12th Aero Squadron

12th Aero Squadron
12th Aero Squadron – Salmson 2A2, probably at Ourches Airdrome, France
Active	21 June 1917-1 June 1921
Country	United States
Branch	Air Service, United States Army
Type	Squadron
Role	Corps Observation
Part of	American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
Engagements	World War I Occupation of the Rhineland
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj. L. C. Heffernan
Insignia
12th Aero Squadron Emblem
Aircraft flown
Reconnaissance	Dorand AR-2, 1918 Salmson 2A2, 1918-1919

I Corps Observation Group
Western Front, France: 30 April-11 November 1918

The 12th 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 I Corps, United States First Army sector of the Western Front in France, providing battlefield intelligence. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany, the squadron 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 became part of the permanent United States Army Air Service in 1921, being redesignated as the 12th Squadron (Observation).

The current United States Air Force unit which holds its lineage and history is the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, assigned to the 69th Reconnaissance Group, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.

The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron originated at Kelly Field, Texas in May 1917 when the unit was organized from men picked from about 5,000 aviation recruits being drilled in provisional training companies. Those men formed "H" Company and were selected for their mechanical ability and experience. On 2 June, the unit was given its official designation, 12th Aero Squadron.

After several weeks of classes on aircraft engines and parts, the squadron went to Wilbur Wright Field at Fairfield, Ohio. Arriving on 5 July 1917, the men began assembling Standard J-1 and Curtiss JN-4 training airplanes shipped direct from the factory, and they took part in the training of the flying cadets that began pouring into the field in late July. The squadron’s first flight is supposed to have been made by a Captain Christy on 17 July 1917 in a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny".