On 13 December, the unit Headquarters moved from Ponce to Vega Baja Airfield, 18°28′58″N 066°25′58″W / 18.48278°N 66.43278°W / 18.48278; -66.43278 an auxiliary aerodrome in Puerto Rico, to provide better interception coverage for the island.

Operations during most of the remainder of 1942 are vague, but involved very extensive over-water flying and many scrambles in response to reported U-boat sightings, the vast majority of which turned up negative.

With the Navy taking over the antisubmarine mission, the squadron was redeployed back to the United States, moving to Morrison Field, Florida by 27 May 1943.

Transferred to III Fighter Command in June 1943, began training for deployment to the European Theater of Operations as a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber squadron.

Initial missions included strafing and dive-bombing armored vehicles, trains, bridges, buildings, factories, troop concentrations, gun emplacements, airfields, and other targets in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.

The squadron also flew some escort missions with Eighth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator strategic bombers.

Operations supported the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July and the thrust of United States Third Army toward Germany in August and September as part of the 303d Fighter Wing, XIX Tactical Air Command.

By V-E Day, the squadron was based at Kassel-Rothwestern Airfield, Germany, where it remained until February 1946 as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe Army of Occupation.

The squadron remained at Fürstenfeldbruck until 1952 when it was reassigned to the new Bitburg Air Base, west of the Rhine River near the French border in the Eifel mountains, near the town of Birtburg, Germany.

In 1956, the squadron received the North American F-100 Super Sabre, marking the first time a wing in USAFE flew supersonic jets.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the squadron conducted routine training missions and contributed aircraft and pilots to the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing's Zulu Alert facility during the Cold War.

At the time of the invasion, the 22nd Fighter Squadron was involved in the MSIP (Multi-Stage Improvement Program)[5] upgrade of their F-15s and could not be deployed as a coherent unit.

While still deployed to Al Kharj, F-15C tail number 84-0014, an aircraft belonging to the 53rd TFS, but flown by 22nd pilot John "Nigel" Doneski, downed an Su-22 in violation of the southern no-fly zone.

[6] In 1993, long after the squadron had been re-united in the middle of 1991, the 22nd returned to Incirlick as part of its ongoing commitment to Operation Provide Comfort II.

In the spring of 1994, as a result of the military post-Cold War draw down worldwide, the decision was made to close the operations portion of Bitburg Air Base and to send the squadron's F-15C/Ds and some of its personnel to RAF Lakenheath, England.

[3] The 22d was quickly put into combat with its new capability when it deployed to Operation Northern Watch in January 1999, and engaged Iraqi radars with 12 HARMs while protecting coalition assets during heightened tensions with Iraq.

After three months flying Operations Northern Watch missions, the squadron was retasked and returned to Spangdahlem Air Base where they flew combat missions into northern Yugoslavia protecting Lockheed F-117 Nighthawks and B-2 Spirits striking key military targets in and around Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in support of Operation Allied Force.

In addition, the squadron performed its secondary and tertiary missions, employing 16 Mk-84s on key military targets while providing air superiority.

[3] In response to U.S. presidential directives, following the 11 September attacks 22d provided fighter escort to Boeing C-17 Globemaster III over Afghanistan during humanitarian relief missions, within 100 hours of notification, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.