The 13th School Group was a unit of the
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
. It was last assigned to the
24th School Wing
The 24th School Wing was a training unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the Air Corps Advanced Flying School, and was disbanded on 1 October 1931 at Kelly Field, Texas. While active, the wing served as the headqua ...
, and was demobilized on 30 April 1931 at
March Field
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 m ...
, California. The unit was an early United States Army Air Corps flying training group, and the first major unit assigned to March Field after its re-opening in 1927.
History
During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, March Field was a major primary pilot training base for the
Air Service, with its graduates being sent to advanced training schools before being deployed to the
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...
in France. The school was closed after the armistice in February 1919.
In July 1919, Congress authorized resumption of enlistment of flying cadets on a limited basis, and the school at March Field was re-opened which offered a combined ground school and primary flight training using surplus
Curtiss JN-4
The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft ...
Jennies. A shortage of money and failure of the training program to become as large as planned, prompted the closing of the primary school at March Field in 1921, and March became a storage depot. In 1922 it was decided to centralize all flying training in San Antonio, Texas.
[Maurer, ][Manning, ]
The decision by the
Coolidge Administration in 1926 to expand the
Air Corps found the facilities in San Antonio insufficient to accommodate the expanded number of cadets entering primary training. As a result, March Field was re-opened as a primary pilot training school in July 1927,
and the 13th School Group was designated to perform duties as the headquarters for the new Air Corps Primary Flying School.
Flight training was conducted in
Consolidated PT-1
The Consolidated PT-1 Trusty (company designation Model 1) is a biplane primary trainer used by the United States Army Air Service (USAAS) in the 1920s.
Design and development
In 1921, Colonel Virginius Clark, chief designer of the Dayton-W ...
and PT-3s, which had taken over from the Curtiss Jennies. There were three school squadrons assigned, along with support squadrons.
Even before the school at March opened, it was known it was a temporary unit, as plans were ongoing to expand the facilities in San Antonio. With the opening of
Randolph Field
Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio).
Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United ...
in 1931, the primary pilot training at March ended in April 1931 and March Field became the home of the new
1st Bombardment Wing
The 1st Bombardment Wing is a disbanded United States Army Air Force unit. It was initially formed in France in 1918 during World War I as a command and control organization for the Pursuit Groups of the First Army Air Service.
Demobilized afte ...
.
The group was activated again in 1943, but Standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.
[Goss, p. 75] The 13th Technical School Group was disbanded a year later when all units at
Chanute Field Chanute may refer to:
*Chanute, Kansas, United States
**Chanute High School
*Octave Chanute
Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviat ...
were replaced by the 3502d Army Air Forces Base Unit.
[Mueller, p. 82 (showing station and dates active at Chanute)]
Lineage
* Constituted as the 13th Group (School) on 6 February 1923
: Redesignated 8 March 1929 as 13th School Group
: Activated on 31 July 1927
: Disbanded on 30 April 1931
[Clay, ]
* Reconstituted and redesignated 13th Technical School Group
: Activated on 28 February 1943
[
: Disbanded on 30 April 1944][
]
Assignments
* 24th School Wing
The 24th School Wing was a training unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the Air Corps Advanced Flying School, and was disbanded on 1 October 1931 at Kelly Field, Texas. While active, the wing served as the headqua ...
, 8 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
* Central Technical Training Command, 28 February 194330 April 1944
Components
;; Flying Training Squadrons
* 47th School Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
* 53d School Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
* 54th School Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
;; Support Squadrons
* 69th Service Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
* 70th Service Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
* 23d Photo Section, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
Stations
* March Field, California, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931
* Chanute Field Chanute may refer to:
*Chanute, Kansas, United States
**Chanute High School
*Octave Chanute
Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviat ...
. Illinois, 28 February 1943 – 30 April 1944
See also
* Army Air Forces Training Command
The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Cor ...
* List of Training Section Air Service airfields
With the purchase of its first airplane, built and successfully flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright, in 1909 the United States Army began the training of flight personnel. This article describes the training provided in those early years, though W ...
: World War I training fields of the Air Service, United States Army
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
* Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas
*
*
* {{cite book, title=Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the First World War, url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-4/CMH_Pub_23-4.pdf, accessdate=1 November 2015, edition=Reprint, volume=3, Part 2 Zone of the Interior: Territorial Departments; Tactical Divisions Organized in 1918; Posts, Camps and Stations, origyear=1949, year=1988, publisher=Center of Military History, location=Washington, DC, isbn=, archive-date=8 January 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108064157/https://history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-4/CMH_Pub_23-4.pdf, url-status=dead
Groups of the Air Service, United States Army
Military units and formations of the United States Army Air Corps
Army flying training units and formations
Military units and formations established in 1927
Military units and formations disestablished in 1931