US Air Force Battle Streamer Mexican Service MEXICO 1916-1917

Product Description

The Mexican Service Streamer awarded to military units is identical to the ribbon in design and color. The 1^st Aero Squadron, the sole U.S. Army aviation unit to earn Mexican service credit, qualified for the Mexican Expedition Campaign Streamer, which has embroidered on it.

MEXICO 1916-1917.

Mexican Expedition Campaign:

March 14, 1916-February 7, 1917

On March 9, 1916, irregular forces of Francisco (Pancho) Villa from the Mexican state of Chihuahua raided the small town of Columbus, New Mexico, a few miles north of the U.S. border. The next day the 1^st Aero Squadron, stationed 120 miles to the east at El Paso, Texas, received orders to join the Mexican Expedition being formed at Columbus by Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing. Arriving at Columbus on March 15, the squadron, under the command of Capt. Benjamin D. Foulois, made its first reconnaissance flight over Mexican territory the following day.

On March 20 the 1^st Aero Squadron moved its base to Casas Grandes, Mexico, nearly 200 miles south of Columbus and about 240 miles southwest of El Paso. General Pershing, Commander of the Mexican Expedition, established his headquarters at the nearby Mormon colony of Colonia Dublan. From Casas Grandes the squadron attempted to support U.S. Armed Forces with reconnaissance and liaison missions, but its underpowered aircraft, 7 JN-2s, could not climb over the rugged Sierra Madre Mountains to reach the cavalry columns moving rapidly to the south. The squadron moved several times before arriving on April 17 at Namiquipa, Mexico, 320 miles south of Columbus and only 160 miles northwest of the city of Chihuahua.

From Namiquipa the 1^st Aero Squadron flew messages received by telegraph from Pershing’s headquarters to the far-ranging elements of the 7^th, 10^th, 11^th, and 13^th Cavalry Regiments. The cavalry continued to pursue Villa’s forces as far as Parral, Mexico, 300 miles south of the city of Chihuahua and over 600 miles south of El Paso, Texas. But by April 20, three days after arriving in Namiquipa, the 1^st Aero Squadron had crashed all but 2 of its aircraft* and returned to Columbus to await replacements. A few new Curtiss R-2s arrived before June 1, but the squadron found them underpowered and unsuited to Mexican field service. During the remainder of the Mexican Expedition the 1^st Aero Squadron flew only a few more operational missions.

From the beginning, the Government of Mexico had protested the American incursion into its territory, arid on June 21, 1916, Mexico’s Armed Forces attacked a detachment of U.S. cavalry at Carrizal, Mexico, 160 miles east of General Pershing’s headquarters at Colonia Dublan, just outside of Casas Grandes. The diplomatic protests and military confrontation caused the U.S. to suspend operations further inside Mexico. In September 1916 General Pershing concentrated his troops at Colonia Dublan, where they remained for the next 5 months until withdrawn on February 5, 1917.

The Mexican Expedition Campaign tested the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps and found its aircraft far less capable and reliable than desired. But in spite of these problems, the 1^st Aero Squadron did make some significant achievements. For the first time in U.S. military aviation history, photographic equipment was used for mosaic mapping. The squadron also demonstrated the importance of aircraft for reconnaissance work in a mobile operation and provided vital, albeit limited, message service for the expeditionary force. The combat support experience would soon prove beneficial: 1 year after withdrawing from Mexico, the 1^st Aero Squadron and other Army aviation units would leave for France and the battlefields of World War 1.