13th Aero Squadron The 13th 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 Day Pursuit ( Fighter ) Squadron as part of the 2d Pursuit Group , First United States Army . Its mission was to engage and clear enemy aircraft from the skies and provide escort to reconnaissance and bombardment squadrons over enemy territory . It also attacked enemy observation balloons , and perform close air support and tactical bombing attacks of enemy forces along the front lines . After the 1918 Armistice with Germany , the squadron returned to the United States in March 1919 and demobilized . On 16 October 1936 the squadron was re - constituted , and consolidated with the United States Army Air Corps 13th Attack Squadron . Today , the current United States Air Force unit which holds its lineage and history is the 13th Bomb Squadron , assigned to the 509th Operations Group , Whiteman Air Force Base , Missouri . History . Origins . The 13th Aero Squadron was organised at Kelly Field , Texas on 14 June 1917 . After a short period of organization , which included " snake - chasing and cactus - cutting " , the squadron was moved to Wilbur Wright Field , Ohio in the beginning of July where its aviation cadets began flight training on the Curtiss JN - 4 Jenny trainer . Training in Ohio lasted until 1 November when it received orders for overseas duty . The squadron proceeded to the Aviation Concentration Center , Garden City , New York , where it awaited transport to Europe . At the end of November , the squadron moved to Philadelphia , where it boarded the SS Northland , and departed the United States on 4 December . The ship arrived at Liverpool , England on 25 December where the same day , they boarded a train for Winchester , England where they were temporarily assigned to a Rest Camp . After a cross - channel crossing from Southampton to Le Harve , France , the squadron boarded a French train south , arriving at the St . Maixent Replacement Barracks , 1 Jan 1918 . At St . Maixent the squadron waited for several weeks and largely performed construction and other activities designed to improve the newly established base . At the end of January , orders were received to proceed to the 3d Air Instructional Center at Issoudun Aerodrome for advanced flight and air combat training . For the next four months the squadron trained at Issodun , with detachments sent to French Air Force gunnery ranges at Meucon and Haussimont Aerodromes . Finally , in the beginning of June , training was completed and the squadron moved to the 1st Air Depot at Colombey - les - Belles Airdrome where the 13th Aero Squadron was classified as a Pursuit Squadron and received French SPAD XIII aircraft . Once equipped the squadron was ordered to Gengault Aerodrome , near Toul , in the " Zone of Advance " . There the 13th received its combat assignment to the 2d Pursuit Group where it joined the 22d , 49th and 139th Aero Squadron s . Combat in France . The 13th was charged with protection of the St . Mihiel sector , and its pilots soon were active in intercepting and attacking enemy aircraft that attempted reconnaissance over Allied lines . The Spads also escorted Allied observation planes deep into enemy territory where their pilots sometimes engaged enemy planes and attacked hostile balloons . While participating in the St . Mihiel Offensive , which was undertaken to eliminate the salient in the front lines around St . Mihiel that had existed since early in the war , the 13th fought with vigor . While ground forces were attacking and destroying , men , material , and morale , the 13th ' s pilots kept busy destroying enemy aircraft and balloons , and making the sky safe for Allied observation planes . The squadron suffered its first combat loss on 13 September when Lt . Robert Converse was shot down on a late afternoon patrol and reported missing in action . On 14 September 1918 a squadron - strength patrol led by Charles Biddle was ambushed by a flight of red and white Fokker D VII aircraft of Jasta 18 . Four original squadron members were downed in a matter of minutes : Lt . Charles Drew , Lt Alton Brody , Lt . Harry B . " Buck " Freeman and Lt . George P . Kull . Lts . Converse , Drew , Freeman and Brody were captured and repatriated after the Armistice . George Kull was confirmed killed in action , the first combat fatality of the 13th Aero Squadron . The Meuse - Argonne campaign was launched on 26 September 1918 to further reduce the St . Mihiel salient . The 13th Aero Squadron moved on 23 September to Belrain Aerodrome , and from there inflicted heavy losses upon enemy aircraft and balloons . As its pilots gained domination of the air , their responsibilities were expanded to include protection of ground forces , strafing of enemy troops and bombing of targets that could be observed within enemy lines . During the Meuse Argonne Offensive , the squadron lost Lts . Gerald D . Stivers , Henry Guion Armstrong , Clarence A . Brodie and Robert H . Stiles killed in action . On 7 November , the squadron moved to Souilly Aerodrome and continued combat operations until the Armistice with Germany was signed and combat ended on 11 November 1918 . The 13th claimed several " aces " from this period of its history : Charles J Biddle , Murray K Guthrie , Frank K Hays , John J Seerly , and William H Stovall . Major Carl Spaatz , although on orders to return home , sought and received permission to serve with the 13th Aero Squadron as a pursuit pilot . He subordinated himself to men of lower rank , but as a result of his ardent zeal and ability , he was soon a flight leader and was credited with destroying two Fokkers during the St . Mihiel and Meuse - Argonne Offensive . Demobilization . After the armistice , the squadron remained at Souilly until 16 December 1918 when 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 the staging camp at Le Mans , France . There , personnel awaited scheduling to report to one of the Base Ports in France for transport to the United States and subsequent demobilization . From 6 February to 3 March 1919 , the squadron was at the port of Brest before crossing the Atlantic aboard the SS America . From 13 – 29 March 1919 the squadron was at Mitchell Field , New York , where it was demobilized . It remained inactive until it was reconstituted in 1936 .