Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base is an

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

military installation A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

located at civilian public-use Francis S. Gabreski Airport, located just north of

Westhampton Beach, New York Westhampton Beach is an incorporated village in the Town of Southampton, in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,721. History The village of Westhampto ...

. It is currently the home base of the

New York Air National Guard The New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of New York, United States of America. It is, along with the New York Army National Guard, an element of the New York National Guard. As state militia units, the units ...

106th Rescue Wing The 106th Rescue Wing (106th RQW) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air F ...

History

Suffolk County Army Air Field

The Suffolk County Army Air Field was built in 1943 as a

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

sub-base of

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

. Later assigned to

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern; 1 AF-AFNORTH) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission is the air defense of the Co ...

, the 437th Army Air Force Base Unit defended the New York City area and flew antisubmarine patrols. After World War II, the airfield was conveyed to Suffolk County for use as a civilian airport, but to include a reversal clause if future military use was ever needed.

Suffolk County Air Force Base

Renamed when the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

reclaimed the airport in 1951, Suffolk County Air Force Base was part of the Eastern Air Defense Force's defense of the NYC metro area. The

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

's 103rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing (103 FIW), along with the 118th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and its F-47N Thunderbolts, was federalized on March 2, 1951, and moved from

Brainard Field Brainard may refer to: * 99928 Brainard, asteroid within Sol system Places * Brainard, California: ** Modern Brainard, California ** Early name of Bracut, California * Hartford–Brainard Airport (in Hartford, Connecticut area), for small aircra ...

, Connecticut, to Suffolk County AFB on June 1. The 103 FIW was returned to state control on February 6, 1952, and remained briefly at Suffolk County until replaced by the 45th and 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons in November 1952, flying the F-86 Sabre as part of the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Group (23 FIG). In 1955, the 23 FIG was reassigned to Presque Isle Air Force Base and replaced by the newly activated 52nd Fighter-Interceptor Wing (52 FIW), which flew under various designations from Suffolk County AFB until 1969, with the 2d and 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons flying F-94 Starfire, F-101 Voodoo and

F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpos ...

interceptors. In 1963, the 52 FIW was renamed the 52nd Fighter Wing (Air Defense) and became part of the

New York Air Defense Sector The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) is a United States Air Force unit of Air Combat Command (ACC), permanently assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). A joint, bi-national military organization, EADS is composed of US ...

(NY ADS), the NY ADS being one of four USAF air defense sectors employing the

Semi-Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...

(SAGE) system. Suffolk County AFB was also the main support base for the Suffolk County Missile Annex, a nearby USAF

CIM-10 Bomarc The Boeing CIM-10 BOMARC (Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center) (IM-99 Weapon System prior to September 1962) was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of North ...

surface-to-air missile

launch complex A launch pad is an above-ground facility from which a rocket-powered missile or space vehicle is vertically launched. The term ''launch pad'' can be used to describe just the central launch platform (mobile launcher platform), or the entire ...

for the defense of the New York City metropolitan area under the control of a

missile launch control center A launch control center (LCC), in the United States, is the main control facility for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). A launch control center monitors and controls missile launch facilities. From a launch control center, the missi ...

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

, New Jersey. As a result of funding shortfalls for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

that resulted in the closure of numerous stateside air force bases and naval air stations, Suffolk County AFB deactivated in 1969 and the

was again transferred to the Suffolk County government for use as a civilian airport.

Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base

Suffolk County Airport ( Francis S. Gabreski Airport after 1991) operated without a military unit until June 1970 when the 102nd Air Refueling Squadron of the

relocated from Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field with its KC-97 Stratofreighters. In 1972, the 102d switched to

s and became the 102d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. In 1975, the unit had another mission change and became an Aerospace Rescue and Recovery squadron, later renamed the

102nd Rescue Squadron The 102nd Rescue Squadron (102 RQS) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. The 102nd is equipped with the HC-130J Combat King II t ...

in 1995. Today, the

uses

HC-130J Combat King II The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate services in the U.S. armed forc ...

transport aircraft and HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters for both peacetime and combat

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base.

United States Air Force

*** 106th Operations group **** 101st Rescue Squadron – HH-60G Pave Hawk ****

102d Rescue Squadron The 102nd Rescue Squadron (102 RQS) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. The 102nd is equipped with the HC-130J Combat King II tra ...

–

****

103d Rescue Squadron The 103d Rescue Squadron (103 RQS) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. The squadron has no assigned aircraft; the squadron is com ...

– Air Force Pararescuemen **** Operation Support Squadron *** 106th Force Support **** 106th Honor Guard **** 106th Personnel Flight *** 106th Maintenance Group **** 106th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron **** 106th Maintenance Operations Flight **** 106th Maintenance Squadron *** 106th Medical Group *** 106th Mission Support Group **** 106th Aerial Port Flight **** 106th Civil Engineer Squadron **** 106th Communications Flight **** 106th Logistics Readiness Squadron **** 106th Security Forces Squadron **** 106th Services Flight

In popular culture

The book '' The Perfect Storm'' and the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

by the same name detail the crash of one of the 106th's HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters while conducting civilian search and rescue operations from the airport during the

1991 Perfect Storm The 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as The No-Name Storm (especially in the years immediately after it took place) and the Halloween Gale/Storm, was a nor'easter that absorbed Hurricane Grace, and ultimately evolved into a small unnamed hurrican ...

References

{{USAAF 1st Air Force World War II Installations of the United States Air Force in New York (state) Airports in Suffolk County, New York Installations of the United States Air National Guard