JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Military leaders and distinguished guests commemorated the 109th anniversary of the first military flight by Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois during a wreath-laying ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston March 1.
The ceremony was held at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Flag Pole, just a few hundred feet from where Foulois, then a lieutenant, made his historic flight on March 2, 1910. On that day at 9:30 a.m., Foulois climbed aboard Army Airplane No. 1, also known as “Old Number One,” at Fort Sam Houston. The aircraft was America’s first military airplane.
Foulois flew for 7-1/2 minutes on the historic flight, circling the field at 30 mph while attaining a height of 200 feet. He made four flights that day, crashing on the last flight due to a broken fuel pipe. The first flight became known as the “birth of military flight,” and Foulois became known as the “father of U.S. military aviation.”
Col. Peter Velesky, JBSA Deputy Commander and 502nd Air Base Wing Vice Commander, said as an Army aviator himself, he appreciates the contributions Foulois made to field of military aviation when he took that first flight in 1910.
“It’s truly amazing, when you think about it, to stand in this field and know that only a few hundred feet away, 109 years ago, military aviation began its illustrious ascent,” Velesky said.
Velesky said that Foulois was sent to Fort Sam Houston by Brig. Gen. James Allen, Chief Signal Officer of the Army Signal Corps, to learn how to assemble and fly the Model B aircraft the Wright brothers began building in their factory in Dayton, Ohio in 1910. Foulois learned how to put together the aircraft and maneuver it by exchanging letters with the Wright brothers.
“On March 2, 1910, the only pilot to qualify by correspondence made four flights of varying degrees of success, which he described in his own words: ‘I made my first solo, my first landing and my first crackup – all the same day,’” Velesky said. “From my aviator perspective, that’s one hell of a day. Despite the fact his last flight was cut short from a broken fuel pipe, he was able to walk away, which any aviator worth his salt will tell you – any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.”
Velesky said that Allen and Foulois, who was then a lieutenant, did not think alike when it came to the direction and future of military aviation. Allen, an 1872 graduate of West Point, had been studying the uses of military airpower for many years and had come to the conclusion that dirigibles, or steerable airships, were the future of military airpower.
Even though Foulois had become the Army’s first dirigible pilot, after learning about airship and airplane technology, he decided that airplanes would be more beneficial for military use and be the future of military airpower.
“Foulois as a military lieutenant was vocal in his disagreement with Gen. Allen on this point,” Velesky said. “And while it was not recorded how Allen addressed the situation, we do know he kept Foulois around when he could have sent him back to the infantry.”
When Foulois had enlisted in the Army in 1899, it had been as an infantryman.
“To me it’s clear that Allen realized that passionate, independent thinkers will disagree and his team was better off with a smart, dedicated officer like Lt. Foulois than without him,” Velesky added. “We as a nation benefited from Gen. Allen’s understanding that talent and subordinates do not always think like their bosses. Intellectual curiosity and diversity of thought is the key characteristic of an innovative team and Gen. Allen worked hard to encourage it over a century ago.”
Velesky said Foulois helped to create a legacy of military aviators who were innovative and challenged themselves beyond their limits in advancing military aviation.
“The next Benjamin Foulois, the next Chuck Yeager, the next Neil Armstrong, the next generation of intrepid military aviators is standing in our own formations today,” he said. “Standing here today, I’m humbled by the countless number of dauntless military aviators who have paved the way in a very short history of military aviation.”
“And although brief,” Velesky added, “those brave souls have taken us from this field through the sound barrier through the envelope of our own atmosphere and eventually to the heavens, to our moon and one day to Mars and beyond, and that is absolutely amazing and awe inspiring.”
After the conclusion of Velesky’s remarks, a wreath was laid at the marker commemorating Foulois’ historic flight, which is located at the flag pole. Laying the wreath were Velesky, 502nd Force Support Group Commander Col. Samuel Fiol, and Lt. Col. Emil Bliss, 12th Operations Group chief of standardization and evaluation at JBSA-Randolph.