World War I The first predecessor of the
group was the
66th Aero Squadron, which was organized in April 1918 at
Kelly Field, Texas. As soon as the squadron was organized it moved to
Eberts Field, Arkansas to join the flying school there. In the summer of 1918, the Air Service reorganized its units at its flying schools as lettered squadrons and the squadron became
Squadron A, Eberts Field. Shortly after the end of the
World War I, the squadron was demobilized and its personnel were absorbed by the Flying School Detachment at Eberts Field.
Interwar years in the Philippines In June 1921,
Air Park No. 11 was organized at
Clark Field, Philippines, moving to what became
Nichols Field before the end of the year. In 1923, the Air Service renamed its air parks as service squadrons and the unit became the
66th Service Squadron, In 1936 the Air Corps consolidated many of its World War I Aero Squadrons with units formed after the war but bearing the same number, and the old
66th Aero Squadron was consolidated with the post-war 66th Squadron. As the war began, the group supported the
2d Observation Squadron,
17th Pursuit Squadron and
34th Pursuit Squadron at Nichols. Three days after the start of the war, 10 December 1941, saw the first concentrated Japanese attacks on Nichols. By the end of the attack all observation airplanes at Nichols had been destroyed or rendered unserviceable. By 24 December, all
bombers had been flown to Australia and air force headquarters and all combat units except for a few
fighters soon followed. By the end of December, all American forces were being withdrawn to
Bataan. Colonel
Harold H. George, of
5th Interceptor Command assumed control of all Air Corps units remaining in the Philippines. With the flying mission being performed by a handful of fighter pilots, the bulk of the group's personnel were employed as infantry. By May 1942, resistance in the Philippines had ended and the group ceased to exist as an organized military formation. ==Lineage==