From the position of the military, aviation was a critical element for the defense of the islands. As early as
January, 1915 the Commanding General of the Philippine Department in Manila cabled the War Department with the following concerns:

It is believed that adequate aeronautical personnel and material are essential to the defense of
Corregidor against artillery attack, especially from the direction of Mariveles. Artillery from these positions could be capable of destroying the gun defenses on Corregidor. On the other hand, if the location of such artillery is established by proper (aerial) observation, the gun defenses of Corregidor are sufficiently strong to destroy such hostile artillery.

Further the Commanding General stated:

While the destruction of the primary gun defense of Corregidor by hostile artillery might not by itself cause the fall of the place, it would at least render Manila Bay available to a hostile fleet.

In less than 30 years. General Douglas MacArthur would be faced with the very same concern — Corregidor being shelled from the mainland, with little to no air support to provide reconnaissance or, more important, offensive capabilities.

After the end of the First World War, U.S. Army biplanes began to reappear in the skies over the Philippines as the Philippine .Department began to re-establish and build its Aero Squadrons.

At the same time, surplus military aircraft, Curtiss JN-4D Jennys and Curtiss HS-IL/HS-2L Seagulls (a name applied by the Philippine Air Service) provided the first opportunity to train Filipinos to fly and to establish the first commercial air service.

Much of the credit for the promotion and creation of the Philippines' indigenous air service belongs to Major Joseph E.H. Stevenot, a longtime resident of the Philippines. He had joined the U.S. Army in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War, with the rank of captain. He received his flight training at Brooks Field in Texas and qualified as an aviator. Although he did not serve in Europe during the war, he returned to the Philippines and became the commander of the Philippine National Guard's Aviation Unit.

Major Stevenot was an aviation visionary who regarded the Far East as a widespread territory well
suited for aviation and the rewards it could provide a country and an entrepreneur. An active member of the Aero Club of the Philippines, and a tireless advocate of aviation in the Philippines, he lobbied for the cause and convinced business and government leaders of the long-term value and importance of aviation for the country's commerce and defense.

After the war, Stevenot convinced his former flight instructor, Alfred J. Croft, to come to the Philippines and join him in a venture to train pilots and sell aircraft. Stevenot saw aviation as a growth industry in the Philippines and throughout the Far East. Aviation would provide the long-sought-after opportunity for the Philippines to be connected through regular commercial transportation of people and goods, as well as to create a dependable air mail service. In addition, an aviation service could play a key role in mapping the islands, and in training the first generation of Filipino military pilots, all key objectives of the Philippine Insular Government and the Governor General.