 St. Clair Streett joined the United States Army after high school . By 1916 , he was a sergeant in the Signal Corps , Enlisted Reserve . , This is after the start of the World War I in Europe 1914 @-@ 1918 and before America 's entry into the war . In December 1916 , Streett signed up as an aviation cadet and was trained at the Curtis School at Newport News , Virginia and at Wright Field in Ohio . America entered the world war in April 1917 . On September 27 , 1917 , St. Clair Streett was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Signal Officers ' Reserve Corps . 
