24th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron

Defense of the Panama Canal

The squadron was first activated in 1946 in the Panama Canal Zone as the 630th Aircraft Control Squadron,^[1] an aircraft direction and control squadron, collocated with its parent 530th Aircraft Control and Warning Group at Quarry Heights, Panama Canal Zone, when the radar detection mission previously performed by the Signal Corps was combined with the direction mission performed by Air Corps units. The group performed the aircraft detection, warning and control mission for the Canal Zone for Sixth Air Force (later Caribbean Air Command). The squadron was inactivated in 1948^[1] as the USAF reduced the size of its forces in the Caribbean.

Mobile aircraft control unit

The squadron was redesignated the 630th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron and activated at Alexandria Air Force Base, Louisiana^[1] when the 532d Tactical Control Group replaced the 157th Tactical Control Group, a Missouri Air National Guard unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War. The squadron replaced the 133d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron. While at Alexandria, the squadron was attached to the 629th Aircraft Control and wWarning Squadron. It moved to Camp Edwards, Massachusetts in January 1954 to join the 532d Group headquarters. At Camp Edwards, the 532d was transferred from Tactical Air Command to Air Defense Command (ADC) as the 532d Aircraft Control and Warning Group, Mobile.^[2] The group and squadron were inactivated before the end of the year.

Shared FAA radar

The squadron was redesignated the 630th Radar Squadron and activated at the Federal Aviation Authority's Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center in August 1972 as part of the Southern Air Defense System^[3] In 1969, the inadequacy of the radar coverage to the south of the United States were dramatically illustrated whan a Cuban MiG-17 went undetected before it landed at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida^[4] and two years later, an Antonov An-24 similarly arrived unannounced at New Orleans International Airport.^[4] As a result, ADC established SADS with the squadron operating a manual control center at the Houston ARTCC and added radars to supplement the existing Federal Aviation Administration coverage in the area, which were manned by the operating locations of the squadron.^[4] The squadron was inactivated at the end of 1977.^[1]

Return to Panama

The squadron returned to its earlier designation as the 630th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron in 1988 and was activated on 1 April at Howard Air Force Base, Panama.^[1] It was redesignated the 630th Radar Squadron the following year.^[1] The unit focused on counter drug operations.^[5] Its mission changed in 1993, when it became the 630th Air Operations Squadron and in 1994, it was renumbered to its parent wing's number. It was finally inactivated when the USAF shut down its operations in Panama in conjunction with the turnover of the former Canal Zone to Panama.^[1]

Expeditionary unit

On 12 February 2009, the squadron was converted to provisional status as the 24th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron and assigned to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed for contingency operations.^[1]

Assignments

• 530th Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 15 October 1946 – 16 April 1948
• Ninth Air Force, 1 November 1953 (attached to 629th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, until 7 Jan 1954, then to 532d Tactical Control Group)
• 532d Aircraft Control and Warning Group, Mobile, 15 February–8 September 1954
• 20th Air Division, 1 August 1972 – 31 December 1977
• USAF Southern Air Division, 1 April 1988
• 24th Composite Wing, 1 January 1989
• Air Forces Panama, 15 February 1991
• 24th Operations Group, 11 February 1992
• 24th Wing, 26 July 1993
• 24th Operations Group, 27 July 1998 – 1 June 1999
• Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed at any time on or after 12 February 2009^[1]

Stations

• Quarry Heights, Panama Canal Zone, 15 October 1946 – 16 April 1948
• Alexandria Air Force Base, Louisiana, 1 November 1953
• Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, 8 January–8 September 1954
• Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center, Texas, 1 August 1972 – 31 December 1977
• Howard Air Force Base, Panama, 1 April 1988 – 1 June 1999^[1]

Notes

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 - 1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
• Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol II, 1955-1972. Fort McNair, DC: Center for Military History. ISBN 978-1-43792-131-1.