The way in which General Squier mastered this task was one of the great personal achievements of the war. An ordinary man would have gone down under them. It was one of those remarkable exhibitions of herculean labor to which Dr. Harry F. Keller referred, in presenting General Squier with the Franklin Medal awarded by the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, when he asserted: "Under the stress of great national crises individuals are often stimulated to almost super-human performance, and tasks which in normal times it would require decades to accomplish, are then done, and well done, by such men in a few months or years."

The New York Times - WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 1917 - The outstanding feature of the army estimates submitted to Congress today is a request from General Squier's Army Signal Corps for a lump sum appropriation of more than $1,000,000,000 for the aviation side of the war during the fiscal year 1919. (July 1, 1918-June 30, 1919)

Under the direction of Major General George Owen Squier, and inspite of great opposition, the United States Army Signal Corps created the first antecedent of the United States Air Force in 1907 called the Aeronautical Division. In 1914, the name was changed to the Army Signal Corps Aviation Section, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions, advanced toward eventual separation 40 years later. On September 16th, 1947, the Army Air Forces became the United States Air Force as a separate and equal element of the United States armed forces.

As the pioneer of army aviation, General Squier wrote the first specifications for a military airplane in 1907 and later founded the army’s aviation research laboratory at Langley Field, Virginia.

Of particular relevance to those interested in aviation history are his efforts to acquire aircraft for the Army. The establishment of the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Signal Corps, and the subsequent purchase of Wright Brothers aircraft was due to his direct efforts. He was in fact, responsible for the purchase of the first airplanes by the US Army in 1909, making him essentially the founder of what would become today's modern United States Air Force. Squier was ever cognizant of the vital importance of military aviation during a time when "flying contraptions" were seen as merely foolhardy; perhaps nothing testified more to his commitment than his willingness to be a passenger on the Wright Brothers' Flyer, making him the first officer to fly in an airplane, on September 12, 1908.

Few Army strategists of the day saw the promise of an invention still widely regarded as a novel reconnaissance tool rather than a combat weapon. When Squier recommended the 1,659-acre tract of Langley Field in Virgina as the site of the service’s first purpose-built air field, he was betting his future on a revolutionary gamble. Aviation was still so new that there was a lot of resistance.  Squier was a very forward thinker when it came to the airplane’s potential. He saw them doing things that the planes of the day still couldn’t do. (Langley Field's Founders Envisioned An Air Power Center Like No Other)