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Popular history tells us that US Naval aviation developed from early experiments with flight decks on ships, into the vast carrier fleets of World War II. But in fact, the first U.S. Navy/Marine Corps combat aviation operations involve something for different from the great aircraft carrier operations of the mid-20th century. Rather than supporting the fleet, during World War I naval aviation was focused on a single basic target set: German U-boat and their supporting infrastructure. Just after the American entry into the Great War, early naval aviation options focused on dealing with the threat of German U-boats, which were strangling communications between the New World and Europe. And when it was discovered that early aircraft were ineffective against submarines at sea, U.S. Navy efforts turned to attacking their home ports in Belgium. To learn more about the development and history of US naval aviation andstrategic bombing, tune into this week's edition of Military Monday (#MilitaryMonday on the Writestr