354th Aero Squadron The 354th Aero Squadron was a 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 VI Corps , United States Second Army sector of the Western Front in France , providing battlefield intelligence . The squadron saw limited combat , and with Second Army ' s planned offensive drive on Metz cancelled due to the 1918 Armistice with Germany , and was assigned to the United States Third Army as part of the Occupation of the Rhineland in Germany . It returned to the United States in June 1919 and was demobilized . The squadron was never reactivated and there is no current United States Air Force or Air National Guard successor unit . History . Origin . The 354th Aero Squadron was organized at Kelly Field , Texas , on 28 January 1918 . The enlisted personnel , numbering one hundred and fifty in all , was composed of men of all walks of life . Hailing from almost every state in the Union , they had finally met at Kelly Field , Texas , for assignment . The majority had been at Kelly for as long as two months learning the squad movements , something about military courtesy and a lot about " fatigue " . Many were still in civilian clothing that looked the worse for wear , and only a few were wearing a military uniform . On 7 February due to measles cases , the 354th was placed in Quarantine Camp . Several of the men been sent to the Base Hospital at Fort Sam Houston , Texas , sick with measles and the congested quarters then occupied by the Squadron made the spread of this and other diseases difficult to prevent . Naturally there was disappointment . It had been learned that the 354th was designated as a Service ( Flying ) Squadron and the anticipation of foreign service had grown very strong . In the Quarantine Camp there were the usual camp duties . Men had the opportunity to get acquainted and they began to feel more as members of an organization than as a lot of men temporarily brought together . On 21 February the Squadron was released from Quarantine Camp and ordered to Kelly Field # 3 , the part of Kelly that was used as an organization camp . Orders came on 21 March st for the Squadron to move to Rich Field , Waco , Texas . At Waco there were the usual camp duties . The camp into which the organization went was constructed for the organization of Air Service units . Drills , fatigue and guard duty made up the daily schedule . Due to lingering sicknesses , the Squadron was quarantined for the first ten days after reaching Rich Field . Remaining in Waco for about five weeks , the squadron continued its indoctrination into the Army , performing frequent hikes to various parts of the surrounding country , as well as learning flag semaphore signaling . Training . On 27 April , the 354th was ordered to Hicks Field , part of the Camp Taliaferro training complex operated by the British Royal Flying Corps near Fort Worth , Texas . The squadron traveled to Hicks by rail . On 1 May one hundred five men were put on special duty in the hangars , the shops and the Quartermaster Department . Equipped with blue denim uniforms , the men set to work learning skills they would need in the war zone . The mechanics frequently went up in the Curtiss JN - 4 training planes and on two or three occasions got involved in crashes . Unfortunately two squadron members were killed , and several were injured and had to be left behind at the end of training . The squadron was ordered for overseas duty at the end of June , and on 9 July , the 354th received its travel orders to proceed immediately to the Aviation Concentration Center , Camp Mills , Long Island , New York for transfer . At this time , the 354th consisted of three officers and one hundred fifty - four men . The train arrived in Garden City early on 14 July . There the squadron awaited further orders , and on the 24th the order was received that no one could leave the camp . However , the squadron was delayed until 16 August when the squadron was moved to the Port of Entry , Hoboken , New Jersey , where it was boarded on the USS Von Steuben , a sized German liner that was impressed into service as a troop ship . The trans - Atlantic crossing to France was uneventful , the squadron arriving at the port of Brest , France on 25 August 1918 . Arrival in France . Upon arrival , the squadron remained at a Rest Camp , awaiting further orders . After five days , orders arrived sending the squadron to the Air Service Replacement Concentration Center at the large St . Maixent Replacement Barracks . A very uncomfortable French troop train was used to transport the squadron . The Squadron arrived at St . Maixent at about 9 . 00 o ' clock on the evening of 4 September . The distance up to the station from the railroad station was about two miles , and the squadron marched to the barracks , although some delays meant it was midnight until all were in their bunks . The two weeks spent at St . Maixent were for the purpose of getting equipped to go into the fighting zone . Besides being issued extra clothing , rifles , gas masks , etc . , the men were given special instructions in the use of their gas masks . However , while there , Spanish Flu was prevalent and while there , about one - third of the 354th suffered from the disease . It wasn ' t until 19 September that the men had recovered enough to be transferred to the 1st Air Depot at Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome . There the distant booming of guns were convincing evidence that the " Zone of Advance " ( Western Front ) had been entered . For the next two weeks the men of the Squadron were billeted on either side of the main road leading into the town from the front , where frequently the big guns came rumbling back for repairs and where trucks and ambulances were constantly going to and fro . At Colombey - les - Belles , the men got acquainted with the V - 12 Liberty aircraft engine that would power the airplanes issued to the 354th , the Dayton - Wright DH - 4 . There , it was determined that the 354th would be a Corps Observation squadron , and on the 30th , the squadron was transferred to Autreville Airdrome . Compared to the billets at Colombey , at Autreville there were newly constructed barracks and amongst other luxuries , there was a mess hall . Instead of a pig and a puddle at the entrance to the office , there was a nicely constructed cinder pathway with a rustic fence on either side . The majority of the men who had been left at St . Maixent , sick in the camp hospital , rejoined the Squadron at Autreville . The 354th was the Headquarters Squadron and hence had the responsibility of keeping the Post in good condition . Towards the middle of the month several pilots and observers joined the Squadron and on the 21st seven DH - 4s were ferried over from Colombey . The transportation equipment had already arrived and as everything was ready for a move to the front , the Squadron left Autreville for the Saizerais Aerodrome at 10 : 30 A . M . on 25 October , traveling by trucks through Colombcy and Toul and arriving at 3 P . M . on the same day . Toul Sector . At Saizerais the 354th was joined with the 8th Aero Squadron to form the VI Corps Observation Group . No time was lost in getting to work . On the day following its arrival , several pilots and observers were transferred from the 8th , which had been on the Post for some time . Along with the pilots , seven DH - 4s were also transferred from the 8th , which had more than was required . On 28 October , with fourteen planes on hand and eleven pilots and fourteen observers assigned , the first operations were begin , consisting of reconnaissance in front of the 92d Infantry Division . The portion of the sector assigned to the 354th extended from Villier - sous - Perry to Eply . The squadron performed artillery adjustments for the 349th , 156th , 350th and 351st Field Artillery Regiments , also there were infantry liaison maneuvers with the 183d Brigade of the 92d Division . The number of planes , pilots and observers was increased and on 6 November , eighteen pilots were assigned , along with fifteen observers . The number of patrols scheduled to fly across the line varied from day to day , according to the movements of the enemy . An average of ten sorties were scheduled daily . When the Armistice was signed on 11 November , the 354th had just struck its full stride . There were forty - seven officers , many of whom had considerable training . The enlisted personnel had been brought up to 184 men and the mechanics on the field were fully familiar with the DH - 4s . During the time the squadron was in combat , no planes were lost and no casualties were suffered . Third Army of occupation . Having arrived late at the front , the 354th remained in Europe for a considerable amount of time after the Armistice . After the Armistice , proficiency flights were flown and gunnery practice was taken , however no flights were permitted over German held territory . The squadron remained at Saizerais until 15 April 1919 when the Second Army Air Service was demobilized , and was ordered to join the occupation force of the Rhineland under the Third Army Air Service , IV Corps Observation Group . One of its duties was to fly over Cologne and other parts of the Rhineland occupied by Third Army . In addition , the squadron was able to perform test flights on surrendered German aircraft . Flights of the Fokker D . VII , Pfalz D . XII , Halberstadts and Rumpler aircraft were made and evaluations were made . Demobilization . On 13 June 1919 orders were received from First Army for the squadron to report to the 1st Air Depot , Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome 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 , and there , practically all of the pilots and observers were detached from the Squadron . Personnel were subsequently assigned to the Commanding General , Services of Supply and ordered to report to a staging camp at Le Mans , France for the return crossing of the Atlantic back to the United States . It then moved to the Port of Embarkation at Brest where the squadron left France by ship on 11 June and docked in New York City on 25 June 1919 . There , the men of the 354th Aero Squadron were demobilized and returned to civilian life .