Glenn Curtiss (after entering the war, Congress quickly resolved this dispute).

Read the entire article on the Simple Flying web site.
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