when a little group of flyers, alter conferring with Milton A. Reckord
(then a Brigadier General, and much more about him later) were
authorized to form an air squadron. After about two months, the
unit was formed, and on June 29 of that year, it was inspected and
recognized by the federal government. With two small hangars and
a flight of Curtiss Jennies, they set to work in the cow pasture that
we mentioned—across the road from what is now Harbor Field in
Baltimore, At Logan Field, as the cow pasture was called, they met
on weekends to carry on with their training. A year later, the
squadron, together with a photo section and a medical section, became
known as 29th Division Aviation, and during the summer of 1922
became the first National Guard Air Squadron to attend summer
encampment. They went to Langley Field, Virginia, for 15 days of
active-duty training. As the years passed, the squadron received new
equipment as it became available. It continued to train at Logan
Field, with summer encampments at Martinsburg, Frederick and
Langley Field, logging more than 2, 000 flying hours a year.

Meanwhile, the squadron acquired a new name—the 104th Observa-
tion Squadron. Commanding officers during the period were Majors
Jones, Hamilton, Burwell, Tipton and Masson—names which figure
proudly in the story of this fine organization. It was in 1941 that the
squadron, commanded by Major Charles A. Masson, was mustered
into federal service, and after the assault by the Japanese upon Pearl
Harbor, the unit became a part of an observation group flying anti-
submarine patrols off the Atlantic Coast. This task was carried out
successfully. Then in 1943, our squadron lost its identity, but the
men who comprised it went on to fight valiantly in what up to now
has been the most devastating war known to man.

The 104th, by that time, bobs up again after that war had been
won and peace—at least the only kind of peace we have known since-
set in. In August of 1946, the 104th was reactivated as a fighter
squadron, under the command of Lt. Col. Robert L. Gould, and
moved into facilities at Harbor Field. When the Korean War broke
out, Colonel Gould went on active duty and Major Edwin Warfield,
3rd, took command of the squadron. Major Warfield, of course, is
with us today.

The dizzy development of military armament following World
War II created problems hitherto unknown in the troubled career
of our air squadron. Propeller driven aircraft went into retirement
with the cross-bow and the blunderbuss and, though jet planes were
available, little Harbor Field could not accommodate them. It

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