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12th Aero Squadron
Military unit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 12th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I.
12th Aero Squadron | |
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![]() 12th Aero Squadron – Salmson 2A2, probably at Ourches Airdrome, France | |
Active | 21 June 1917 – 1 June 1921 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
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[1] |
Insignia | |
12th Aero Squadron Emblem | ![]() |
Aircraft flown | |
Reconnaissance | Dorand AR-2, 1918 Salmson 2A2, 1918–1919[2] |
Service record | |
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Operations |
I Corps Observation Group
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Victories |
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).[1][5]
The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, United States Air Force, now at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, traces its lineage and history to the 12th Aero Squadron.[2]