airplanes, eight for the 1st Aero Squadron. The initial practical result of this legislation was the delivery of four Curtiss N-8s, S.C. Nos. 60–63, which were essentially variants of the JN–3 with a different wing and airfoil and powered by a 90 hp engine. Tests conducted over the next six days verified that these were incapable of meeting the operational conditions in Mexico. On 1 May, it was concluded that the Curtiss N–8 was too slow and under-powered and the landing gear too weak for rough terrain. The squadron packed up the N–8s and shipped them to the Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego. On the same day, the first of twelve Curtiss R-2s reached Columbus. The R–2 was a larger, modified version of the original Curtiss Model N powered by a 160 hp engine. However, the 1st Aero Squadron spent the next three months fighting problems with the new airplanes. The catalogue of deficiencies was enormous and inexcusable. Further, most of the airplanes were poorly constructed from shoddy materials. Clearly, Curtiss had lost control of quality at the manufacturing plant. These critical deficiencies had repercussions in Washington, D.C. and reports on the R–2s had stirred up the Signal Office about the Curtiss Company's miserable performance. Beyond wrestling with the R–2s and propellers, the 1st Aero Squadron experimented with a variety of other airplanes and aviation equipment. In addition to the R–2s, the squadron received three Standard H–2s, six Curtiss twin-engine JNs, about seven Curtiss JN–4 "Jennies", and other planes from Martin, Sturtevant, Thomas, and LWF. All told, counting the four Curtiss N–8s, the 1st Aero Squadron received fifty-one airplanes at Columbus by 6 April 1917. The 1st Aero Squadron remained at Columbus, with a detachment in Mexico, until Pershing withdrew the Punitive Expedition from Mexico in early February 1917. The Punitive Expedition is often portrayed as a failure because Pershing's force failed to capture or kill Pancho Villa. This view is something less than the truth. While Pershing's mission was to catch Villa if possible, Pershing's orders from the War Department had directed him only to pursue and disperse the band of raiders that had attacked Columbus, not to eliminate Villa. In addition to the 69 bandits captured and killed during the fighting in Columbus on 9 March, the Punitive Expedition had killed 248 and taken 19 prisoners by 31 July. The mission of the 1st Aero Squadron