View source for 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron

{{Multiple issues|{{more footnotes|date=December 2012}}{{Lead too short|date=August 2017}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= 531st Tactical Fighter Squadron
|image=531st Tactical Fighter Squadron - North American F-100D-30-NA Super Sabre - 55-3809.jpg
|image_size=290
|caption=531st Tactical Fighter Squadron [[F-100 Super Sabre]]<ref group=note>Aircraft is North American F-100D-30-NA Super Sabre serial 55-3809.</ref>
|dates=1941-1946; 1953-1958; 1958-1970
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|role=[[fighter aircraft|Fighter]]
|size=
|command_structure=
|garrison=
|nickname=
|motto=Strike and Return
|colors=
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Pacific Ocean Theater]]<ref name=Maurer531FS>Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 638–639</ref><br/>[[Vietnam War]]
|decorations=
|anniversaries=
|notable_commanders=
<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol=[[File:531 Tactical Fighter Sq emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_label=531 Tactical Fighter Sq emblem<ref group=note>Approved 10 November 1958.</ref>
|identification_symbol_2=[[File:531st Fighter Squadron - World War II emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_2_label=531st Fighter Squadron emblem<ref group=note>Approved 7 Jul 1944</ref><ref>Watkins,pp. 22-23</ref>
|identification_symbol_3=[[File:58th Bombardment Squadron - Emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_3_label=58th Bombardment Squadron emblem
}}
The '''531st Tactical Fighter Squadron''' is an inactive [[United States Air Force]] unit, last assigned to the [[3rd Tactical Fighter Wing]] at [[Bien Hoa Air Base]], South Vietnam.   The squadron was inactivated on 31 July 1970.
==History==
===World War II===
[[File:A-24B 531FS Makin13Dec43.jpg|thumb|left|Squadron A-24B on Makin Island]]
Activated in [[Hawaii]] in 1941 as the 58th Bombardment Squadron (Light), a Bombardment/Reconnaissance squadron, being equipped with a mixture of [[B-18 Bolo]]s, second-line [[Boeing P-26 Peashooter|P-26s]], and [[A-20 Havoc]]s.   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.
===Cold War===
[[File:531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron - North American F-86F-35-NA Sabre - 52-5193.jpg|thumb|left|531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron F-86F Sabre<ref group=note>Aircraft is North American F-86F Sabre serial 52-5193.  Taken over France in 1955.</ref>]]
Reactivated in 1953 at [[George AFB]], California as an [[F-86 Sabre]] 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.
===Viet Nam War===
Deployed to South Vietnam, 1965 and carried out combat operations until inactivated in 1970.
==Lineage==
* Constituted as the '''58th Bombardment Squadron''' (Light) on 22 November 1940
: Activated on 1 January 1941
: Redesignated '''58th Bombardment Squadron''' (Dive) on 19 October 1942
: Redesignated '''531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron''' on 14 August 1943
: Redesignated '''531st Fighter Squadron''' on 18 February 1944
: Inactivated on 10 October 1946
* Redesignated '''531st Fighter-Bomber Squadron''' on 15 November 1952
: Activated on 1 January 1953
: Inactivated on 8 February 1958
* Redesignated '''531st Tactical Fighter Squadron''' on 19 May 1958
: Activated on 1 July 1958<ref name=Maurer531FS2>Lineage information through May 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 638–639</ref>
: Inactivated on 31 June 1970
===Assignments===
* [[Hawaiian Air Force]] (later [[Seventh Air Force]]), 1 January 1941
* [[21st Fighter Group]], 15 June 1944 – 10 October 1946
* 21st Fighter-Bomber Group, 1 January 1953 – 8 February 1958
* [[21st Tactical Fighter Wing]], 1 Ju1y 1958
* [[39th Air Division]], 18 June 1960<ref name=Maurer531FS2/>
* [[3rd Tactical Fighter Wing]], 16 December 1965 – 31 July 1970
===Stations===
{{Col-begin}}
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* [[Hickam Field]], Hawaii, 1 January 1941
* [[Bellows Field]], Hawaii, 18 March 1941
* Hickam Field, Hawaii, 29 April 1941
* Bellows Field, Hawaii, 11 December 1941
* [[Wheeler Field]], Hawaii, 19 December 1941 – 18 June 1943
* [[Canton Island]], [[Phoenix Islands]], 24 June 1943
* [[Butaritari|Makin Island]], [[Gilbert Islands]], 18 December 1943
* Bellows Field, Hawaii, 1 March 1944
* [[Kualoa Field]], Hawaii, 21 April 1944
* [[Mokuleia Field]], Hawaii, 8 October 1944
{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[Central Field (Iwo Jima)]], 26 March 1945
* [[South Field (Iwo Jima)]], 15 July 1945
* [[Isely Field]], Saipan, 5 December 1945
* [[Northwest Field (Guam)]], 17 April – 10 October 1946
* [[George Air Force Base]], California, 1 January 1953
* [[Toul-Rosieres Air Base]], France, 28 November 1954
* [[Chambley-Bussières Air Base]], France, March 1955
* [[Misawa Air Force Base]], Japan, 1 July 1958<ref name=Maurer531FS2/> (deployed to [[Da Nang Air Base]], South Vietnam, 1 February – 13 July 1965)
* [[Bien Hoa Air Base]], South Vietnam, 16 December 1965 – 31 July 1970
{{Col-end}}
===Aircraft===
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{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[Boeing P-26 Peashooter]], 1941
* [[Douglas B-18 Bolo]], 1941
* [[Douglas A-20 Havoc]], 1941–1942
* [[Douglas A-24 Dauntless]], 1942–1944
* [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]], 1944–1946
{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[North American F-86 Sabre]], 1953–1958
* [[North American F-100 Super Sabre]], 1958–1970<ref name=Maurer531FS2/>
{{col-end}}
==References==
===Notes===
; Explanatory notes
{{Reflist|group=note}}
; Citations
{{Reflist|40em}}
===Bibliography===
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf|edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
* {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Watkins|first=Robert A.|title=Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II|volume=VI, China-Burma-India & The Western Pacific|year=2017|publisher=Shiffer Publishing, Ltd.|location=Atglen,PA|isbn=978-0-7643-5273-7}}
[[Category:Fighter squadrons of the United States Air Force]]