Air Forces Panama

A-7D of the 138th Tactical Fighter Group in Panama 1983

C-130 of the Air National Guard[note 4]

The division provided air defense of the Panama Canal, controlling fighter aircraft rotated through Howard Air Force Base. Initially, these were LTV A-7 Corsair IIs rotating from units of Tactical Air Command, but in January 1978, the responsibility for providing these planes shifted to the Air National Guard under Operation Coronet Cove.[3][4] The National Guard also deployed Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs after 1985. In 1990, the A-7s were replaced by McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons.[1]

Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also rotated to Panama for airlift support in the region. When the division activated, these aircraft were provided by active units of Military Airlift Command, in Operation Volant Oak. In October 1977, this mission was also transferred to the Guard, along with units of the Air Force Reserve.[5] Since 1975, USAF airlift management had been centralized with Military Airlift Command (MAC), which had established the 1300th Military Airlift Squadron at Howard in March 1975. After October 1984, the division provided support to the 61st Military Airlift Group, whose 310th Military Airlift Squadron replaced the 1300th Military Airlift Squadron and operated several types of aircraft, including the Volant Oak Lockheed C-130 Hercules and the Alenia C-27 Spartan STOL aircraft.[6][7]

On occasion the division provided disaster relief assistance to Latin American nations using assigned and rotational aircraft and forces. In 1979, during the Sandanista insurrection in Nicaragua, the division evacuated United States embassy personnel, American citizens and third country nationals from Nicaragua.[8] In 1988 Volant Oak C-130s were dispatched to Jamaica to provide relief after Hurricane Gilbert struck the island.[9] Similar relief operations were conducted in Antigua following Hurricane Hugo in 1989.[4] Other counties that received this type of support included Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Colombia.[1]

CASA C-212 as operated by civilian contractor for 830th AD

The division's foreign military sales responsibilities gave it the mission of training recipients on the equipment they purchased. For example, it trained Mexican technicians in logistics and maintenance for the new F-5s aircraft their country had purchased. Not all training was performed at the divisions bases in the Canal Zone. The division deployed mobile technical training units to Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras.[9] Division A-37 aircraft were used to conduct pilot training.[1][10]

The Inter-American Air Forces Academy was assigned to the division. The Academy provided technical training and education for airmen and officers from approximately fourteen Latin American countries [1] The academy also maintained a center for translating USAF training publications into Spanish for use by Latin American countries.[11] In October 1989, the academy moved to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida and was reassigned from the division.[4]

The division participated in various training exercises,. Joint exercises included paratroop drops and close air support for Army troops. It also conducted numerous combined exercises with various Latin American countries.[1] The division also became involved in counternarcotics operations.[4]

Following the ouster of the Shah of Iran in the Islamic Revolution in February 1979, the Shah was temporarily removed to Contadora Island, Panama in December using aircraft assigned to the division. That year also saw the division performing hot weather testing of the Boeing E-4B Airborne Command Post aircraft.[8]

In December 1989, division aircraft, particularly OA-37s of the 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron flew missions supporting Operation Just Cause, the American effort to oust Manuel Noriega as the president of Panama. Noriega was taken into custody for trial on drug related charges and the operation was terminated on 11 January 1990.[12] The 24th Squadron flew 372 sorties during Just Cause. Unlike other OA-37s in the Air Force inventory, the 24th's Dragonflies retained a full attack capability because one of the squadron's missions was training Latin American pilots on both the attack and observation versions of the aircraft.[13]

The following year, the division deployed OA-37 Forward Air Controllers to Southwest Asia for Operation Desert Shield.[7] Its pilots continued to serve in Southwest Asia as battalion air liaison officers during Operation Desert Storm, even as the squadron was being inactivated at its home station.[14]

C-27A from Howard AFB

In January 1987, the unit's command relationships were shuffled and it focused on its mission in Panama, losing its responsibility for managing relationships with Latin American countries as it was reassigned to Twelfth Air Force. At the same time, its 24th Composite Wing was inactivated and the wing's subordinate units at Howard Air Force Base were assigned directly to the division and Col Harold E. Watson, the 24th Wing's commander became the division commander. .[1][3][15]

Much of the January 1987 reorganization was reversed two years later, when the name of the division changed to the 830th Air Division and the 24th Composite Wing was again activated.[1] The division also became United States Southern Command Air Forces's forward element with the reorganization, ending the previous arrangement in which the division commander was also the deputy commander of that command. The 630th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, which had been activated in 1988 and assigned to the division to manage the Caribbean Basin Radar Network Southern Regional Operations Center was transferred to the 24th Wing.[9] Three months later, the division returned to Albrook Air Force Station from Howard after an absence of almost twelve years.[1]

1990 saw continuing reductions in the division's footprint in Panama as its Directorate of Latin American Affairs moved to Twelfth Air Force at Bergstrom Air Force Base and the Permanent Secretariat of the System of Cooperation Among the American Air Forces joined the Inter-American Air Forces Academy at Homestead.[7]

In February 1991, the division became Air Forces Panama and once again assumed responsibility for the subordinate units of the 24th Composite Wing, which was inactivated.[3] The takeover of the 24th Wing's responsibilities resulted in a move of headquarters to the 24th's former location at Howard.[1] The assignment of the 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron lasted only two weeks, as it was inactivated on 1 March. The 24th Squadron was the last unit in the regular Air Force to operate the OA-37.[13]

Air Forces Panama was inactivated in February 1992 when responsibility for its area was assumed by Twelfth Air Force and it was replaced in Panama by the 24th Wing, which was once again activated and its commander, Brigadier General David Oakes became the commander of the wing.[1]

• Tactical Air Command, 1 January 1976
• Twelfth Air Force, 31 January 1987 – 11 February 1992[16]

• Albrook Air Force Station, Panama Canal Zone, 1 January 1976
• Howard Air Force Base, Panama Canal Zone, 15 August 1977
• Albrook Air Force Station, Panama, 1 March 1989
• Howard Air Force Base, Panama, 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992[16]

• 24th Composite Wing: 1 January 1976 – 31 January 1987, 1 January 1989 – 15 February 1991[16]

• 24th Combat Support Group: 31 January 1987 – 1 January 1989, 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992[15]
• 24th Medical Group (see USAF Clinic, Howard)
• 1978 Communications Group (later 24th Communications Group): 1 September 1990 – 1 October 1991[9]

• 24th Air Base Operability Squadron, 15 August 1988 – 1 January 1989 (not operational)[9]
• 24th Comptroller Squadron, 15 August 1988 – 1 January 1989,[9] 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992[17]
• 24th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 31 January 1987 – 1 January 1989,[15] 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992[17]
• 24th Supply Squadron, 31 January 1987 – 1 January 1989[15]
• 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron: 31 January 1987 – 1 January 1989, 15 February – 1 March 1991[16]
• 630th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (later 24th Air Support Operations Squadron), 1 April 1988 – 1 January 1989; 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992[18]
• 4400 Air Postal Squadron, 31 January 1987 – 1 January 1989,[9] 15 February – 15 November 1991[17]

• Inter-American Air Forces Academy: 1 January 1976 – 1 October 1989[4][19]
• USAF Clinic, Howard (later 24th Medical Group), 31 January 1987 – 1 January 1989,[15] 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992[17]

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

• Darling, Kev (2005). Tweet and the Dragonfly the Story of the Cessna A-37 and T-37. Glamorgan, Wales, UK: Big Bird Aviation. ISBN 978-1411647480.
• Johnson, David E.; Mueller, Karl P.; Taft, William H. (2003). Conventional Coercion Across the Spectrum of Operations: The Utility of U.S. Military Forces in the Emerging Security Environment. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. ISBN 0-8330-3220-8. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1985). The Organization and Lineage of the United States Air Force. Project Warrior. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 9780912799179. LCCN 84027361. OCLC 11497940. Retrieved 9 January 2015.