The squadron formed part of the air defenses of the Hawaiian Islands, and suffered heavy losses in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It served in Hawaii and the Pacific for the remainder of the wark, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for long-range fighter missions over Japan in 1945.

Re-equipped initially with Bell P-39 Airacobras and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, ts primary mission was the air defense of the Hawaiian Islands.

From Iwo Jima, the squadron performed escort missions with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers bombing the Japanese Home Islands.

[1] Was reactivated in 1962 at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, equipped with swept-wing Republic F-84F Thunderstreak tactical fighters.

The squadron participated in a variety of exercises, operations and readiness tests of Tactical Air Command, becoming a replacement training unit for F-4 aircrews prior to their deployment to Southeast Asia beginning in 1965.

Operated the A-10 at Barksdale until inactivated in 1993 as part of the post-Cold War drawdown, aircraft transferred to Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona where A-10 training was consolidating with the active-duty 355th Wing.