LOSSES IN BATTLE AND IN TRAINING Though the casualties in the air force were small as compared with the total strength, the casualty rate of the flying personnel at the front was somewhat above the artillery and infantry rates. The reported battle fatalities up to October 24 were 128 and accident fatalities overseas 244. The results of Allied and American experience at the front indicate that two aviators lose their lives in accidents for each aviator killed in battle. The fatalities at training fields in the United States to October 24th were 262. [A later official report gave the total U. S. aviators lost in combat as 171, and those killed by accident as 554.] COMMISSIONED AND ENLISTED STRENGTH On America’s entrance into the war, the personnel of the Air Service consisted of 65 officers and 1,120 men. When the armistice was signed the total strength was slightly over 190,000, comprising about 20,000 commissioned officers, over 6,000 cadets under training, and 164,000 enlisted men. In addition to the cadets under training, the flying personnel was composed of about 11,000 officers, of whom approximately 42 per cent were with the Expeditionary Force when hostilities ceased. The Air Service constituted slightly over 5 per cent of the total strength of the Army. GENERAL PERSHING’S REPORT Secretary Baker’s report included a communication received from General Pershing in which he commented on aircraft and the Air Service as follows: “Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary for its conduct in the modern sense. Among our most important deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we accepted the offer of the French Government to provide us with the necessary artillery equipment. “In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the French Government came to our aid until our own aviation program should be under way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and bombing planes. The first aeroplanes received from home arrived in May, and altogether we have received 1,379. The first American squadron completely equipped by American production, including aeroplanes, crossed the German lines on August 7, 1918.