page_title: 427th Reconnaissance Squadron
section_title: World War I
hierarchical_section_title: 427th Reconnaissance Squadron / History / World War I
caption_attribution_description: A Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) on a training flight during World War I.
context_page_description: The 427th Reconnaissance Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit assigned to Beale Air Force Base, California.
  The squadron's roots go back to World War I, when it was organized as the 38th Aero Squadron, a training unit that served in Texas and Illinois. When the United States Army Air Service reorganized its training units in July 1918, the squadron was renamed Squadron A, Chanute Field. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the squadron was demobilized in December.
  The World War I squadron was consolidated with the 38th Pursuit Squadron when that unit was activated in 1933, although it was not equipped before it was inactivated in 1935. The squadron was activated again in 1936 as the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, forming the long range reconnaissance arm of the 1st Wing. The squadron was attached to the 19th Bombardment Group and began its deployment to join the group in the Philippines in December 1941. However, the 38th's Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses arrived at Hickam Field while it was under attack by the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service.
context_section_description: The squadron was first organized as a provisional unit at Kelly Field, Texas in June 1917. In early August the unit received formal recognition as the 38th Aero Squadron as the United States expanded the United States Army Air Service after entering World War I. A few weeks later, the squadron moved to Chanute Field, Illinois, where it served as a training unit, equipped with Curtiss JN-4 and DH-4 single engined biplanes. In July 1918, the Air Service renamed its squadrons at training fields if they were not programmed for overseas deployment as lettered squadrons and the 38th became Squadron A, Chanute Field. The squadron was demobilized in December 1918 as Chanute prepared to transition from a pilot training field into a temporary storage depot following the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
caption: A JN-4 on a training flight
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