397th Bombardment Squadron The 397th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the VI Bomber Command , based at Rio Hato Army Air Base , Panama . It was inactivated on 1 November 1946 . Heraldry . On a blue diamond piped with red with its long axis horizontal a white sword pointing to the dexter [ sic ] behind a white shield displaying a black portcullis . ( Approved 5 May 1924 . ) History . The squadron ' s mission from its inception in 1917 to its inactivation in 1946 was the defense of the Panama Canal . During the 1920s and 1930s it participated in a number of Goodwill Missions to nations in Central and South America . From its origins in 1917 until 1942 , the unit was designated a variation of the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron . World War I . With the entry of the United States into World War I , the War Department felt it was necessary to establish an air presence along the Atlantic terminus of the Panama Canal as a defensive measure against an enemy seaborne attack . In advancing its plans for the defence of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States , the joint Army - Navy board recommended the establishment of eight aeronautic stations which , with a strength of two dirigibles and six or eight seaplane s each , could immediately conduct patrol work . Significantly , the only site definitely advanced as vital in the overall plan was that at the Coco Solo United States Navy submarine base near Colón in the Canal Zone . The Army selected none other than one Captain Henry H . Arnold , then in training at the Army Aviation School at Rockwell Field , near San Diego , to proceed immediately to the Canal Zone and form and command an aviation squadron there . This unit , was designated the 7th Aero Squadron and was organized formally on 29 March 1917 . Captain Arnold did not remain long with the 7th Aero Squadron , however , as he returned to the United States in April , 1917 . The Squadron personnel arrived for duty in the Canal Zone with 51 officers and other ranks . Initially garrisoned at Ancón , Canal Zone the end of March 1917 , the unit moved to Corozal by 16 April . They then moved to the large temporary camp at Empire , Canal Zone in May , all on the Pacific side of the isthmus - not making the move to Fort Sherman ' s parade field until around 29 August 1917 , on the Atlantic side . The unit did not receive its first aircraft until about 10 December 1917 , when two Curtiss R - 4 ' s were tested at Fort Sherman . These were followed by Curtiss R - 6 ' s on 12 February 1918 which were supplied by the Navy . Besides its Curtiss R - 4 ' s and R - 6 ' s , the unit also had two Curtiss R - 3 ' s which , oddly , had arrived after the R - 4 ' s , in late December 1917 . With the end of World War I most of the 7th Aero Squadron ' s personnel were transferred back to the United States for demobilization . Between the wars . After the war , the squadron evolved into the 7th Squadron ( 14 March 1921 ) , 7th Observation Squadron ( 25 January 1925 ) , 7th Reconnaissance Squadron ( 1 September 1937 ) , 7th Reconnaissance Squadron ( Medium Range ) ( 6 December 1939 ) and 7th Reconnaissance Squadron ( Heavy ) ( 20 November 1940 ) before being finally redesignated as the 397th Bombardment Squadron ( Heavy ) on 22 April 1942 . After World War I , the squadron is credited with having operated numerous aircraft types between 1919 and 1931 . These included , the venerable U . S . - built de Havilland DH - 4 series of Light bomber / General purpose aircraft ; the Curtiss JN - 4 " Jenny " family of trainers ; the Loening OA - 1 amphibians , these being uniquely suited to conditions in Panama , Douglas O - 2 observation aircraft and , surprisingly , Curtiss HS - 1 and HS - 2L flying boats . Of the DH - 4 ' s , the first six postwar examples , all virtually stock DH - 4B ' s , arrived for duty with the 7th in February 1920 , replacing the well - worn Curtiss R - 6 ' s and other earlier DH - 4 ' s . By 16 February 1922 , the squadron had seven " war - built " DH - 4 ' s , four DH - 4B ' s , the solitary Curtiss JN - 4H , three Curtiss JN - 6 ' s . By August , all but one of the " war - built " DH - 4 ' s had been scrapped and one of the DH - 4B ' s had been converted to DH - 4BP - 1 ( photographic ) configuration . By June 1927 , the squadron , now in a very lean peacetime stance , had but eight aircraft . These consisted of four DH - 4M ' s , a solitary DH - 4B , a Loening COA - l and two Loening OA - 1A ' s Assigned to France Field as its home station as of 1939 , the unit then became an element of the 6th Bombardment Group on 16 October . The Squadron was equipped with Douglas B - 18 Bolo s , although a single Northrop A - 17 was also assigned for a period , together with a Sikorsky OA - 8 . By 1 February 1940 , the assignment to the 6th Bombardment Group was changed to an attachment , as the unit was placed under the direct control of the Caribbean Air Force staff as one of the dedicated reconnaissance elements reporting to that headquarters . By February 1941 , with the reorganizations that were taking place in the local defense posture , the Squadron was reassigned to the 19th Bombardment Wing and , on 4 June 1941 , was assigned one Boeing B - 17B Flying Fortress , the first production version of the Flying Fortress , which had been transferred to the Command . Obsolete as a bomber , the mission of the B - 17B was long - range reconnaissance in the Canal Zone , although the aircraft retained its defensive machine guns for defense against any enemy aircraft it may encounter On 8 October 1941 , it was once again attached to the 6th Bombardment Group and , on 27 November , the unit moved from France Field to the newly constructed Howard Field on the Pacific side , where it received four additional B - 17Bs . World War II . After the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor the Squadron was almost immediately deployed to David Field , Panama . The Squadron ' s B - 17 Flying Fortress aircraft deployed elsewhere ( mainly to Guatemala City Airport ) to begin the Pacific patrols in early January 1942 . By mid - February 1942 , the unit was formally assigned to the 6th Bombardment Group on 25 February 1942 . 397th Bombardment Squadron . The 7th Reconnaissance Squadron ( Medium Range ) was redesignated as the 397th Bombardment Squadron ( Heavy ) effective 22 April 1942 , The return to David Field came just in time for deployment of the unit as a whole from David to Talara Airport , Peru , where it arrived on 18 August . From there the Squadron undertook the Pacific patrol arc out to Seymour Airport in the Galápagos Islands and , sometimes , on to Guatemala City Airport . These flights continued , almost non - stop , through May 1943 , when the unit was relieved and returned to Río Hato Field in Panama . The LB - 30 ' s retained their original British serial numbers throughout their service with the squadron . Upon its return to Rio Hato on 4 May 1943 , the 397th was transformed , as an entirely new cadre of personnel replaced the veterans of the Galapagos and earlier tours there . Three days later , the Squadron was reassigned to Howard Field in the Canal Zone , although this was apparently a mere paper move of its headquarters squadrons , as the unit ' s aircraft and personnel actually remained at Rio Hato . On 1 January 1944 , the Squadron received orders to deploy four of its LB - 30 ' s to France Field to participate in the search for several marauding German U - Boats which were causing considerable alarm in the Caribbean . While at France Field , the aircraft also flew navigational and bombing exercises . All of this was preparatory to the unit ' s deployment to the Galapagos Islands and , starting 7 April 1944 , the ground echelon started movement to Balboa , Canal Zone , via truck for the transfer . The air element got four more B - 24J ' s on 8 April and , with these , flew with the earlier two B - 24J ' s and two B - 24D ' s to Seymour Field on the Galapagos . Other missions , besides the normal long - distance patrols , saw 397th aircraft operating to Salinas Airport , Ecuador ; Havana Airport , Cuba ; Borinquen Field , Puerto Rico ; Managua Airport , Nicaragua ; Cartagena airport , Colombia and elsewhere throughout Central and South America . In February 1945 , the unit was relieved from duty on the Galapagos and returned to Río Hato Field where the unit ended the war , on 1 November 1946 when it was inactivated .