31st Reconnaissance Squadron – Emblem.
This emblem was approved for the 9th Reconnaissance Squadron in 1946 and continued to be used by the 31st Reconnaissance Squadron when it replaced the 9th at Yokota Air Base in 1947, but was not an approved emblem for the 31st.
The squadron was first activated at March Field, California in 1941 as the 31st Army Reconnaissance Squadron, flying light observation planes. After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron flew antisubmarine patrols over the Pacific coast in 1942. It was moved to the Southeastern United States in late 1942.[1]
The squadron was primarily used for observation during Army training maneuvers near Fort Polk, Louisiana and Fort Benning, Georgia. The unit deployed to the European Theater of Operations on 22 April 1945. It flew battlefield reconnaissance in the Low Countries and during the Allied invasion of Germany in the spring of 1945, supporting Ninth Army.
The squadron returned to the United States in August 1945, was never fully manned or equipped. It was inactivated in February 1946.[1]
Lineage
Constituted as the 31st Army Reconnaissance Squadron on 20 November 1940
Activated on 15 January 1941
Redesignated 31st Observation Squadron on 14 August 1941
Redesignated 31st Observation Squadron (Medium) on 13 January 1942
Redesignated 31st Observation Squadron on 4 July 1942
Redesignated 31st Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter) on 2 April 1943
Redesignated 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 August 1943
