31st Fighter Squadron

31st Tactical Reconnaissance Training Squadron
31st Fighter Interceptor Squadron F-102A Delta Dagger 56-1294 at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
Active	1939–1944; 1944-1946; 1953-1955; 1956-1958; 1969-1971
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Reconnaissance Training
Insignia
31st Tactical Reconnaissance Training Squadron Patch

The 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, where it was inactivated on 18 February 1971.

The squadron was first activated as the 31st Pursuit Squadron for the air defense of the Panama Canal shortly before the United States entered World War II. It served in this role until 1944 when the reduced threat to the canal and the Caribbean permitted its transfer to the United States, where it was inactivated.

The squadron was reactivated a few months later as an element of the 412th Fighter Group, the first Army Air Forces unit equipped with jet fighters. It was inactivated in 1946 when the 412th group and its squadrons were replaced by elements of the 1st Fighter Group.

In 1953, the squadron was activated as the 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, an air defense unit in the Pacific northwest. It was inactivated two years later in a major realignment ot Air Defense Command fighter unit designations. It was again active in the air defense role from 1956 to 1958 in Michigan and Alaska.

Its last active period was as a tactical reconnaissance training unit for RF-4C Phantom II aircrews from 1969 to 1971,

The squadron was constituted in 1939 as the 31st Pursuit Squadron and activated on 1 February 1940 at Albrook Field, Panama Canal Zone as one of the original squadrons of the 37th Pursuit Group. The unit was part of the build-up of the Canal Zone's defenses as war approached. It was initially equipped with a mixture of second-line pursuit aircraft, including Boeing P-26A Peashooters, Northrup A-17 Nomads, and some North American BC-1s. The mission of the squadron was air defense of the Panama Canal. In July 1941, the Squadron started re-equipping with new Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. The Squadron was briefly moved to Rio Hato Field on 5 October 1940 and, following a month there, returned to Albrook on 13 November, where it remained until 24 November 1941.