page_title: 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: A USAAF Douglas A-24B-5-DT (S/N 42-54459) Banshee of the 531st Fighter Squadron taxis on 13 December 1943. This was the first A-24B to arrive on Makin in the Gilbert Island Chain.
context_page_description: The 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam. The squadron was inactivated on 31 July 1970.
context_section_description: Activated in Hawaii in 1941 as the 58th Bombardment Squadron(Light)a Bombardment/Reconnaissance squadron, being equipped with a mixture of B-18 Bolos, second-line P-26s, and A-20 Havocs.   Was part of the air defense forces of Hawaii, many aircraft being destroyed during the Pearl Harbor Attack at Hickam Field.   Re-equipped with A-24 Dauntless dive bombers in 1942, remained in Hawaii as an air defense squadron until 1943.
  Re-designated as a fighter-bomber squadron in mid-1943, deploying to the Central Pacific in 1944 as part of the 21st Fighter Group.   Returned to Hawaii and re-equipped with long-range P-38 Lightnings and returned to combat operations in the Central Pacific, operating from Iwo Jima beginning in early 1945 until the end of the war in August.    Remained as part of Twentieth Air Force in the Marianas until inactivated in October 1946.
caption: Squadron A-24B on Makin Island
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