Origin The 354th Aero Squadron was organized at
Kelly Field, Texas, on 28 January 1918. The enlisted personnel, numbering one hundred and fifty in all, was composed of men of all walks of life. Hailing from almost every state in the Union, they had finally met at Kelly Field, Texas, for assignment. The majority had been at Kelly for as long as two months learning the squad movements, something about military courtesy and a lot about "fatigue". Many were still in civilian clothing that looked the worse for wear, and only a few were wearing a military uniform. One of its duties was to fly over
Cologne and other parts of the Rhineland occupied by Third Army. In addition, the squadron was able to perform test flights on surrendered German aircraft. Flights of the
Fokker D.VII,
Pfalz D.XII,
Halberstadts and
Rumpler aircraft were made and evaluations were made.
Demobilization On 13 June 1919 orders were received from First Army for the squadron to report to the 1st Air Depot,
Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome to turn in all of its supplies and equipment and was relieved from duty with the AEF. The squadron's DH-4 aircraft were delivered to the Air Service Production Center No. 2. at
Romorantin Aerodrome, and there, practically all of the pilots and observers were detached from the squadron. Personnel at Colombey were subsequently assigned to the commanding general, services of supply, and ordered to report to a staging camp at
Le Mans, France, for the return crossing of the Atlantic back to the United States. It then moved to the port of embarkation at Brest, where the squadron left France by ship on 11 June and docked in New York City on 25 June 1919. There, the men of the 354th Aero Squadron were demobilized and returned to civilian life. ==See also==