The commanding officer of the 1st Aero Squadron's 2nd Company at San Diego, Capt. Lewis E. Goodier, was seriously injured in a demonstration accident on 5 November 1914. Goodier was flying with Glenn L. Martin in a new aircraft when they stalled during a required competitive slow speed test and, when Martin over corrected with too much throttle, went into what was described as the first tailspin. Goodier suffered a nearly severed nose, two broken legs, a re-opened skull fracture, and a severe puncture of his knee from the drive shaft. After a cursory review of the crashes, school commandant Capt. Arthur S. Cowan, dismissed the pilots as "nothing but amateurs". While recuperating, Goodier assisted Dodd and 1st Lt. Walter Taliaferro in an attempt to prefer charges against Cowan for fraudulently collecting flight pay when he was neither certified to fly nor on flying duty. These charges were dismissed as being laid out of malice. Dodd went with the 1st Aero to Galveston during the Vera Cruz incident in 1914, then to Fort Sill. Following a promotion to captain, Dodd and his observer, Lieutenant S. W. Fitzgerald, won the third annual contest for the Mackay aviation trophy when he descended at North Island after a trip of three hours and three minutes. The contest for the Mackay Trophy involved serial reconnaissance of troops maneuvering in the vicinity of San Diego and reports of their numbers and disposition. Accidents eliminated all machines but theirs and the trophy would not have been awarded that year if Fitzgerald had not provided a comprehensive and accurate report of the composition and location of the troops. On 12 March 1916, Dodd was appointed as a pilot to the 1st Aero Squadron, under General John Pershing's 8th Brigade, which was positioned on the Mexican border. As the pilot of Airplane #44, he and his observer, Captain Benjamin Foulois, made the first reconnaissance flight into Mexico on 15 March 1916. Throughout the rest of March and early April they would fly deep into Mexico to observe troop movements and fly dispatches to other bases. Upon the completion of his work in Mexico he remained with the 1st Aero Squadron and was promoted to major in May 1917. While serving under Pershing, Dodd gained experience and was appointed to a staff position as the Aviation Officer within the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), when it was raised for overseas service during World War I. Before sailing to France, on 27 May 1917, Dodd sent his assistant, Lt. Birdseye B. Lewis, to New York with instructions to round-up qualified candidates for the aviation staff.