dawn patrol

American  

noun

1. a flight, especially during the early days of military aviation, undertaken at dawn or early morning in order to reconnoiter enemy positions.

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Etymology

Origin of dawn patrol

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

That’s welcome news for all those dawn patrol enthusiasts who want to skate ski in the morning twilight before work.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 12, 2023

That apprehension, and the realization that NBC would keep her on dawn patrol indefinitely, made her receptive to ABC’s courtship in 1976.

From Washington Post • Dec. 30, 2022

And that last line seems to be a reference to Woods' legendary dawn patrol practice rounds.

From Golf Digest • Jun. 6, 2018

Surely, though, Dead Sis was smiling when Mary swept Anna off to London to avert another miscarriage and even paid extra for Dr. Ryder’s dawn patrol.

From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2016

The pilots shouted derisively at the sound of the siren, a distressingly noisy contrivance designed to arouse sleepy pilots and turn them out for dawn patrol.

From Aces Up by Clarke, Covington