24th Fighter Squadron The 24th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the 6th Fighter Wing , based at France Field , Canal Zone . It was inactivated on 15 October 1946 . History . The 24th Fighter Squadron was originally formed on 1 May 1917 as Company F , Provisional Aviation School Squadron at Kelly Field , Texas . It then became the 19th Provisional Aviation School Squadron on 14 June 1917 and the 24th Aero Squadron ( Observation ) 23 July 1917 . On 11 November 1917 , the original squadron was divided , with half of the squadron being re - formed into the 185th Aero Squadron . World War I . The unit actually deployed to England after the U . S . entry into World War I on 9 January 1918 , and from there moved on to France after a training period in England , on 18 July 1918 , positioned first at St . Maxient and later at Ourches ( Meuse ) During its World War I campaign , the 24th Aero was assigned to the First Army Observation Group . Its first combat mission came on 12 September 1918 , and 13 more missions were flown during the preceding 10 days . The unit ' s first confirmed combat victory came on 15 September 1918 when 2LT Roe E . Weils ( Pilot ) and 2LT Albert W . Swmebroad ( Observer ) shot down a German aircraft . The unit also lost three aircraft during the same period , and of the crews from these aircraft , two men became POW ' s . The unit went on to fly 155 missions from Gondreville and Viocourt Airfields from 22 September 1918 during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive and claimed 11 confirmed aerial victories . Of these missions , 22 were termed " special combat missions " in which they were sent out by Army Headquarters to obtain aerial reconnaissance information most urgently needed to support ground operations , all of which were conducted at " extremely low altitude . " For these special duties , teams were detached from the squadron and sent to Army Headquarters at Souilly between 9 and 18 October . On one such mission , 1st Lt . Raymond P . Dillon ( Pilot ) and 2d Lt . John B . Lee III engaged nine enemy aircraft and claimed three of them . After the November 1918 Armistice with Germany , the squadron was part of the Occupation of the Rhineland , returning to the United States on 1 October 1919 and being demobilized . Panama Canal Defense . The unit was reconstituted as the 24th Squadron ( Pursuit ) at Mitchell Field , New York , and assigned to the 6th Composite Group , France Field , Panama Canal Zone on 22 April 1922 . Ground elements departed 30 April 1922 from the port of New York on the USAT Somme en route to the Canal Zone . Air elements concurrently departed Mitchel Field and arrived several days later at France Field , CZ . Re - designated the 24th Pursuit Squadron in 1923 . The unit remained at France Field until October 1932 when it was transferred to the newly completed Albrook Field , where it became an element of the 16th Pursuit Group . For the rest of its existence , the Squadron ' s mission was the defense of the Panama Canal . The Squadron was progressively redesignated , in keeping with the changes sweeping through the Army Air Corps , becoming first the 24th Pursuit Squadron in 1923 ; 24th Pursuit Squadron ( Interceptor ) in 1939 , and finally the 24th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942 . The Great Depression in the United States and lack of funding to the Army Air Service and later Army Air Corps led to the fortunes of the unit being at a rather low ebb by 1 January 1939 , at which time the squadron consisted of six flying officers and 93 other ranks , the Squadron was equipped with the Boeing P - 26A Peashooter . With the breakout of World War II in Europe during September 1939 , the Squadron was one of the first to be brought up to strength when , on 7 September 1939 , 25 new Second Lieutenants arrived from Barksdale , Selfridge and Langley Field s in the United States . Between the date of their arrival and the Pearl Harbor Attack on 7 December 1941 , 13 of these young officers were reassigned to other Pursuit squadrons in the Canal Zone , and this marked the beginning of a policy whereby most of the Squadrons of the 16th and 32d Pursuit Group s grew , almost literally , out of the 24th Pursuit Squadron . In October 1939 , the Squadron received word that it was to re - equip with the new Curtiss P - 36A Hawk s . By the end of 1939 , the Squadron was " up to strength , " with 12 P - 36A ' s ( the Squadron color was yellow at the time ) , one Captain ( the Squadron Commander ) , 11 Second Lieutenants and 142 enlisted ranks . The year 1940 passed in an endless series of training maneuvers , and personnel replacements and reassignments . Due to training accidents , as of 31 December 1940 , the unit had but eight of its P - 36A ' s left , and officer strength had dwindled to one Captain , one First Lieutenant and six Second Lieutenants , but enlisted strength had grown to 158 . In June 1941 , the Squadron received nine new Curtiss P - 40C Warhawk s and , with these , a number of long - range navigational flights were undertaken , one going so far as Trinidad . World War II . After the Pearl Harbor Attack in December 1941 , the squadron initially remained on standing alert at Albrook , but dispatched " C " flight to Salinas Airport , Ecuador , to provide aerodrome defense for that strategic point on 2 February 1942 . The remainder of the Squadron moved to the La Joya # 2 Aerodrome on 12 March 1942 , where they remained until returning to Albrook on 30 September , having been re - designated as the 24th Fighter Squadron on 15 May . For the first four months that the unit was at La Joya # 2 , they had operated off the very primitive dirt runway there . This field was 25 miles north east of Albrook , just off the main Pan - American Highway to Chepo . It was , however , well situated as , just off the runway was heavy jungle growth , which offered excellent revetments and camouflage . The unit had also transitioned from its P - 40C ' s to Bell P - 39D Aircobra s starting 2 May 1942 , when it acquired 10 of these aircraft From the 53d Fighter Group . The field at La Joya became flooded ( due to the rainy season ) in September 1942 , forcing the return of the unit , somewhat ahead of schedule , to Albrook , where conditions were very crowded . By then , the P - 39D ' s had been exchanged for 14 P - 39K ' s . On 15 October 1942 , eight P - 39K ' s were dispatched on a mission near Rio Hato to graphically illustrate the effectiveness of the cannon - armed fighter as a ground - attack aircraft . The Aircobras attacked a column of derelict trucks positioned there and , when the dust settled , all but five of the 115 vehicles had been completely destroyed . In addition , between November 1942 and 11 January 1943 , the Squadron also had a solitary Douglas P - 70 night fighter , which it maintained and operated on behalf of the XXVI Fighter Command at Albrook . This was the rather weak Sixth Air Force response to a concern over the lack of night fighter defenses for the Panama Canal . The respite at Albrook was short - lived , however , as it had now become the policy of Sixth Air Force to rotate its Fighter Squadrons in and out of remote bases for practical as well as for morale purposes . Thus , on 17 January 1943 , ( with a total of 17 aircraft on hand ) the Squadron took up residence again at La Joya # 2 , following the arrival of the dry season , where it stayed until 28 May , when it returned once again , briefly , to Albrook . However , just prior to the return to Albrook on 24 May , 12 P - 39K ' s flew in support of three Navy PT Boat s in a simulated dive - bombing and strafing attack on two Navy Destroyers some 10 miles south east of Taborquilla Island . The next move , however , was to Howard Field ( after being yet again flooded out at La Joya ) , on 9 June 1943 , although Flight " E " was detached to serve on Rey Island in the Bay of Panama on 15 June ( Airfield location undetermined ) . Also , the Squadron , for reasons unknown , received four P - 39D ' s which had previously been stationed at Losey Field , Puerto Rico . Fortunately , however , the Squadron flew its last P - 39 missions on 25 June 1943 and , ironically , these were replaced on 27 June 1943 by two refurbished Curtiss P - 40C ' s and on 29 June two new P - 40N Warhawk s . From that point through until August , the Squadron transitioned into new P - 40N ' s , 22 of which were on hand by the end of that month . Meanwhile , the detachment at Rey Island ( " E " Flight ) was joined by " F " Flight , and these were amalgamated into one very large " E " Flight , still on Rey Island . On 27 August 1943 , flying their new P - 40N ' s , " A " and " B " Flights flew a most interesting mass cross - country to Costa Rica . The next day , they flew down the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama — completely undetected — and made a successful surprise " attack " on the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal . " B " Flight made three dive - bombing attacks from 10 , 000 feet while " A " Flight made four strafing passes . Defending interceptors , finally alerted to the proceedings , didn ' t show up until the attack was completely over . Effective 1 November 1943 , the Squadron was officially assigned directly to the XXVI Fighter Command and , by 31 December , had totally re - equipped with P - 4ON ' s . The Squadron was moved again to Madden Army Airfield ( near Madden Dam ) on 8 March 1944 and , shortly following , again re - equipped , this time with Bell P - 39Q - 5 ' s and P - 39Q - 20 ' s , and Piper L - 4 s and North American AT - 6 Texan s were also assigned . A " hack " Northrop RA - 17 as well as a Curtiss RP - 40C and a North American AT - 6D were also assigned . By March a single Vultee BT - 13A Valiant had also been added , to augment the instrument training program . In July 1944 , the Squadron was once again tasked to make mock attacks on Panama Canal installations and , later in the same month , conducted very intensive interceptor exercises against various VI Bomber Command elements . By the end of that month , 23 P - 39Q ' s were on hand , of which 21 were combat ready . On 15 August 1944 , the Squadron moved again , this time to France Field and , by October , the unit had reached perhaps its highest state of combat readiness , with 23 of 24 P - 39Q ' s airworthy , the highest percentage in XXVI Fighter Command at the time . By January 1945 , the unit had been formally redesignated as the 24th Fighter Squadron ( Twin Engine ) and this signaled the advent of the sleek Lockheed P - 38 Lightning into Squadron service . The first P - 38 known assigned was P - 38J 44 - 23072 , which also suffered a landing accident on 25 February 1945 . The Squadron moved once again , although the main body was still stationed at France Field , this time to Chame Field , Panama , and by March 1945 had a mixed strength consisting of 16 P - 39Qs , 11 P - 38Js , and single examples of the Cessna UC - 78 , North American AT - 6F ( 44 - 82129 ) and a Vultee BT - 13A ( 42 - 42753 ) . By June 1945 , the P - 38 Lightnings predominated , with 20 P - 38s on hand and but five P - 39Qs , although one of the P - 38s was lost that month to an accident , the earlier P - 38J ' s having been augmented by P - 38Ls ( including 43 - 50301 and 50318 ) . A Beech UC - 45F ( 44 - 87029 ) was also assigned to the Squadron to serve as a conversion trainer to twin - engined equipment , augmenting the UC - 78 . With the end of the war in September 1945 , the squadron reduced its activities , and many personnel were transferred back to the United States for separation . The squadron was placed in an inactive status on 1 November 1945 , and formally inactivated on 15 October 1946 . Its remaining aircraft were transferred to the 43d Fighter Squadron . Heraldry . A leaping tiger in the proper colors . ( Approved 15 February 1924 )