page_title: 1st Operations Group
section_title: Second Battle of the Marne
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Operations Group / History / World War I / 1st Pursuit Group / Second Battle of the Marne
caption_attribution_description: English: 94th Aero Squadron, Rembercourt Aerodrome, France, November 1918
context_page_description: The 1st Operations Group is the flying component of the 1st Fighter Wing, assigned to the USAF Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The 1st Operations Group is the oldest major air combat unit in the United States Air Force, being the successor organization of the 1st Pursuit Group. The 1st Pursuit Group was the first air combat group formed by the Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, on 5 May 1918.
  The Group was first organized at Croix de Metz Aerodrome, near Toul, France, as a result of the United States entry into World War I. As the 1st Pursuit Group it saw combat on the Western Front in France, and during World War II as the 1st Fighter Group combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Pilots of the 1st Group are credited by the USAF with destroying 554.33 aircraft and 50 balloons, and 36 pilots are recognized as being aces.
  The pilots of the 1st Group included Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, credited as the top scoring American ace in France during World War I. During World War II, the 1st FG was among the first groups deployed overseas in the summer of 1942.
context_section_description: Upon its formation, the 1st Pursuit Group was equipped with Nieuport 28s.
  On 15 May, Captain David McK Peterson of the 95th squadron brought down two Enemy Aircraft.  These were the first to be recorded in the records of the Group. Towards the end of June, the need for air support on the Château-Thierry front was critical due to the Germans breaking through the line.  On the 28th, the group moved to Touquin Aerodrome, where the group was vigorously effective.  During the weeks to follow in the Second Battle of the Marne, the group took the offensive on all points and was engaged continually in aerial combat in the Dormans-Eloup sector. Losses were heavy, however 38 victories were recorded while losing 36 pilots.  This was the first real test of American airpower in the war.
  On 5 July the group switched from Nieuports to SPAD XIIIs.  The 94th switched over first, then by the middle of August the other three squadrons were also converted.  Unfortunately, the American mechanics were unused to the V-8 engines of the Spads and so availability of the Spads suffered for the first few weeks after the changeover.  On 9 July the group moved closer to the line at Saints Aerodrome.  It is while stationed at Saints Aerodrome that Theodore Roosevelt's youngest son Quentin Roosevelt, flying with the 95th Aero Squadron, was shot down and killed on 14 July 1918. With the front moving north and east, the Group was now between 50 and 70 km from the lines.  An advanced landing field at Coincy Aerodrome was established on 5 August for refueling and a detachment was established there from which alerts were dispatched.
caption: Men of the 94th Aero Squadron, Rembercourt Aerodrome, France
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