The 24th Special Tactics Squadron is one of the Special Tactics units
of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).
It is the U.S. Air Force component to Joint Special Operations Command.
It is garrisoned at Pope Field, North Carolina.
The 24th STS provides special operations airmen
for the Joint Special Operations Command,
including Pararescuemen,
Combat Controllers,
Special Reconnaissance,
and Tactical Air Control Party personnel.
They are the Air Force's Tier 1 unit,
and 24th STS members are provided as enablers
to the Delta Force and DEVGRU due to their specific skill sets.
As such,
24th Special Tactics Squadron members are also trained
in conducting classified and clandestine operations
such as direct action,
counter-terrorism,
counter-insurgency,
hostage rescue,
and special reconnaissance.
The 24th Special Tactics Squadron participated
in the United States invasion of Panama in 1989.
The 24th STS deployed 11 personnel
including the unit commander, Lt. Col. Jim Oeser,
as part of JSOC's Task Force Ranger
during Operation Restore Hope in 1993.
Due to their actions during the Battle of Mogadishu,
multiple decorations were awarded to the airmen.
In recent years,
the squadron has been heavily involved in combat operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan,
where the unit was part of the JSOC groupings Task Force 121,
Task Force 6-26 and Task Force 145.
In 2003,
members of the unit were involved in two combat jumps
in the initial phases of the Iraq War,
alongside the 3rd Ranger Battalion.
The first combat jump was on 24 March 2003,
near the Syrian border in the Iraqi town of Al Qaim,
where they secured a small desert landing strip
to allow follow-on coalition forces into the area.
The second combat jump was two days later near Haditha, Iraq,
where they secured the Haditha Dam.