Origins

• On October 26, 1909, Lieutenants Frederic E. Humphreys and Frank P. Lahm each took the U.S. Army Aeroplane No. 1 on a solo flight. Even before their flights, the Army had already lost an aviator. Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge died during a test flight with Orville Wright on September 17, 1908.
  
  

History

• The U.S. Army Air Service was created in May of 1918. Under the command of Colonel Billy Mitchell, American aviators supported Allied troops and conducted bombing and strafing runs against German troops in France. According to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, in just eight months, the U.S. Army Air Service "scored 773 victories, flew 35,000 hours, dropped 275,000 pounds of bombs and took more than 18,000 reconnaissance photographs."
  
  

Changes

• Army aviation went through many changes during World War II. The first Army helicopter--the Sikorsky YR-4--entered service on November 1, 1941. The first African-American aviators graduated on March 1, 1942, and on June 6, 1942, the War Department established the Department of Air Training at Field Artillery School. This date is officially recognized as "the birthdate of Army aviation," according to the United States Army.
  
  

Considerations

• Although the United States Air Force officially split off from the Army on September 18, 1947, the U.S. Army is still actively involved in aviation. The first Army astronaut walked in space on February 1, 1984, and an Army aviator fired the first shot of Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991. The Army is also developing unmanned drones as part of its aviation program.