[2] Since 1922 the 1st Squadron has been associated with the 9th Bomb Group and the USAF 9th Reconnaissance Wing, where it continues to be an active flying training unit operating the Lockheed U-2 and the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.

Gen. George P. Scriven, ordered the airplanes, personnel, and equipment then at Augusta, Georgia, to Texas City; and on 5 March, the army designated the small command as the 1st Aero Squadron (Provisional).

The unit consisted of nine airplanes, nine officers, and fifty-one enlisted men organized into two companies, and it spent much of its time practicing cross-country flying and operating from rough terrain, skills that would be of great value in the field.

The 1st Aero Squadron had made its first flights at Fort Sill on 10 August, but accomplished little flying in the next few weeks, as manufacturing problems in the airplanes and engines quickly appeared.

[7] During the Mexican Revolution, hundreds of Pancho Villa's horsemen crossed the United States border and raided Columbus, New Mexico on 9 March 1916.

In his orders to Southern Department commanding general Frederick Funston, United States Secretary of War Newton D. Baker instructed him to have the 1st Aero Squadron moved to Columbus to provide liaison and aerial reconnaissance for Pershing's headquarters.

[7] It was found that the squadron's 90 horsepower (67 kW) Curtiss JN-3 airplanes were unable to climb over the 10,000 to 12,000-foot (3,700 m) mountains of the region or overcome the high winds of the passes through them.

The U.S. aviation industry at the end of 1916 consisted of fewer than a dozen firms, only a handful of which—Curtiss, Martin, Wright, and Sturtevant, for example—had produced a reasonable number of airplanes.

It embarked on the Red Star Liner SS Lapland on 13 August for its trans-Atlantic crossing, reaching Liverpool, England on 1 September without incident.

In combat, the mission of the 1st Aero Squadron was general surveillance of the enemy rear areas by means of both visual and photographic reconnaissance.

The St. Mihiel salient in the line covered an area of 390 square kilometers (150 sq mi) and its elimination was the next major task for the American Expeditionary Forces.

American infantry had just crossed the German lines and it was noted that panels had been placed on the ground indicating that their artillery barrage was falling about 100 meters short.

[9] After flying in the St. Mihiel sector for several weeks, on 21 September the squadron was moved to the Remicourt Aerodrome in the Argonne Forest, getting ready for the next big American push.

[citation needed] Constant flying and continual combats with enemy aircraft were routine and deadly, but the intelligence and photography carried out by the squadron was of the highest importance.

[9] Operations continued until 9 November when the order came from Corps headquarters to cease flying, and it was believed it simply meant to move to another sector.

The unit was technically still based at Waller Field, however, the Squadron was also called upon to detach an element to conduct patrols of the Vichy French Martinique area during April and May 1942.

[3] During April the key personnel of the new squadron assembled at Dalhart, forming the command cadre, and were transferred with the group to McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska.

The development of the B-29 as an operational weapon had been plagued since an early flight test on 28 December 1942, resulted in an engine fire, culminating in a massive emergency modification program in the winter of 1943–44 ordered by General Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces, and nicknamed the "Battle of Kansas".

After four further months of training the group commander declared the unit ready for movement overseas, and its ground echelon left McCook for Seattle, Washington, Port of Embarkation on 18 November 1944, traveling by troopship to the Mariana Islands on a voyage that required thirty days.

The final two of the original 14 airplanes arrived on Tinian on 3 February by which time the squadron had already flown three practice missions to the Maug Islands in the Northern Marianas.

The capture of Iwo Jima had as its objective an emergency landing field for Twentieth Air Force bombers attacking Japan and a base for escorting P-51 and P-47 fighters.

On 1 June, the 1st Bomb Squadron began a grim campaign of night fire raids against the remaining urban areas of Japan not previously attacked that continued to its final mission, 14 August 1945.

Two were reassigned to other units, one was declared "war-weary" and used for local flights only, two were written off for salvage, one crashed on takeoff 20 May, destroying two parked bombers of another group and itself, and six were lost on missions—an aircraft attrition rate of 34.6% over six months.

[19] After the end of the war, the squadron received two Presidential Unit Citations as part of the 9th Bomb Group, for a mission against Kawasaki On 15–16 April 1945, and for mine-laying operations 13–28 May 1945.

[13] The United States Air Force became a separate military service on 18 September 1947, during the period of time when the 1st Squadron was without personnel or equipment.

In November 1955, the squadron helped established a non-stop point-to-point long-distance record during a flight from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, to New Zealand, a distance of 8,300 miles, with the aid of aerial refueling.

Flying over 2,000 mph at approximately 80,000 feet, the SR-71 carried sensors with a 45-degree viewing angle on each side that could survey 100,000 square miles in an hour.

The SR-71 crew of Captain Harold Adams, pilot, and Major William Machorek, RSO, established a record for the London to Los Angeles route when they flew the 5,645-mile leg in 3 hours, 48 minutes on 13 September.

[3] After the initial interviews, orientation flights, and selection for the program, the new pilot undergoes approximately six months of extensive training, including twenty sorties in the U-2.

After planners complete their training, they deploy to the overseas detachments and design flight tracks that allow the pilots to gather the best data with the least personal risk.