(_g_) A special Inter-Allied rifle competition for five-men teams on a 300-meter range near Paris, France. France won and America was second. Two Marines were on the American team. Chapter XXI. AVIATION. STRENGTH AND DISTRIBUTION. On April 6, 1917, the Marine section of naval aviation consisting of five officers and 30 enlisted men, was stationed at the naval air station, Pensacola, Fla., as part of the complement of that station. During April, May, and June, 1917, the Marine aviation section was transferred to a combination land and water station for Marine fliers at the navy yard, Philadelphia, Pa., and the training of personnel for land flying began. The official designation of this organization was the Marine Aeronautic Company. Training in observation balloons was done in addition to the heavier-than-air work. On October 12, 1917, this Marine Aeronautic Company, then consisting of 34 officers and 330 enlisted men, was divided into the First Aviation Squadron, consisting of 24 officers and 237 enlisted men, and the First Marine Aeronautic Company, consisting of 10 officers and 93 enlisted men. On October 14, 1917, the First Marine Aeronautic Company was transferred to Cape May, N. J., and took over the naval air station at that place. On December 7, 1917, the First Marine Aeronautic Company, then consisting of 12 officers and 133 enlisted men, was ordered to Naval Base 13, Ponta Delgada, Azores, arriving there on January 21, 1918. This company was the first completely equipped American aviation unit to leave the United States for service in the war. This organization operated an antisubmarine patrol station of 10 _R-6_ seaplanes, 2 _N-9_ seaplanes, and later 6 _HS-2-L_ flying boats until the station was ordered abandoned on January 24, 1919, when it was ordered to return to the United States, arriving at the Marine flying field, Miami, Fla., March 15, 1919. Maj. Francis T. Evans was in command from January 9 to July 18, 1918, and Maj. David L. S. Brewster from July 19, 1918, to January 20, 1919. On October 17, 1917, the First Aviation Squadron was transferred from the Marine flying field, navy yard, Philadelphia, Pa., to the Army training field at Mineola, Long Island, where instruction and training were carried on in land flying. On December 31, 1917, this organization was transferred to Gerstner Field, Lake Charles, La., for advanced training. In March, 1918, the Marine flying field, Miami, Fla., was established and on March 31, 1918, the First Aviation Squadron was transferred to that field from Lake Charles, La. Four Marine squadrons of land-fighting planes and a headquarters company were organized to operate under the Navy as the Day Wing of the Northern Bombing Group, in northern France, which operated in the Dunkirk area against German submarines and their bases at Ostend, Zeebrugge, and Bruges.