24th Special Tactics Squadron

The 24th Special Tactics Squadron is one of the Special Tactics units of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Garrisoned at Pope Field, North Carolina, it is the U.S. Air Force component of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).^[3][4] The unit's webpage describes it as "the Air Force's special operations ground force".

24th Special Tactics Squadron
24th STS members complete fast rope and hoisting training during exercise Advanced Guard at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 2014
Active	1941–1944; 1987–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Special Mission Unit
Part of	United States Special Operations Command Joint Special Operations Command Air Force Special Operations Command 24th Special Operations Wing 724th Special Tactics Group
Garrison/HQ	Pope Field, North Carolina
Engagements	Operation Just Cause^[1] Somali Civil War^[2] Operation Restore Hope Battle of Mogadishu Global War on Terrorism War in Afghanistan Iraq War
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device Gallant Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award^[1]
Insignia
24th Special Tactics Squadron emblem (Approved 22 June 1990)^[1]

Mission

As the Air Force's Tier 1 unit, the 24th STS provides special operations airmen to the Joint Special Operations Command, including Pararescuemen, Combat Controllers, Special Reconnaissance, and Tactical Air Control Party personnel. 24th STS members are also trained to conduct classified and clandestine operations such as direct action, counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, hostage rescue, and special reconnaissance.^[5] 24th STS members conduct some missions on their own, but are mostly known as enablers to the Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (a.k.a. Delta Force) and the Navy's Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU (a.k.a. SEAL Team 6).^[6]

The Special Tactics Squadron is the oldest of the U.S. military's special forces groups, dating to World War II, before the U.S. military adopted a widespread special operations doctrine.^[7]

History

World War II

The squadron traces its lineage to the 24th Air Corps Interceptor Control Squadron, formed in October 1941 at Hamilton Field, California. It was the director unit for the 24th Pursuit Group, which was formed simultaneously at Clark Field, Philippines, as the headquarters for pursuit squadrons of the Philippine Department Air Force.

After completing training, the squadron sailed for the Philippines on the USAT President Garfield on 6 December 1941. After the following day's Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor and Clark Field, the President Garfield returned to port on 10 December and the squadron returned to Hamilton Field.

Although nominally assigned to the 24th Group from January through October 1942, the squadron served with air defense forces on the Pacific coast until it was disbanded on 31 March 1944, when the Army Air Forces converted its units in the United States from rigid table-of-organization units to more flexible base units. Its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 411th AAF Base Unit (Fighter Wing) at Berkeley, California.

Special operations

The 24th Special Tactics Squadron was called BRAND X from 1977 until Operation Eagle Claw in 1980. Then it was called Det 1 MACROS (Detachment One, Military Airlift Command Operations Staff).^[8] In late 1985 (the Achille Lauro hijacking) it was Det 4 NAFCOS (Detachment Four, Numbered Air Force Combat Operations Staff),^[9] and in 1987 it became 1724th Combat Control Squadron, and then in the same year the 124th Special Tactics Squadron.^[10]

In 1989, the newly renamed the 24th Special Tactics Squadron participated in the United States invasion of Panama.^[11][1] In 1993, the 24th STS deployed 11 personnel including the unit commander, Lt. Col. Jim Oeser, as part of JSOC's Task Force Ranger during Operation Restore Hope.^[2] Several airmen were decorated for providing lifesaving medical care to wounded soldiers in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu: Pararescuemen Technical Sergeant Tim Wilkinson received the Air Force Cross and Master Sergeant Scott Fales the Silver Star.^[12] Combat Controller (CCT) SSgt. Jeffrey W. Bray received the Silver Star for coordinating helicopter attack runs throughout the night around their positions.^[12][13][14]

From 15 to 20 September 2000, the 24th STS and the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron took part in the annual Canadian military exercise, Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX). This was the first time Special Tactics units took part in SAREX.^[15][16]

The squadron was heavily involved in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the unit was part of the JSOC groupings Task Force 121, Task Force 6-26 and Task Force 145.^[17] In 2003, members of the unit made two combat jumps in the initial phases of the Iraq War alongside the 3rd Ranger Battalion. The first was on 24 March 2003 near the Syrian border in the Iraqi town of Al Qaim, where they secured a small desert landing strip to allow follow-on coalition forces into the area. The second combat jump was two days later near Haditha, Iraq, where they secured the Haditha Dam.^[18]

On 8 April 2003 Combat Controller Scott Sather, a member of the 24th STS,^[19] became the first airman killed in combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom, near Tikrit, Iraq. He was attached to a small team from the Regimental Reconnaissance Company. The RRD team and Sather were operating alongside Delta Force, under Lieutenant Colonel Pete Blaber, west of Baghdad. They were tasked with deceiving the Iraqi army into believing the main U.S. invasion was coming from the west in order to prevent Saddam Hussein from escaping into Syria.^[20] Sather Air Base was named after him.^[21]

The 24th STS was a part of JSOC's Task Force 145 which was a provisional grouping specifically charged with hunting down high-value al-Qaeda and Iraqi leaders including Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in June 2006.^[22]

The squadron lost three members – PJs John Brown and Daniel Zerbe and CCT Andrew Harvell – in 2011 when the Chinook in which they were flying was shot down in Afghanistan.^[23] To honor them, 18 members of AFSOC marched 800 miles from Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas to Hurlburt Field, Florida.^[24]

Notable members

 

Ramon Colon-Lopez in Afghanistan in 2004 while a member of the 24th STS.

• PJ Tim Wilkinson received the Air Force Cross for his actions during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.^[25] Wilkinson was portrayed by Ty Burrell in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down which chronicled the events of the Battle of Mogadishu.^[26]
• CCT John Chapman was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, later upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He is the first US Air Force member to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam Era, for his actions in the Battle of Takur Ghar during the War in Afghanistan.^[27] In 2005 a U.S. Navy Buffalo Soldier-class container ship was renamed the TSgt John A. Chapman in Chapman's honor.^[28] However, it would take 16 years for him to be awarded one, due in large part to the Navy SEALs' attempts to block his Medal of Honor.^[29]
• PJ Ramon Colon-Lopez, a former Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was a member of the 24th STS twice. From February 1999 – January 2005 Colon-Lopez was a Special Tactics Element Leader and April 2009 – April 2011 he was the Squadron's Senior Enlisted Advisor.^[30] In 2007 Colon-Lopez was one of the first six recipients of the newly created Air Force Combat Action Medal.^[31] He was awarded the AFCAM for a 2004 operation in Afghanistan during which he led an Advance Force Operations Team.^[32]

Lineage

24th Fighter Control Squadron

• Constituted as the 24th Air Corps Interceptor Control Squadron on 14 October 1941

Activated on 21 October 1941

• Redesignated 24th Fighter Control Squadron on 15 May 1942
• Disbanded on 31 March 1944

24th Special Tactics Squadron

• Designated as the 1724th Combat Control Squadron on 1 May 1987
• Redesignated 1724th Special Tactics Squadron on 1 October 1987
• Reconstituted and consolidated with the 1724th Special Tactics Squadron on 1 March 1992^[1]
• Consolidated with the 24th Fighter Control Squadron on 1 March 1992
• Redesignated 24th Special Tactics Squadron on 31 March 1992^[1]

Assignments

• Fourth Air Force, 21 October 1941
• 24th Pursuit Group, 15 January 1942 (apparently attached to Fourth Air Force until 7 July 1942, then to IV Fighter Command)
• San Francisco Air Defense Wing (later San Francisco Fighter Wing), 15 October 1942 – 31 March 1944
• Twenty-Third Air Force, 1 May 1987
• 1720th Special Tactics Group (later 720th Special Tactics Group), 1 October 1987^[1]
• 724th Special Tactics Group, 29 April 2011 – present^{[citation needed]}

Stations

• Hamilton Field, California, 21 October 1941 (aboard the USAT President Garfield, 6–10 December 1941
• Berkeley, California, 7 October 1943 – 31 March 1944
• Pope Air Force Base (later Pope Field), North Carolina, 1 May 1987 – present^[1]

Unit Awards

Award streamer	Award	Dates	Notes
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	18 December 1989 – 16 January 1990	^[1]Operation Just Cause
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	16 August – 7 November 1993	^[1]Battle of Mogadishu
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	1 September 2001 – 31 August 2003	^[1]
	Air Force Gallant Unit Citation	1 January 2006 – 31 December 2007	^[1]
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	8 November 1993 – 31 July 1995	^[1]
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 August 1995 – 31 July 1997	^[1]
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	5 August 1997 – 31 July 1999	^[1]
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 September 1999 – 31 August 2001	^[1]

Other

• Air Commando Association 2012 AFSOC Squadron of the Year^[33]

Commanders

• July 2003 – July 2005, Lt. Col. Mark F. Stratton^[34]
• June 2005 – June 2007, Lt. Col. Robert G. Armfield – Previous 24th STS assignments: Director of Operations (January 1998 – July 2002)^[35]
• June 2009 – April 2011, Lt. Col. Matthew Wolfe Davidson – Previous 24th STS assignments: Flight Commander (August 1998 – January 2002), Deputy Commander (June 2008 – June 2009)^[36]

See also

• List of United States Air Force special tactics squadrons

References

Citations

1. Robertson, Patsy (9 June 2010). "Factsheet 24 Special Tactics Squadron (AFSOC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
2. Haulman, Daniel L. (12 November 2015). "The United States Air Force in Somalia, 1992–1995" (PDF). pp. 11, 13.
3. Priest, Dana (2 September 2011). "'Top Secret America': A Look at the Military's Joint Special Operations Command". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
4. "The Secret US War in Pakistan". The Nation. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
5. Sof, Eric (4 October 2019). "24th Special Tactics Squadron: USAF Tier 1 component to JSOC". Spec Ops Magazine. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
6. . The Gaffney Ledger. 9 May 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
7. Longstreth, Samuel (27 May 2023). "24th Special Tactics Squadron: Spear of the Sky". Retrieved 25 June 2023.
8. Naylor, Sean (2015). Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (First hardcover ed.). St. Martin's Press. p. 11; note 12, p. 443. ISBN 978-1-250-01454-2. OCLC 908554550. Retrieved 26 September 2022. Citing:
   • Carney, Col. John T. Jr.; Benjamin F. Schemmer (2002). No Room for Error: The Covert Operations of America's Special Tactics Units from Iran to Afghanistan. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-345-45333-4. OCLC 50410335.
   • Carney interview.
9. Naylor, Sean (2015). Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (First hardcover ed.). St. Martin's Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-250-01454-2. OCLC 908554550.
10. Naylor, Sean (2015). Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (First hardcover ed.). St. Martin's Press. p. 43; note 9, p. 446. ISBN 978-1-250-01454-2. OCLC 908554550. Citing:
    • Carney, Col. John T. Jr.; Benjamin F. Schemmer (2002). No Room for Error: The Covert Operations of America's Special Tactics Units from Iran to Afghanistan. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-345-45333-4. OCLC 50410335.
    • Carney[ interview].
11. Naylor, Sean (2015). Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (First hardcover ed.). St. Martin's Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-250-01454-2. OCLC 908554550.
12. Oliveri, Frank (June 1992). "Heroes at Mogadishu". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
13. . Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
14. Gertz, Bill (3 October 1993). "The Fast Pace of Special Ops". Airforcemag.com. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
15. Groen, Ken (2001). "413 Squadron wins Diamond Trophy at SAREX" (PDF). SARSCENE. p. 8. ISSN 1183-5036. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
16. John Pike. "23rd Special Tactics Squadron [23rd STS]". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
17. Naylor, Sean (2006). Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. Berkeley: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-19609-7.
18. John Pike. "United States Combat Jumps". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
19. "Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather". Projects.militarytimes.com. 8 April 2003. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
20. "Our Fallen Heroes: Scott Sather". SOFREP. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
21. "DVIDS – News – Sather Air Base welcomes new commander". Dvidshub.net. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
22. "OTS Foundation Portal – The hunt ends". Air Force OTS. 11 September 2001. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
23. "Pentagon releases names of 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash". New York Post. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
24. "Airmen to walk 800 miles in memorial march for fallen from Bragg" (PDF). Fayobserver.com. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
25. . Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
26. . Courant.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
27. . Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
28. LaRaia, Becky J.; McKeown, Lisa Terry (8 April 2005). "Ship takes heroic legacy to the fight". 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
29. Longstreth, Samuel (3 December 2023). "24th Special Tactics Squadron: Spear of the Sky". Retrieved 11 February 2024.
30. . Kadena Air Base. January 2013. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
31. Burgess, Lisa (13 June 2007). "Officials honor first recipients of Air Force Combat Action Medal". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
32. Randolph, Monique (12 June 2007). . American Forces Press Services. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
33. Martin, Mike (16 October 2012). "AFSOC Airmen past, present recognized at 2012 Air Commando Association banquet". Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
34. . United States Air Force. July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
35. "Colonel Robert G. Armfield". Air Force Special Operations Command. May 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
36. . 24th Special Operations Wing. September 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.

General and cited references

Attribution

  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Further reading

• Col. John T. Carney Jr.; Benjamin F. Schemmer (2003). No Room for Error: The Covert Operations of America's Special Tactics Units from Iran to Afghanistan. Presidio Press. ISBN 978-0-345-45335-8.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 24th Special Tactics Squadron.

• . Air Force Special Operations Command. 20 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
• 24th Special Tactics Squadron at GlobalSecurity.org