page_title: 90th Aero Squadron
section_title: St. Mihiel Offensive
hierarchical_section_title: 90th Aero Squadron / History / Combat in France / St. Mihiel Offensive
caption_attribution_description: English: 90th Aero Squadron - Salmson 2A2 in Flight
context_page_description: The 90th Aero Squadron was an Air Service, United States Army unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I.
  The squadron was assigned as a Corps Observation Squadron, performing short-range, tactical reconnaissance over the III Corps, United States First Army sector of the Western Front in France, providing battlefield intelligence. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany, the squadron returned to the United States in May 1919 and became part of the permanent United States Army Air Service in 1921, being re-designated as the 90th Squadron.
  The current United States Air Force unit which holds its lineage and history is the 90th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the 3d Operations Group, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
context_section_description: On 13 June the 90th Aero Squadron received its first assignment to combat duty, moving to Ourches Aerodrome, fifteen kilometers due west of Toul, on the Meuse River.  Like many divisions of Infantry the Squadron was to do its first real work in the famous "American Sector" of the line, which at that time extended from Apremont-la-Forêt, east of Saint-Mihiel, to Limey-Remenauville, west of the Moselle River.  The first mission to go over the lines was a general reconnaissance of the sector on 16 June.  The reconnaissance covered the sector from Apremont to Xivray-et-Marvoisin; the first compliments of the Germans to the 90th were received in the shape of an Archie (Anti-Aircraft Artillery) barrage.
  On 20 June Lieut. William G. Schauffler, took command, Lieutenant Schauffler came to the 90th from the 1st Aero Squadron. With this squadron he had seen service on the Mexican border in 1916 and had the honor of being the first pilot of an American squadron to fly over the front in France the year before.  The work during July was the regular aerial work for a Corps Squadron on a quiet sector. Two regular reconnaissance flights were made each day and during good weather photographic missions were carried out. The 90th was alone on the field and took care of all the work assigned to the IV Corps Observation Group.
  The British Sopwiths, with which the Squadron did all their early work, never proved very satisfactory on the front. They were rather slow, and their elastic construction never inspired a great deal of confidence. Hence it was with great relief that the Squadron saw
  them being replaced with other aircraft, though at first these latter were of several types, and made of the 90th the strangest hybrid Squadron in the AEF.  Early in July a few French SPAD S.XIs arrived. On 19 July the first of the Salmson 2A2s arrived.  Shortly afterward three Breguet 14 A.2s were assigned to the 90th, so that on 31 July the Squadron equipment included sixteen Salmsons, eight Sopwiths, four Spads, and three Breguets.
  The object of the Breguets was to give the Squadron practice in night flying. This had been attempted in Sopwiths, but had resulted only in the salvaging of numerous machines. After the arrival of the Breguets the experiment was once more undertaken, but without success. The airfield at Ourches was uneven with slopes and valleys.
  On the night of 31 July, the 90th was host to a small German bombing raid. The officers and men heard the planes overhead, and identified them as German Gotha G.V bombers by the sound of their motors. They dropped seven small bombs, three of which landed within twenty feet of the hangars; but by great good fortune did no damage beyond a few holes in the field, and these were filled in before daylight. In addition to the regular corps photographic work which the 90th was doing, they carried out a considerable number of Infantry Contact patrols near Chaumont, taking part in exercises with newly arrived divisions. A few adjustments of artillery with French batteries in the woods north of Boucq were also carried out.
  The first work of great importance which came to the Squadron was its part in the operations which resulted in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, 12–15 September 1918. The two weeks preceding were spent in much careful preparatory work. A great deal of photographic work was done, among other missions being the photographing of the lines from Apremont to Limy at an altitude of 350 meters.
caption: 90th Aero Squadron – Salmson 2A2 in Flight.
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