Activated in mid-1942 as an operational training unit, primarily for
Republic P-47 Thunderbolts under
I Fighter Command. Began replacement training in February 1944, inactivated in April when P-47 Thunderbolt training ended.
Air defense
Reactivated as an
Air Defense Command interceptor squadron in July 1955 at
Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts flying
North American F-86D Sabres, performing an
air defense mission over
Boston and the New England area. In 1957 began re-equipping with the North American F-86L Sabre, an improved version of the F-86D which incorporated
data link to interface with the
Semi Automatic Ground Environment computer-controlled direction system for intercepts. The service of the F-86L was destined to be quite brief, since by the time the last F-86L conversion was delivered, the type was already being phased out in favor of supersonic interceptors.
Reassigned to the
Strategic Air CommandSixteenth Air Force in 1958, deployed to Morocco. Performed air defense over SAC
Boeing B-47 Stratojet Operation Reflex bases. Inactivated in Morocco with SAC's withdrawal from North African bases in 1960.
Lineage
Constituted as the 324th Fighter Squadron on 24 June 1942
Activated on 25 August 1942
Disbanded on 10 April 1944
Reconstituted and redesignated 324th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 8 July 1955
Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, (1956)