 At the opening of hostilities in December 1941, Flatley was serving aboard .However, his squadron did not see combat in the early raids, as VF-2 was beached from 25 January 1942 in order to transition from the F2A Buffalo to the Grumman F4F Wildcat.Their place, in the meantime, was taken by the Grumman-equipped Fighting Squadron 3 (VF-3).