Strategic bombing became a reality in World War I with both Zeppelin and fixed-wing crews attacking infrastructure targets and even civilian populations. Fiorello La Guardia, congressman from New York and future mayor of New York City, led about 100 Americans that flew Italian-built Caproni bombers for the Italian Air Force. While he used his political influence in ways few U.S. Army captains have ever experienced, he also trained and equipped bomber crews that flew 65 bombing missions for Italy. The bomber advocates became dedicated aerial reconnaissance advocates as well, because when the crews took their own strike photos, it validated their mission and existence. Intelligence people had to learn to interpret those strategic strike photos from bombers and zeppelins — that was the beginning of strategic Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA).