Country United States | Type Group Disbanded 27 May 1939 | |
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Active 16 October 1917-December 191813 September 1921-1 June 1939 Motto(s) Sic Itur ad Astra (Thus even to the Stars) | ||
The 21st Airship Group is a disbanded unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the 3d Wing at Scott Field, Illinois. It was disbanded on 27 May 1939.
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A predecessor of the group served on the Western Front in France during World War I.
For most of the period between the two World Wars, the group was the only active lighter-than-air headquarters in the United States Army Air Service and, later, the United States Army Air Corps.
History
The 2d Balloon Squadron, a predecessor of the group was activated during World War I and deployed to Western Front in France. The squadron was credited with participating in the Meuse-Argonne offensive (8–17 October 1918). The unit was demobilized as the I Corps Balloon Group in December 1918.
The 1st Balloon Group was organized in the fall of 1921 to support the Air Service Balloon and Airship School at Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas. However, a series of mishaps in operating the hydrogen-filled craft led to the transfer of the school from Brooks to Scott Field, Illinois, on 26 June 1922. Lighter-than-air ships were used at Scott Field to research the capabilities of aerial photography, meteorology and conduct altitude experiments. In the late 1920s, emphasis shifted from airships to balloons. Airplanes began to dominate activities at Scott Field, and in the late 1930s, the lighter-than-air activities there came to an end.
Lineage
I Corps Balloon Group
21st Balloon Group