He was originally rejected five times for military service due to frailty, but was accepted for training as a mechanic in late 1914. With determination, he gained acceptance to pilot training, joining "Escadrille" MS.3 on 8 June 1915. He remained in the same unit for his entire service. The first plane allocated to him was a Morane-Saulnier L monoplane previously flown by Charles Bonnard, and accordingly named "Vieux Charles" ("Old Charles"). Guynemer kept the name and continued to use it for most of his later aircraft. On 19 July 1915, he shot down his first plane, a German Aviatik.