World War II Southwest Pacific The
squadron was first activated by
General Headquarters Air Force in early 1941 as the
11th Reconnaissance Squadron, attached to the
27th Bombardment Group at
Hunter Field,
Georgia and equipped with
Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers. In August the squadron was redesignated the
91st Bombardment Squadron and was assigned directly to the 27th Group. The squadron arrived at
Fort William McKinley in the
Philippines and prepared for delivery of its
A-24 Banshee dive bombers. However, when the
Imperial Japanese Army attacked the Philippines in December the situation had not changed. Unknown to the men of the squadron, to avoid capture or destruction of their aircraft, the ship carrying the planes was diverted to Australia. Members of the squadron flew to Australia to pick up their A-24s from the
USAT Meigs. However, because swift Japanese advance prevented the airmen in Australia from returning to the Philippines, these members of the air echelon of the 27th group were ordered to operate from Brisbane. On the night of 3 May 1942 these subs managed to sneak into
Manila Bay and evacuate American personnel from
Corregidor to Java and
Fremantle, Western Australia. The squadron continued to participate in combat in the Southwest Pacific 4 May 1942. On 12 February pilots of the 91st flew their A-24s to
Malang Java in the Netherlands East Indies to defend the island. From 27 February through 1 March, three A-24s of the 91st participated in
Battle of the Java Sea. For its efforts in the Philippines and the Southwest Pacific during late 1941 and early 1942, the squadron received three
Distinguished Unit Citations (DUC). Less than a year later, in June 1947, the squadron was transferred without personnel or equipment to
Bad Kissingen Airfield, then to
Andrews Field, Maryland where it was assigned to
Strategic Air Command (SAC).
Strategic Air Command SAC moved the squadron to
Kearney Army Air Field Nebraska the following month as Kearney was taken out of caretaker status. At Kearney the 524th was initially equipped with the
North American P-51D Mustang. The mission of the squadron was to fly long-range
escort missions for SAC
Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. In 1948 the 524th upgraded to
North American F-82 Twin Mustangs. This was the second long-range mass flight of jet fighter aircraft in aviation history. This feat was repeated in October when aircraft were ferried to
Neubiberg Air Base, Germany.
Korean War In November 1950, the 524th received orders to deploy to Japan to support FEAF in the
Korean War. The squadron departed Bergstrom on 11 November refueling at
Williams AFB, Arizona en route to
San Diego, California. The squadron sailed on three aircraft carriers. By 30 November the ground echelon arrived at
Kimpo Air Base (K-14), South Korea, preparing for the arrival of the air echelon which unloaded in Japan. Once unloaded from the transport carriers, the aircraft were barged to
Kisarazu Air Base where they were preflighted for a short flight to
Yokota Air Base. However, due to the open air deck shipment the aircraft had salt air induced corrosion, landing gear damage and some aircraft also had flat tires. On 1 December FEAF split the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing into forward and rear echelons. Advanced headquarters and operational squadrons were at
Taegu Air Base (K-2), South Korea; while support units and the rear echelon were located at
Itazuke Air Base, Japan. The advanced echelon would rely on the
49th Fighter-Bomber Wing for logistical support, while the rear echelon would rely on the
6160th Air Base Wing. For the next six months, the unit flew missions in support of ground forces, earning another DUC for missions between 26 January and 21 April 1951.
Cold War On 20 January 1953 the squadron was redesignated as the
524th Strategic Fighter Squadron The squadron became the
524th Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1958 Rather than inactivate a unit with such a distinguished history, the 524th and other elements of the
27th Tactical Fighter Wing moved on paper to
Cannon AFB, New Mexico, As United States involvement in the
Vietnam War expanded, the squadron deployed twice to
Takhli RTAFB, Thailand in 1963 and 1964. However, by 1965 deployed squadrons in Southeast Asia were replaced by squadrons permanently stationed there and the squadron made its final Pacific deployment to
Misawa AB, Japan in 1965. Around 31 May 2017, the 524th SOS was relocated to
Duke Field to become part of the
492d Special Operations Wing, in order to better coordinate with its reserve Total Force partner unit, the
919th Special Operations Wing's
859th Special Operations Squadron. ==Lineage==