To further promote the air service, and to recruit pilots, in 1919 General Mitchell ordered a mission to fly around the border of the continental United States. Commanded by Col. Rutherford Hartz, and piloted by Lt. Ernest Emery Harmon, "The Around The Rim Flight" took off from Bolling Field in Washington, DC on July 24, 1919. The crew of five also included Lotha Smith, Jack Harding, and Gerosala Dobias. The first circumnavigation of the country by air was successfully completed with the landing of their Martin MB1 back at Bolling Field on Nov 9, 1919.