50th Education Squadron The 50th Education Squadron is a training squadron of the United States Air Force . It is currently stationed at the United States Air Force Academy , Colorado . Formed in August 1917 , as the 50th Aero Squadron , the unit flew observation missions in the American built De Haviland DH - 4 over the battlefields of World War I . On 6 October 1918 , 1Lt Harold E . Goettler and 2Lt Erwin R . Bleckley , of the 50th Aero Squadron were posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor . During World War II as the 431st Bombardment Squadron , the unit earned the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Presidential Unit Citation for its services in the Pacific Theatre . The unit was subsequently inactivated on 20 October 1947 . Overview . The squadron was reactivated at the United States Air Force Academy on 1 October 1983 and designated the 50th Airmanship Training Squadron . Today , the focus of the 50th is in the classroom , supporting the instruction of US Air Force Academy Cadets in Military Strategic Studies . History . World War I . The unit was first organized as the 50th Aero Squadron with 149 men at Kelly Field # 1 , Texas , on 6 August 1917 . Moved to Kelly Field # 2 on 12 September and designated as a school squadron , personnel entering training for engine mechanics and performed field garrison duties . Was moved back to Field # 1 on 17 November and was designated a service squadron , being equipped with Curtiss JN - 4 aircraft and pilots , and entered training for combat service in France . On 20 December 1917 , the 50th transferred from Kelly Field and ordered for overseas duty . It moved to the Aviation Concentration Center , Camp Mills , Garden City , New York and arrived on 3 January 1918 . Departed from the United States on transport # 508 ( RMS Carmania on 9 January , arriving Liverpool , England on 24 January . Once in England , the 50th was moved to RFC Harlaxton , Lincolnshire and began advance training prior to being sent to France . Instruction was received in aircraft rigging and engine repair , along with gunnery , radio , photography and aerial bombing . Combat in France . Departure orders for France were received on 3 July 1918 , the squadron departing from the port of Southampton , arriving in Le Harve , France on 14 July . Entered service with the Air Service , AEF at St . Maixent Aerodrome on 17 July . After receiving additional personnel , supplies and equipment , was moved to the combat flying school at Amanty Airdrome for aireal observers on 27 July . At Amanty , the squadron received American - built De Havilland DH - 4 and after training was received on the DH - 4s , the squadron was designated as a Corps Observation squadron and assigned to the I Corps Observation Group . It moved to Bicqueley Airdrome on 8 September for combat duty on the front . The squadron adopted the Dutch Girl insignia , trademark of Old Dutch Cleanser . To the fliers of the 50th Aero Squadron , the Dutch Girl meant one thing : " Clean up on Germany . " The insignia was painted on the aircraft , and squadron members wore matching pins above the right breast pocket on their uniforms . In combat , the mission of the 50th Aero Squadron was general surveillance of the enemy rear areas by means of both visual and photographic reconnaissance . These missions were carried out for the purpose of intelligence - gathering and informing First Army headquarters informed of enemy movements and preparations for attacks or retreats of its infantry forces . The 50th identified enemy activity along roads and railroads , ground stations , various storage dumps and airfields ; the numbers of fires and activities of enemy aircraft , and the amount of anti - aircraft artillery was also monitored and reported . Due to the nature of the missions and the depths of enemy area which was penetrated , the missions were carried out at high altitudes , usually between 4 , 500 and 5 , 500 meters . The 50th ' s first combat mission was flown on 12 September , being assigned for observation duties in support of the 82d and 90th Infantry Divisions as part of the St . Mihiel Offensive . It flew two artillery surveillance flights to help adjust the artillery barrage on enemy forces for the 90th Division , and also six reconnaissance missions , observing and photographing enemy forces in the rear areas and reporting that information to the 82d Division Commander . The weather during the offensive , however , was extremely poor . Fortunately , the enemy air activity was very slight at the beginning of the offensive , but a day or two afterwards , there was a marked increase in enemy activity . One observer was killed in action , and one plane , with its observer and pilot failed to return during the Offensive . After St . Mihiel , the squadron moved to the Remicourt Aerodrome in preparation for the next American offensive , in the Argonne Forest . There it joined the 1st and 12th Aero Squadrons . Movement to Remicourt was delayed until 24 September due to weather . On the 26th combat operations began supporting the 77th Division , the 50th Aero Squadron flew its first missions of the Meuse - Argonne Offensive with a complement of 15 pilots , 15 observers , and 16 aircraft . Initially the aircraft flew observation or dropped messages At the beginning of October , units of the 308th Infantry Regiment were cut off and surrounded by German troops . Able to communicate with division headquarters only by carrier pigeon , the battalion - sized force inadvertently supplied division headquarters with incorrect coordinates of its location . On 2 October the 50th Aero Squadron searched for signs of the cut - off battalion , and on 5 October the division commander , Maj . Gen . Robert Alexander , requested that the 50th Aero Squadron locate and resupply the " Lost Battalion " by air with ammunition , rations , and medical supplies . On 28 October , the squadron was moved from Remicourt to the new airdrome at Clermont - en - Argonne , where it continued combat operations until the 11 November Armistice with Germany . Post World War I duty in France . After the end of hostilities , the air service in France was slow to bring their units back to the United States . Transportation was poor , and many had to wait months to board a ship . The 50th AS was no exception , as it was split into flights and assigned to various locations in France , performing postwar service duties . With the inactivation of the First Army Air Service , the 50th Aero Squadron was ordered demobilized . It was ordered to report to the 1st Air Depot at Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome on 1 April 1919 , to turn in all of its supplies and equipment and was relieved from duty with the AEF . The squadron ' s planes were delivered to the Air Service Production Center No . 2 . at Romorantin Aerodrome . Personnel were subsequently assigned to the Commanding General , Services of Supply and ordered to report to the staging camp at Clamecy , France on 9 April . There , personnel awaited scheduling to report to one of the Base Ports in France for transport to the United States . It moved to the port of Marseille , France , 22 April when it boarded the SS Caserta . Upon its arrival in New York , the squadron proceeded to Scott Field , Illinois , arriving on 27 May where its personnel were discharged and returned to civilian life . Inter - War era . A small cadre of the squadron remained at Scott Field until August 1919 when it was moved to Langley Field , Virginia . At Langley , it received De Havilland DH - 4 s and was assigned to the 2d Observation Wing Headquarters . It was assigned to coastal and submarine patrol duties along the Atlantic coast . On 1 October it was attached to the 1st Army Observation Group . It remained active with the 2d Wing and performed demonstrations of effectiveness of aerial bombardment on naval warships , June – September 1921 . Reassigned to Mexican Border in 1927 as an aerial observation squadron at Brooks Field , San Antonio , Texas before inactivation on 1 August 1927 . The designation was then transferred to the Office of Chief of the Air Corps ( OCAC ) . Organized in December 1927 with Organized Reserve personnel as a Regular Army Inactive ( RAI ) unit at Dodd Field , Texas . Relieved from assignment to OCAC 1 September 1928 . Organized Reserve officers assigned to the unit participated in summer training at Kelly Field in 1928 . Designated mobilization training station was Dodd Field , 1927 - 29 . Withdrawn from the Eighth Corps Area on 27 October 1928 and allotted to the Second Corps Area . Assigned on 13 February 1929 to the 9th Observation Group . Relieved from assignment to the 9th Observation Group on 8 May 1929 and assigned to the 5th Composite Group . Organized on 27 May 1929 with Organized Reserve personnel as a RAI unit at Mitchel Field , New York . The 50th Observation Squadron was reactivated into active service as an aerial observation and defensive patrol squadron off the coast of Oahu , Hawaii Territory , 1930 . Remained in Hawaii as part of the Army Hawaiian Department throughout the 1930s as part of the air defenses of the islands . In 1938 it was re - designated as a Medium Range reconnaissance squadron , being attached to the 5th Bombardment Group and equipped with B - 18 Bolo twin - engine bombers . Was attached to the 11th Bombardment Group in February 1940 . Beginning in early 1941 , the squadron transitioned into the Boeing B - 17D Flying Fortress , having the capability to fly longer reconnaissance missions from Hickam Field . World War II . Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , the 50th was re - designated the 431st Bombardment Squadron . In June 1942 , shortly after the Battle of Midway , the 11th Group was authorized as a mobile force by the Army Air Forces in order to respond to a Navy request by Admiral Nimitz for long - range armed search planes support for locating Japanese fleets and with firepower to withstand defending Japanese fighter attacks while tracking the fleet . As a mobile group , the 11th Group received authorization to leave Hickam Field to support Navy operations in the South Pacific Theater during the Guadalcanal and Northern Solomon Islands Campaigns . As part of the 11th Bomb Group , the squadron moved to the New Hebrides on 22 July 1942 and temporarily becoming part of Thirteenth Air Force the end of 1942 . They bombed airfields , supply dumps , ships , docks , troop positions , and other objectives in the South Pacific from July to November 1942 , and received a Distinguished Unit Citation ( DUC ) for those operations . Continued operations attacking Japanese airfields , installations , and shipping until late March 1943 . The squadron returned to Hickam Field on 8 April 1943 and was reassigned to Seventh Air Force . Following this , the 11th Bomb Group received the Consolidated B - 24 Liberator bombers , which it flew until the end of the war . While in Hawaii , the group refitted and trained with the B - 24 , flying combat training missions against Wake Island and other central Pacific bases held by the Japanese . It deployed to Ellice Island on 9 November 1943 and resumed combat participating in the Allied offensive through the Gilbert , Marshall and Marianas Islands , while operating from Funafuti , Tarawa , and Kwajalein . Moved to Guam on 25 October 1944 and attacked shipping and airfields in the Volcano and Bonin Islands . Moved to Okinawa on 2 July 1945 to participate in the final phases of the air offensive against Japan , bombing railways , airfields , and harbor facilities on Kyushu and striking Japanese airfields in Eastern China . After the war ceased the group flew reconnaissance and surveillance missions to China and ferried liberated prisoners of war from Okinawa to Luzon , Philippines . The unit earned the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Presidential Unit Citation for its services in the Pacific . Postwar era . After V - J Day , most squadron members returned to the United States and demobilized . On 29 April 1946 the squadron was re - designated as the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron ( Very Long Range , Photographic ) , and assigned to Headquarters , US Army Forces , Pacific at Fort William McKinley , Luzon , Philippines . Transferred to the 313th Bombardment Wing at Clark Field , the 5th was equipped with F - 13 Superfortress ( B - 29 ) s , F - 7A Liberator s ( B - 24J and L ) s and a few F - 9B Flying Fortress es ( B - 17F ) s equipped for long range photography and mapping which had operated from Australia during the war . The squadron ' s mission was to perform aerial photography and mapping over the Southwest Pacific , Southeast Asia , Korea , Japan , Philippines , Formosa , and the Pescadores , 1946 – 1947 , some missions being clandestine over northern China , Northern Korea and the Soviet Union . The squadron began phasing down for inactivation in 1947 , with it being inactivated on 20 October 1947 . Modern era . The squadron was reactivated at the United States Air Force Academy on 1 October 1983 and designated the 50th Airmanship Training Squadron In November 1994 the squadron was re - designated as the 50th Training Squadron . In 1994 , the unit earned its fourth Air Force Outstanding Unit Award , three of them consecutively in its time at the Academy . The summer of 1997 saw the last flight of the Boeing T - 43A for the squadron with a change in direction for the squadron mission and a loss of funding for the Buckley ANG Base unit which supported T - 43 operations . In January 2001 the squadron was re - designated the 50th Education Squadron , reflecting the squadron ' s change in mission . References . < br >