Third Army Air Service

Third Army Air Service
Formation of IV Corps Observation Group aircraft, Coblenz Airdrome, Fort Kaiser Alexander, Germany in January 1919.
Active	14 November 1918-2 July 1919
Country	United States
Branch	Air Service, United States Army
Type	Air Service
Role	Command and Control
Part of	American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
Engagements	Occupation of the Rhineland (World War I)

The Third Army Air Service was an Air Service, United States Army organization stationed in France and Occupied Germany in the immediate aftermath of World War I. It was demobilized in Germany on 2 July 1919. There is no modern United States Air Force unit that shares its lineage and history.

The command was established on 14 November 1918 by Brigadier General William Mitchell, who was appointed as Commander, Third Army Air Service. The command was organized as part of the United States Third Army for the occupation of German Territory west of the Rhine River as agreed under the terms of the 11 November Armistice with Germany.

The Headquarters staff was originally organized about 15 October when about half dozen officers and some twenty enlisted men were withdrawn from Headquarters Detachment of the First Army Air Service at Souilly Aerodrome, France and used as a nucleus upon to build up a staff for a planned Army Group. The Army Group was planned as a Headquarters for both the First and Second Army Air Services. With the Armistice with Germany ending combat on 11 November, and the formation of Third Army, the staff was re-designated as the Third Army Air Service. Once formed, the staff moved from Souilly to Ligny-en-Barrois, France on 14 November.

A few days after the arrival of the staff at Ligny, a carload of necessary office supplies, equipment and other necessities began to arrive which enabled the command to begin operations. Everything was prepared for an extended move into Germany, and on 21 November, orders were received to move to Longuyon, France. The Headquarters began its trip into Germany, arriving at Longuyon on the 22d. Owing to the terms that no Allied troops would cross into Germany until 1 December, on 5 December orders were received to move the Headquarters to Euren, a suburb of Trier, Germany. The truck train route taken took the Headquarters though Luxembourg. Quarters in Euren consisted of several old German Barracks, and the offices were set up in one of the barracks. The facilities were very unkempt and in a filthy condition, and it was necessary to send an advance detail to clean the facilities.