24th Pursuit Squadron
| 24th Fighter Squadron | |
|---|---|
P-38J Lightning (Squadron #12), France Field, Panama, 1945
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| Active | 1917-1946 |
| Country |
 United States
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| Branch |
 United States Army Air Forces
|
| Role | Fighter |
| Part of |
.jpg){kind=small} Sixth Air Force
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| Engagements |
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| Insignia | |
| 24th Fighter Squadron |  |
.png){kind=small}
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.
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.
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.
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Wikipedia