531st Bombardment Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 531st Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force
unit, last assigned to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, being stationed at Bien Hoa Air Base
, South Vietnam
. The squadron was inactivated on 31 July 1970.
in 1941 as a light Bombardment/Reconnaissance squadron, being equipped with a mixture of B-18 Bolo
s, second-line P-26s, and A-20 Havocs. Was part of the air defense forces of Hawaii, many aircraft being destroyed during the Pearl Harbor Attack at Hickam Field. Re-equipped with A-24 Dauntless dive bombers in 1942, remained in Hawaii as an air defense squadron until 1943.
Re-designated as a fighter-bomber squadron in mid 1943, deploying to the Central Pacific in 1944 as part of the 21st Fighter Group. Returned to Hawaii and re-equipped with long-range P-38 Lightning
s and returned to combat operations in the Central Pacific, operating from Iwo Jima
beginning in early 1945 until the end of the war in August. Remained as part of Twentieth Air Force
in the Marianas until inactivated in October 1946.
Fighter-Bomber Squadron. Spent about a year under Tactical Air Command
training, deploying to France
in 1954 as part of the NATO buildup of the United States Air Forces in Europe
during the early years of the Cold War
. Operated from several bases in France during the 1950s, inactivated in 1958 as part of a USAFE reorganization.
Became part of PACAF in 1958, operated F-100 Super Sabre
s from Misawa AB, Japan as an air defense squadron. Deployed to South Vietnam, 1965 and carried out combat operations until inactivated in 1970.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit, last assigned to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, being stationed at Bien Hoa Air Base
Bien Hoa Air Base
Bien Hoa Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about 20 miles from Saigon near the city of Bien Hoa within Dong Nai Province....
, South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. The squadron was inactivated on 31 July 1970.
World War II
Activated in HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in 1941 as a light Bombardment/Reconnaissance squadron, being equipped with a mixture of B-18 Bolo
B-18 Bolo
The Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....
s, second-line P-26s, and A-20 Havocs. Was part of the air defense forces of Hawaii, many aircraft being destroyed during the Pearl Harbor Attack at Hickam Field. Re-equipped with A-24 Dauntless dive bombers in 1942, remained in Hawaii as an air defense squadron until 1943.
Re-designated as a fighter-bomber squadron in mid 1943, deploying to the Central Pacific in 1944 as part of the 21st Fighter Group. Returned to Hawaii and re-equipped with long-range P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
s and returned to combat operations in the Central Pacific, operating from Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
beginning in early 1945 until the end of the war in August. Remained as part of Twentieth Air Force
Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...
in the Marianas until inactivated in October 1946.
Cold War
Reactivated in 1953 at George AFB, California as an F-86 SabreF-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
Fighter-Bomber Squadron. Spent about a year under Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
training, deploying to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1954 as part of the NATO buildup of the United States Air Forces in Europe
United States Air Forces in Europe
The United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...
during the early years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Operated from several bases in France during the 1950s, inactivated in 1958 as part of a USAFE reorganization.
Became part of PACAF in 1958, operated F-100 Super Sabre
F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
s from Misawa AB, Japan as an air defense squadron. Deployed to South Vietnam, 1965 and carried out combat operations until inactivated in 1970.
Lineage
- Constituted as 58th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 22 November 1940
- Activated on 1 January 1941
- Re-designated: 58th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on ig Oct 1942
- Re-designated: 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 14 Aug 1943
- Re-designated: 531st Fighter Squadron on 18 Feb 1944.
- Inactivated on 10 Oct 1946
- Re-designated 531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 15 Nov 1952
- Activated on 1 Jan 1953.
- Inactivated on 8 Feb 1958
- Re-designated 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron on 19 May 1958
- Activated on 1 Jul 1958
- Inactivated 16 June 1964
Assignments
- Hawaiian (later Seventh) Air ForceSeventh Air ForceThe Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
, 1 Jan 1941 - 21st Fighter Group, 15 Jun 1944-10 Oct 1946
- 21st Fighter-Bomber Group, 1 Jan 1953-8 Feb 1958
- 21st Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 Ju1 1958
- 39th Air Division, 18 June 1960
- 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, 16 December 1965-31 July 1970
Stations
- Hickam Field, Hawaii Territory, 1 January 1941
- Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory, 18 March 1941
- Hickam Field, Hawaii Territory, 29 April 1941
- Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory, 11 December 1941
- Wheeler Field, Hawaii Territory, 19 Dec 1941-18 Jun 1943
- Canton Island, Phoenix IslandsPhoenix IslandsThe Phoenix Islands are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs, lying in the central Pacific Ocean east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands. They are a part of the Republic of Kiribati. During the late 1930s they became the site of the last attempted colonial...
, 24 June 1943 - Makin IslandMakin IslandMakin Island may refer to:* Butaritari, an atoll in Kiribati* Makin * USS Makin Island...
, Gilbert IslandsGilbert IslandsThe Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
, 18 December 1943 - Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory, 1 March 1944
- Kualoa Field, Hawaii Territory, 21 April 1944
- Mokuleia FieldDillingham AirfieldDillingham Airfield is a public and military use airport located two nautical miles west of the central business district of Mokulēia, in Honolulu County on the North Shore of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation under a 25-year lease from...
, Hawaii Territory, 8 October 1944
- South Field, Iwo JimaIwo JimaIwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
, 26 March 1945 - Isley Field, Saipan, 5 December 1945
- Northwest FieldNorthwest Field (Guam)Northwest Field is a former World War II airfield on Guam in the Mariana Islands. It was closed in 1949 and is unused.-History:Northwest Field was constructed in 1944–45 near Ritidian Point on the northwest end of the island of Guam as a base for Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortresses to carry...
, Guam, 17 April-10 October 1946 - George AFB, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 1 January 1953 - Toul-Rosieres Air BaseToul-Rosieres Air BaseToul-Rosières Air Base is a reserve French Air Force base. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, 10 miles northeast of the city of Toul, on the west side of the Route nationale 411 Highway about one mile southeast of Rosières-en-Haye.Toul Air Base was used by American...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 28 November 1954 - Chambley-Bussières Air BaseChambley-Bussieres Air BaseChambley-Bussières Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, about ten miles west of the French city of Metz, and about one mile southwest of Chambley-Bussières, on the south side of the Départemental 901 ...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, March 1955 - Misawa Air Force Base, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, 1 July 1958
- Deployed to: Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, 1 February-13 July 1965
- Bien Hoa Air BaseBien Hoa Air BaseBien Hoa Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force military airfield located in South-Central southern Vietnam about 20 miles from Saigon near the city of Bien Hoa within Dong Nai Province....
, South Vietnam, 16 December 1965-31 July 1970
- Bien Hoa Air Base
Aircraft
- P-26 PeashooterP-26 PeashooterThe American Boeing P-26 Peashooter, was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps...
, 1941 - B-18 BoloB-18 BoloThe Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....
, 1941 - A-20 Havoc, 1941–1942
- A-24 Dauntless, 1942–1944
- P-38 LightningP-38 LightningThe Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
, 1944–1946
- P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
, 1944–1947 - F-51 Mustang, 1947–1953
- F-86 SabreF-86 SabreThe North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
, 1953–1958 - F-100 Super SabreF-100 Super SabreThe North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
, 1958–1970