22d Aero Squadron

22d Aero Squadron
22d Aero Squadron SPAD S.XIII "Smith IV", flown by Captain Arthur Raymond Brooks. Captain Brooks was a Flying Ace, credited with shooting down six enemy aircraft. This aircraft is on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. Captain Brooks with "Smith IV", Belrain Aerodrome, France, 1918.
Active	16 June 1917 – 16 June 1919
Country	United States
Branch	Air Service, United States Army
Type	Squadron
Role	Pursuit
Part of	American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
Nickname(s)	"Shooting Stars"
Engagements	World War I
Commanders
Notable commanders	Capt. Raymond C. Bridgeman Lt. George W. Lindsay Lt. Henry K. Davis
Insignia
22d Aero Squadron Emblem
Aircraft flown
Fighter	SPAD S.XIII, 1918–1919
Trainer	Curtiss JN-4, 1917

2d Pursuit Group
Western Front, France: 22 August-11 November 1918

Air Aces: 5

The 22d Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service 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 June 1919 and was demobilized.

In April 1937 its lineage and history was consolidated with those of the United States Army Air Corps 22d Observation Squadron.

The 22d Aero Squadron was organized at Kelly Field, Texas, on 16 June 1917. Initially 150 men, it was later expanded to a size of 200. Once organized, the 22d was sent to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 9 August to begin formal training under the auspices of the Royal Flying Corps at their facilities. In Canada, the squadron trained on the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny", and detachments attended schools at locations around the Toronto area. The men received instruction on engine and aircraft maintenance.

On 19 October the squadron finished its initial training and was sent to Hicks Field, near Fort Worth, Texas. Hicks was also designated Field #1 of the Camp Taliaferro training complex, operated also by the British Royal Flying Corps. When the squadron arrived, Hicks Field was still under construction; however, flying training in the JN-4 was conducted and 42 flight cadets soloed in the Jenny. Orders were received for overseas movement to France, and the squadron left for the Aviation Concentration Center, Long Island, on 21 January 1918, arriving on the 25th. The squadron boarded the RMS Adriatic in New York Harbor on the 31st, arriving in Liverpool, England on 16 February after an uneventful voyage and proceeding to a "Rest Camp", where the pilots were sent to various advanced training schools in England, while the enlisted support personnel were sent to France for training with RFC units on the continent.