Note: This item is currently in storage.
This is an insignia patch worn by aviation mechanics of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Aviation Section during World War I. On May 24, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson transferred the Aviation Section from the Signal Corps to the newly established U.S. Army Air Service. The U.S. Army Air Service was a forerunner of today's United States Air Force.
With America's entrance into WWI, the Army quickly established training courses for aviation mechanics in the United States at civilian vocational schools, aircraft and engine factories and military flying fields. Additional personnel received training in Canada and Great Britain with the Royal Flying Corps. By the Armistice in November 1918, 28 schools in the U.S. had graduated 14,176 enlisted mechanics.
Donated by Col. (Ret.) Robert F. Schirmer.
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