13th School Group

World War I era US military unit February 2024 February 2024 13th School Group H98102.jpg 300px Photo of a Consolidated N2Y trainer. The 13th School Group flew the Army model of this aircraft, the PT-3A at March Field 1927–1931 United States 23px 20px  United States Army Air Corps Command and Control Flying Training Capt. Rosenham Beam, 31 July22 August 1927 Maj. Millard F. Harmon, 22 August 192729 July 1930 Maj. Floyd N. Keesling, 29 July5 August 1930 Maj. Joseph T. McNarney, 5 August 193030 April 3131 The 13th School Group was a unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the 24th School Wing, and was demobilized on 30 April 1931 at March Field, California. The unit was an early United States Army Air Corps flying training group, and the first major unit assigned to March Field after its re-opening in 1927. History During World War I, March Field was a major primary pilot training base for the Air Service,Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces, p. 954 with its graduates being sent to advanced training schools before being deployed to the American Expeditionary Force in France. The school was closed after the armistice in February 1919. In July 1919, Congress authorized resumption of enlistment of flying cadets on a limited basis, and the school at March Field was re-opened which offered a combined ground school and primary flight training using surplus Curtiss JN-4 Jennies. A shortage of money and failure of the training program to become as large as planned, prompted the closing of the primary school at March Field in 1921, and March became a storage depot. In 1922 it was decided to centralize all flying training in San Antonio, Texas.Maurer, November 2015Manning, November 2015 The decision by the Coolidge Administration in 1926 to expand the Air Corps found the facilities in San Antonio insufficient to accommodate the expanded number of cadets entering primary training. As a result, March Field was re-opened as a primary pilot training school in July 1927, and the 13th School Group was designated to perform duties as the headquarters for the new Air Corps Primary Flying School. Flight training was conducted in Consolidated PT-1 and PT-3s, which had taken over from the Curtiss Jennies. There were three school squadrons assigned, along with support squadrons. Even before the school at March opened, it was known it was a temporary unit, as plans were ongoing to expand the facilities in San Antonio. With the opening of Randolph Field in 1931, the primary pilot training at March ended in April 1931 and March Field became the home of the new 1st Bombardment Wing. The group was activated again in 1943, but Standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.Goss, p. 75 The 13th Technical School Group was disbanded a year later when all units at Chanute Field were replaced by the 3502d Army Air Forces Base Unit.Mueller, p. 82 (showing station and dates active at Chanute) Lineage Constituted as the 13th Group (School) on 6 February 1923 Redesignated 8 March 1929 as 13th School Group Activated on 31 July 1927 Disbanded on 30 April 1931Clay, November 2015 Reconstituted and redesignated 13th Technical School Group Activated on 28 February 1943 Disbanded on 30 April 1944 Assignments 24th School Wing, 8 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 Central Technical Training Command, 28 February 194330 April 1944 Components Flying Training Squadrons 47th School Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 53d School Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 54th School Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 Support Squadrons 69th Service Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 70th Service Squadron, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 23d Photo Section, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 Stations March Field, California, 31 July 1927 – 30 April 1931 Chanute Field. Illinois, 28 February 1943 – 30 April 1944 See also Aviation Army Air Forces Training Command List of Training Section Air Service airfields World War I training fields of the Air Service, United States Army References Notes 2 Bibliography Clay Steven E. US Army Order of Battle 1919–1941 http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/OrderOfBattle/OrderofBattle3.pdf 16 October 2012 3 The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops 1919–1941 2011 Combat Studies Institute Press Fort Leavenworth, KS 978-0-98419-014-0 637712205 2010022326 https://web.archive.org/web/20130927135817/http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/OrderOfBattle/OrderofBattle3.pdf 2013-09-27 dead Goss William A Craven, Wesley F Cate, James L The Army Air Forces in World War II VI, Men & Planes 1955 University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois 704158 48003657 The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas 71006954 29991467 Maurer Maurer Aviation in the U.S. Army, 1919–1939 http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100923-007.pdf 20 July 2013 1987 Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force Washington, DC 0-912799-38-2 15661556 87012257 March 2025 medicmedic Mueller Robert Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330255/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-026.pdf 1989 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-53-6 Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the First World War http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-4/CMH_Pub_23-4.pdf 1 November 2015 Reprint 3, Part 2 Zone of the Interior: Territorial Departments; Tactical Divisions Organized in 1918; Posts, Camps and Stations 1949 1988 Center of Military History Washington, DC 8 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210108064157/https://history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-4/CMH_Pub_23-4.pdf dead Category:Groups of the Air Service, United States Army Category:Military units and formations of the United States Army Air Corps Category:Army flying training units and formations Category:Military units and formations established in 1927 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1931