21st Airship Group

21st Airship Group

A 1922 photo of the C-2 blimp at Brooks Field, Texas
Active 16 October 1917-December 1918
13 September 1921-1 June 1939
Country  United States
Type Group
Motto(s) Sic Itur ad Astra (Thus even to the Stars)
Engagements World War I
Disbanded 27 May 1939
Insignia
21st Airship Group distinctive unit insigne
(emblem approved 25 June 1924)

The 21st Airship Group is a disbanded unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the 3d Wing at Scott Field, Illinois. It was disbanded on 27 May 1939.

A predecessor of the group served on the Western Front in France during World War I.

For most of the period between the two World Wars, the group was the only active lighter-than-air headquarters in the United States Army Air Service and, later, the United States Army Air Corps.

History

The 2d Balloon Squadron, a predecessor of the group was activated during World War I and deployed to Western Front in France. The squadron was credited with participating in the Meuse-Argonne offensive (8–17 October 1918).[1] The unit was demobilized as the I Corps Balloon Group in December 1918.

Postcard of Lighter-Than-Air ship hangar at Scott Field

The 1st Balloon Group was organized in the fall of 1921 to support the Air Service Balloon and Airship School at Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas. However, a series of mishaps in operating the hydrogen-filled craft led to the transfer of the school from Brooks to Scott Field, Illinois, on 26 June 1922.[2] Lighter-than-air ships were used at Scott Field to research the capabilities of aerial photography, meteorology and conduct altitude experiments. In the late 1920s, emphasis shifted from airships to balloons. Airplanes began to dominate activities at Scott Field, and in the late 1930s, the lighter-than-air activities there came to an end.[3]

Lineage

2d Balloon Squadron emblem

I Corps Balloon Group

Redesignated Company A, Balloon Wing, First Army on 19 June 1918
Redesignated I Corps Balloon Group on 8 October 1918

21st Balloon Group

Redesignated 1st Airship Group on 3 January 1922.
Redesignated 21st Airship Group on 1 January 1923
Redesignated as 21st Balloon Group on 1 June 1937.
Disbanded on 27 May 1939

[4]

Assignments

[4]

Components

  • 8th Airship Company 1921-1933
  • 9th Airship Company 1921-1933
  • 9th Airship Squadron 1933-1937
  • 12th Airship Company 1921-1933
  • 16th Airship Company 1921-1933
  • 19th Airship Squadron 1933-1937
  • 1st Balloon Company, 1918[1][5]
  • 2d Balloon Company, 1918[1]
  • 3d Balloon Company, 1918[1]

  • 1st Balloon Squadron 1937-1939
  • 2d Balloon Squadron 1937-1939
  • 3d Balloon Squadron 1937-1939
  • 24th Airship Service Company 1921-1933
  • 24th Airship Service Squadron 1933-1937
  • 24th Service Squadron 1937-1939
  • 21st Photo Section 1922-1937

[4]

Stations

[4]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Browne, Waldo (1921), The American Army in the World War, A Divisional Record, Overseas Books, Manchester, NH
  2. USAF History Office, Brooks City-Base
  3. National Park Service From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms: Scott Field Historic District
  4. 1 2 3 4 Clay, Steven E. (2011). US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 (PDF). 3 The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops 1919-1941. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-98419-014-0. LCCN 2010022326. OCLC 637712205. Retrieved Oct 16, 2012.
  5. Lineage and Honors History of the 1 Airborne Command Control Squadron (ACC)

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

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