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MILLING, T. DEWITT, BRIG. GEN. USAF. - BIOG. FILE - FOLDER N0.2 ITEM NO.5A

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
NATIONAL AIR MUSEUM

DRAFT

NOTE: (page 31) Shortly after we arrived at Augusta, the Burgess tractor, which had been damaged during the attempted flight by Arnold and Kirtland at the maneuvers at Bridgeport, Connecticut, was received. I began to fly this plane and found it very superior to anything we had received up to that time. The 70 h.p. French Renault motor proved itself much more reliable than the American types. The plane, of course, was crude compared to the present day plane, or even later planes at that time. The  fuselage was half covered so that you sat high up in tandem behind the motor with no protection.

The Second Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Wm. H. Carter,, consisted of 10 regiments of infantry, one of field artillery and one of cavalry, part of which was camped at Ft. Crockett near Galveston and the remainder at Texas City, Texas where we were stationed. When we arrived, we found the bare country crisscrossed with newly dug, deep drainage ditches in the attempt to [[insertion above text]] drain [[/insertion above text ]] keep the ground dry. No one in [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]] command could ever [[insertion above text] It was hard to [[/insertion above text ]] understand why this [[insertion above text]] such a [[/insertion above text]] site was [[insertion above text ]] had been [[/insertion above text]] selected [[strikethrough]] unless due to political influence [[/strikethrough]]. We picked a location on the water edge, established camp by erecting tents for the airplane hangers, shops and quarters for both the officers and enlisted men. Realizing that we would be called upon to operate with the troops and perhaps under war conditions, the school [[crossed out]] the school [[/crossed out]] was dropped and all aviation personnel was organized into the first provincial squadron. 

This change in status from the flying school objective to a military organization required training of a different character. A great deal of attention was devoted to cross country flying, to fly reconnaisance missions with the troops, and to landing on difficult terrain. Polo ponies

The Burgess tractor had proved so successful that I determined to fly to San Antonio and return - a distance of 224 miles. I took Lieut. Wm. C. Sherman along
See Page 254 Chandler 

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Transcription Notes:
* There are places with text written above other text, and it appears to be an edit but the original text was not deleted. I indicated this additional handwritten text by noting "insertion above text". *Note: "polo ponies" are mentioned in other pages of this document because the officers formed a polo team.