Observation Balloon Training at Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha Walking Tour
After nine years of inactivity, Fort Omaha reopened in 1905 as a school for noncommissioned Signal Corps officers. A structure to house the army’s only dirigible (balloon airship) was completed in 1908, and the first dirigible flew in April 1909. Four years later all personnel and property were transferred to Fort Leavenworth.
Under threat of world war, Fort Omaha was reactivated in 1916 to house a Balloon School led by Captain Charles Chandler. In 1919 Florence Field, 119 acres about one-and-a-half miles north of here, was acquired for a subpost to provide space for more balloons.
Balloon training demanded many hours of map reading, charting enemy installations and troop movements, and refining methods to relay information. A telephone line from the balloon’s basket connected observers to an extensive switchboard system. Using a code, balloonists could direct artillery battery toward enemy installations. Even though a fixed balloon was a prime target itself, 16,000 men enthusiastically trained at Fort Omaha during World War I.
Because photoreconnaissance by airplane was still awkward and inaccurate, many types of observation balloons were tested at Fort Omaha. The Caquot, the best of the “captive” (stationary) balloons, was shaped like a sausage, with tail fins to stabilize direction and a network of cables for tethering to the ground.
Marker is on North Road, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
