1st US Air Combat Mission

The story of the 1st US Air Combat Mission.  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The first US air combat mission. We'll discuss as we
take a bite out of history with Ingles Markets. Poncho
Villa was a Mexican revolutionary who opposed the American support
of the Mexican president at the time. In response, Villa
organized hundreds of guerrillas and crossed the Mexican border into
the United States and raided the town of Columbus, New Mexico,
on March ninth, nineteen sixteen. He and his gorillas killed

(00:20):
seventeen Americans. On March fifth, President Woodrow Wilson sent General
John Pershing and US troops into Mexico to capture Pancho
Villa so he could answer for his crimes. Along with troops,
the US launched the first aero squadron, consisting of eight
Curtis Jenny biplanes. The planes were crude, underpowered, and very unstable.
Their mission was to scout out enemy positions and relay
information back to General Pershing. There were numerous mechanical failures

(00:42):
and navigational issues, but the first aero squadrons still accomplished
their mission. Many of the lessons learned by the first
aero squadron in Mexico became useful as the airplanes were
later deployed in World War One. By nineteen seventeen, the
US was more focused on the growing threat in Europe.
Poncho Villa was never captured. This has been a bite
out of history, with Ingles market sh