Part 1, 1st Aero Squadron and the Jenny
Fort Sill’s 1st Aero Squadron took off from Columbus, New Mexico, late in the afternoon on March 19, 1916, to participate in Brig. Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing’s Mexican Punitive Expedition, ordered by President Woodrow Wilson.
The mission was in response to famed Mexican revolutionary and guerilla leader Pancho Villa’s deadly attack for supplies 10 days prior on a U.S. military garrison manned by the 13th U.S. Calvary in the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico. President Wilson sent Pershing and his troops into Mexico to capture or kill the desperado. Although Villa was not captured during the 11-month manhunt, a historical precedent had been set. This marked the first active campaign for the U.S. Army’s entire fleet of airplanes – eight wood, wire and fabric Curtiss JN-3 biplanes.
The 1st Aero Squadron was assigned to Fort Sill in 1915 to work with the Field Artillery School under the command of Capt. Benjamin “Benny” Foulois. With orders in hand, the squadron didn’t fly into New Mexico to begin the Villa campaign. They took the train and upon arrival unloaded an automobile, six motorcycles, 12 motor trucks and the wooden crates holding the biplanes. The early 20th century saw the Army begin a transportation transformation, as prior to that time the horse and mule still pulled the load for soldiers and equipment. Motorized transport was new and the Army had little experience with it.
Unlike the modern-day air force, the 1st Aero Squadron was not combative; it served as a means of communication and observation and had trained at Fort Sill in JN-2s, learning aerial artillery spotting. Two crashes, one deadly, prompted Capt. Foulois to ground the fleet until improvements could be made. It was the JN-3 model that was dispatched to assist in the Mexico campaign. Experimentation in World War I with bombs and machine guns would eventually turn the airplane into a weapon of war, but the early vision of U.S. Army leaders saw the value of aviation in terms of receipt and transmission of information to tactical commanders. Aviation was also used as long distance scouting for the Cavalry.
The JN-3 biplane, also known as the Jenny, helped the squadron provide Pershing with valuable information and communication, but the planes ultimately didn’t hold up to the weather and other conditions. The roughly 100-hp engines could not push the biplanes, which had been designed as trainers, over the 12,000-foot high mountains in Mexico. Gusty winds, rain, hail and snow also took a toll, as well as deep sand and hot, dry air that dried out the wooden airplanes. Propellers were particularly challenging, as metal propellers were too heavy for the underpowered engines. The wooden propellers were fractured into layers by the heat. Pilots had to carry a spare, carved from dried native wood and stored in a humidity-controlled box strapped to the side of the fuselage.
By the end of April – about six weeks into the campaign – seven of the eight biplanes had been destroyed. Four were damaged in separate landing accidents in Mexico; two were condemned in New Mexico; and one was condemned and taken apart in Mexico. Only one survived; however, Fort Sill’s 1st Aero Squadron carried the distinction of being the only American air unit to fly in combat prior to U.S. involvement in World War I in 1917.
Although the Jenny didn’t hold up, the aerial campaign into Mexico had value and success, including lessons learned about airplanes, equipment and operations in the field that would prove valuable in France less than a year later when the U.S. entered the Great War.
Sources for this article include “Images of America: Fort Sill” by Mark K. Megehee, Chapter 4: Cradle of Army Aviation, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S.C., ©2018; “The 1st Aero Squadron and the Pursuit of Pancho Villa” by Gary Glynn, historynet.com/mexican-expedition; “A Preliminary to War: The First Aero Squadron and the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916” by Roger G. Miller, Air Force History and Museums Program, Washington, D.C., ©2003; “Fort Sill birthplace of Army combat aviation” by Ben Sherman, army.mil; “Benjamin D. Foulois: 1880-1967,” earlyaviators.com; “Pancho Villa” by history.com editors; “History Stories,” history.com; “Battle of Columbus” by Niheer Dasandi, brittannica.com; “Curtiss JN-3” by J. Rickard, historyofwar.org/articles; “Early Aviation at Fort Sill,” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Sill; “Curtis JN Jenny,” en.wikipedia.org.