24th Special Operations Wing

24th Special Operations Wing
Combat controllers from the 23d Special Tactics Squadron at White Sands Missile Range
Active	1942–1944; 1946–1948; 1967–1987; 1989–1991; 1992–1999; 2012–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Special Operations
Part of	Air Force Special Operations Command
Garrison/HQ	Hurlburt Field
Motto(s)	Los Professionales Spanish The Professionals
Engagements	War in Afghanistan
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Michael E. Martin
Insignia
24th Special Operations Wing emblem (approved 1968, reinstated 2012)
24th Composite Wing emblem (approved 16 August 1994)

The 24th Special Operations Wing is a United States Air Force active-duty wing that was activated on 12 June 2012. Its headquarters is at Hurlburt Field, Florida and it has component groups located in North Carolina, Georgia and Washington. It is the third special operations wing in Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

The 24th SOW is a reactivation of the 24th Wing, previously assigned with the Twelfth Air Force, stationed at Howard Air Force Base, Panama. It was inactivated on 1 November 1999. The inactivation of the 24th Wing and the closure of Howard Air Force Base ended an 82-year United States Air Force presence in Panama, which began with the formation of the 7th Aero Squadron on 29 March 1917.

It was activated on 25 December 1942 to control all Army Air Forces units on Iceland. Disestablished in June 1944.

From August 1946 until replaced by the Antilles Air Division in July 1948 the wing supervised large numbers of major and minor bases and Air Force units in the Caribbean area from Puerto Rico to British Guiana.

It was organized once more in November 1967 in the Panama Canal Zone, replacing the 5700th Air Base Wing. The wing assumed operation and maintenance responsibilities for Howard and Albrook Air Force Bases and a special operations mission that included air transport, paramilitary operations, exercise participation, civic actions in Central and South America, search and rescue missions, humanitarian operations, mercy missions, aeromedical evacuation, and support of Army Special Forces, U.S. military assistance units, and training of Latin American air forces. From its activation in 1967 until mid-1972, the 24th Wing operated the USAF Tropic Survival School at Albrook. It also controlled various rotational detachments from 1967–1987. The wing lost UH–1 helicopters and control of search and rescue missions in the area after 1 March 1983. The wing inactivated on 31 January 1987, its subordinate components reassigned directly to the USAF Southern Air Division.