It served in combat in the China Burma India Theater as part of the Fourteenth Air Force.

[2] It trained there until April 1943, when the squadron was reassigned from the 5th Photographic Group and began its overseas movement.

[1] It served as an umbrella organization for Fourteenth Air Force reconnaissance operations in China.

Squadron detachments flew missions over India, Burma, Thailand, French Indochina, Hainan Island, Formosa, Shanghai, China, the Philippines, Japan and Korea.

[6] President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget also required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,[7] and the 21st was inactivated in June 1949 and not replaced as reserve flying operations at Stewart ceased.

The squadron executed over 1,000 combat missions to enforce the United Nations No Fly Zone over Libya.