"We were flying CAP duty over A Land. I spotted a low dot just east of the AyCee River; a Messerschmitt heading towards our home base. My wingman, Jerm, was still over 6,000 feet behind me but I had the advantage of altitude against the 109 so I nosed my Mustang down and prepared to do battle."

The 24th Squadron first started forming in June, 1996, while "Air Warrior" software on America Online was still being tested for bugs. The 24th, led by Maveric (CPID: Mav), was one of the first pure-AOL squadrons. There were other squadrons flying but these were mostly pilots that had transferred over from one of the other commercial services. The initial members were Mav, Ggrr, Trap, FoesDoom, Scud, and Crazy Ace (there were also pilots named Jack and Pappy, but they were unable to continue their commitments to the squadron though Jack did maintain a very nice web page of Skull pilot awards until September, 1996). Recruitment of additional pilots was the group's primary concern and since most of the pilots in the early days were rookies, skill wasn't so much an issue as was a willingness to cooperate with other Skulls. Homer, Pancake, Jerm, Egger, JConn, Morning Wood, Lt. C., Tiffi, Torrey, FoesDoom, Knight, and others began to fill the ranks.

"He was a pretty good pilot. I could tell by the way he really threw that 109 around the sky. I had to take some poor shots at him because he was too slippery to get square in my gun sight. I made a couple of gun passes at him and then he planted himself on my six. I couldn't shake him. Just about the time he had closed to within range, Jerm came down on him from above in his P-51 and the chase was on."

From the outset, the criteria for joining the squadron was that the prospective pilot had to 1) fly for C land; 2) be willing to work for the benefit of the team; and 3) possess a pretty stable character and temperament. The first two criteria are fairly obvious requirements. The reason for the third criteria was that, as in any competitive situation, emotions very often run high and occasional shouting matches would erupt (particularly in the Relaxed Realism arenas which attract a younger crowd). Slander and profanity by even a single Skull pilot would reflect badly on the squadron as a whole, and this was something the founders wanted to avoid. The goal of the squadron was to achieve the respect of the "Air Warrior" community.

"As soon as the 109 pilot saw Jerm back there, he made a hard turn away. I pulled my Mustang up and to the left to come around and rejoin the fight. Jerm was going too fast to turn with the 109 so he extended out while I passed under him. The 109 continued his turn but was too slow to catch Jerm and now had me coming in for a head-on pass. It became a classic stalemate. The 109 couldn't latch onto the tail of Mustang without facing a head-on attack by the second P-51, and the P-51s couldn't turn with the 109 to get a shot. This continued for awhile until the 109 eventually ran low on fuel and ammo and had to retreat to his base. I started to follow but flak bursts convinced me that it was time to exercise the better part of Valor. I radioed my congratulations to the 109 pilot on his pilot skill and he reciprocated. It was definitely one of my more memorable air combat fights."

Once a healthy number of pilots had joined the squadron, the Skulls became a dominant force in the Relaxed Realism arenas. With this fame came the natural attraction of enemies' wrath, particularly in the message boards where chest-pounding was pretty much the norm. Most of the early enemy groups were B Land squadrons, principally the 356th led by a pilot named EgoRunner. But even the other B Land squadrons didn't care for the 356th and EgoRunner's group defected to C Land. An uneasy alliance was formed which lasted just one mission. While the Skulls and the 356th were prohibited from shooting each other down because they were in the same C Land Air Force, they weren't exactly cooperating with each other either. The Skulls didn't cry when it was announced that EgoRunner had left "AirWarrior" permanently.

"ER1 has been shot down."

The Skulls also had formed a much closer alliance with a C Land squadron named "The Ogden Aces" and several successful missions were run with their cooperation. Eventually, The Ogden Aces disbanded and the Skulls were on their own but by this time the group numbered close to 25 pilots and were able to run operations with a great deal of success without outside assistance. Perhaps they were too successful, for Kesmaii imposed a limit on the number of pilots a squad could have - 17. This meant that if a pilot left the Skulls, he could not be replaced officially.