In the autumn of 1907, Private First Class Vernon Burge was assigned to Fort Myer, Virginia, to join the newly formed Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps under Captain Charles deForest Chandler.

On December 16, 1909, Burge transferred to Company H, Signal Corps, traveling in February 1910 to Fort Sam Houston, Texas to serve under Lieutenant Benjamin Foulois as one of ten enlisted mechanics repairing the frequently damaged S.C. No.

[6] Along with Glenn Madole and a civilian mechanic in August 1910, Burge contrived a way to fasten three wheels to the aircraft so that its skids would not be damaged as much upon landing.

Foulois' initial reaction was negative: "One of the unpleasant features of landing on wheels is the difficulty experienced in stopping the machine.

Corporal Burge and Private Kenneth L. Kintzel accompanied the aeroplane as mechanicians and were joined by five Army mechanics already in Manila.

Although two officers were to be instructed, only one (1st Lt. Moss L. Love) volunteered for the dangerous duty, and Glassford approved Burge's request for pilot training without waiting for approval from the Chief of Signal in Washington, D.C. Burge met the requirements of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) on June 14, 1912, and received FAI aviation certificate No.

In April 1919 he was assigned to the 24th Infantry and promoted in the permanent establishment to captain and sent back to the 1st Aero Squadron where, as tensions rose in the U.S. near the end of the Mexican Revolution, he took part in patrol flights along the Mexico – United States border in 1919.

In the spring of 1922, Burge served in Oklahoma City on an Army Board whose purpose was to investigate the shooting death of Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Beck.