| 148th Aero Squadron | |
|---|---|
.png) 148th Aero Squadron preparing for a daylight raid on German trenches and cities, Petite Synthe, France, 6 August 1918 | |
| Active | 11 November 1917 – 24 March 1919 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch | .svg){kind=small} United States Army Air Service |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Pursuit |
| Part of | American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) Attached to: Royal Air Force (RAF) |
| Fuselage Code | White Triangle (RAF) |
| Engagements |  World War I |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Captain Field E. Kindley |
| Insignia | |
| 148th Aero Squadron Emblem |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | Sopwith F-1 Camel SPAD S.XI |
| Trainer | Curtiss JN-4 |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Operations |
Royal Air Force 4th Pursuit Group Western Front: 30 July-11 November 1918, France[1] |
| Victories | 70 enemy aircraft credited destroyed[2] |
The 148th Aero Squadron was a unit of the United States Army Air Service that fought on the Western Front during World War I.
As a day pursuit (fighter) squadron, 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.[3]
The squadron flew combat operations attached to the British Royal Air Force between July and October 1918. In October 1918, the squadron was transferred to the United States Second Army 4th Pursuit Group. However, with Second Army's planned offensive drive on Metz cancelled due to the 1918 Armistice with Germany, the squadron saw no combat with Second Army.
After the 1918 Armistice with Germany, it was demobilized in 1919 as part of the Air Service, Second United States Army.[4]
There is no modern United States Air Force unit that shares its lineage and history.[5]
- ^ Series "H", Section "O", Volume 29, Weekly Statistical Reports of Air Service Activities, October 1918 – May 1919. Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
- ^ Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, Series M, Volume 38, Compilation of Confirmed Victories and Losses of the AEF Air Service as of 26 May 1919
- ^ "Maurer, Maurer (1978), The US Air Service in World War I, The Office of Air Force History, Headquarters USAF Washington" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the First World War, Volume 3, Part 3, Center of Military History, United States Army, 1949 (1988 Reprint)
- ^ Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919, National Archives, Washington, D.C. via http://www.fold3.com