Cuban Military Avaition Volume 1

In 1910, less than a decade after achieving independence from Spain, Cuba began its first aeronautical activities and by 1913 the Cuerpo de Aviaci n del Ej rcito de Cuba (CAEC, Cuban Army Aviation Corps) had been created, well before many other Latin American countries established similar services. Cuban military pilots trained in the United States during the First World War and came close to being sent to the Western Front in France, however, the war ended before this could occur. The CAEC grew over the following years, and as Cuba supported the Allied cause during the Second World War benefited from the US Lend-Lease Program, and in the post-war years from other programs such as the American Republics Program (ARP) and the Mutual Defence Assistant Program (MDAP). These programs provided not only aircraft to the CAEC but also training for its pilots and mechanics. This volume examines the genesis of Cuban aviation, the organisation and evolution of the CAEC, Cuban Military Aviation