JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO -- March 2 marked a monumental day in the legacy of aviation.
On that day, 103 years ago, a young Army lieutenant named Benjamin Foulois made history when he piloted the Army's first aircraft, Signal Corps Aircraft No. 1 over Fort Sam Houston.
The original Signal Corps Aircraft No. 1 was a Canard biplane with a four-cylinder Wright 30.6 horsepower engine driving two wooden propellers via a sprocket-and-chain transmission system.
Foulois taught himself to fly via correspondence with Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Each year, the Stinsons Flight No. 2 Order of Daedalians and the Jack Dibrell/Alamo Chapter of the Army Aviation of America hold a wreath-laying ceremony at the main flagpole at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston to commemorate the historic event.
Lt. Gen. Douglas Owens, Air Education and Training Command vice commander, served as guest speaker for the ceremony.
"On that March 2 morning a crowd gathered just like we are here today," Owens said, describing how that day's events may have unfolded. "As they looked out over the field and saw a bi-winged little airplane sitting on a set of rails with no wheels and skids, [they were probably] not sure exactly what was going to happen."
Foulois' first flight lasted only 7 1/2 minutes. He made three more flights that day and on his fourth attempt, the young pilot ended up crashing the airplane.
"He was truly a man of vision," Owens said. "He saw things at that time that most people did not see and most certainly could not understand."
"[Foulois] saw not only potential; he saw the application of airplanes that would forever change the conduct of warfare."
Foulois experiences in aviation as a member of the Army Signal Corps led to today's U.S. Air Force.
The Army Air Service was created in 1918. In 1926, the Army changed the name to the Army Air Corps, which became the Army Air Forces in 1941.
Based on the AAF's wartime achievements during World War II and future potential, the U.S. Air Force won its independence as a full partner with the Army and the Navy Sept. 18, 1947.
"Benjamin Foulois was a man of courage," Owens said. "He carried that sense of vision and courage with him through a 37 year career.
"We are all beneficiaries of his efforts. His vision and his courage is in fact his legacy to all of us."
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