Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield
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Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield is a military use
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
located at
Fort Drum Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, on the northern border of New York, United States. The population of the CDP portion of the base was 12,955 at the 2010 census. It is home t ...
, in Jefferson County,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is owned by the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
. Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter
location identifier A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for staffed air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programm ...
for the
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
and
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
, this airport is assigned GTB by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA (which assigned GTB to Genting Airport in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
GTB - Genting, Malaysia
Great Circle Mapper. Accessed 25 January 2010.
). However, as of November 2012, IATA (in its Location Identifier Notification #40 bulletin, 2012) claimed back the GTB code because Genting's airport could not be found.


History

Although in use in the early years of army aviation supporting the "Pine Plains" military training ground, during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the airfield was extensively expanded for use by the
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 ...
as home of the
91st Observation Squadron The 91st Cyberspace Operations Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, currently assigned to the 67th Cyberspace Wing at Kelly Annex, part of Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The 91st delivers cyber warfare capabilities to combata ...
, USAAF. The 91st was attached to the Army's 4th Armored Division, training at the time for the division's later role exploiting
Operation Cobra Operation Cobra was the codename for an Offensive (military), offensive launched by the United States First United States Army, First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Invasion of Norman ...
in Northern France. Additions to the field including two new 4500' x 150' concrete runways and a steel hangar. Throughout World War II and the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, Wheeler-Sack continued to support the needs of Fort Drum, which ebbed and flowed with the Army's training needs. When Fort Drum was designated as the new home of the Army's newly reactivated
10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the US military to re ...
in 1985, the reactivation ceremony was held in the steel hangar at Wheeler-Sack. The division, a part of the Army's component of the
United States Rapid Deployment Forces The Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) is an inactive United States Department of Defense Joint Task Force. It was first envisioned as a three-division force in 1979 as the Rapid Deployment Force, or RDF, a highly mobile force that could ...
, was designed to be moved from the continental United States to distant theater on short notice. Initially, the components of the division that were air-transportable were moved via
Griffiss Air Force Base Griffiss Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force installation in the northeastern United States, located in Central New York state at Rome, about northwest of Utica. Missions included fighter interceptors, electronic research, i ...
. But the logistics involved with moving personnel, equipment, and munitions across 85 miles of road made the arrangement less than optimal, and the Army chose to expand Wheeler-Sack. Completed in 1998, the expansion now allows Wheeler-Sack to accommodate any aircraft in 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 ...
inventory, and with scales, an ammunition holding area, refueling points, and a vehicle staging and inspection area, the field can serve as the primary departure airfield for the 10th Mountain Division. The new pre-deployment processing facility at the airfield accommodates up to 1,200 soldiers, allowing entire battalions to stage directly to overseas destination from the field. In recent years, the 10th Mountain Division's aerial reconnaissance abilities have been expanded with the addition of 3 RQ-7B Shadow TUAS platoons and a special-use 500 foot runway designed for unmanned aircraft operations at Wheeler-Sack.


Facilities

Wheeler-Sack AAF has three
runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
s with
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
surfaces: 3/21 is 10,000 by 150 feet (3,048 x 46 m), 8/26 is 4,482 by 150 feet (1,366 x 46 m), and 15/33 is 4,999 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m).


Current Units

*
10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the US military to re ...
** Combat Aviation Brigade "Falcons" *** HHC *** 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment (Attack) "Tigershark" *** 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment (Assault) *** 3rd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment (General Support) "Phoenix" *** 6th Squadron,
6th Cavalry Regiment The 6th Cavalry ("Fighting Sixth'") is a regiment of the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry in the American Civil War. It currently is organized into aviation squadrons that are assigned to several different combat aviation ...
"Six Shooters" *** 277th Aviation Support Battalion "Mountain Eagle"


See also

* New York World War II Army Airfields


References


External links


Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield
at GlobalSecurity.org
Aerial image as of 3 May 1994
from
USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
''
The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...
'' via
MSR Maps Microsoft Research Maps (MSR Maps) was a free online repository of public domain aerial imagery and topographic maps provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The site was a collaboration between Microsoft Research (MSR), Bing Maps, an ...
* * {{Airports in Upstate New York Airports in New York (state) Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in New York (state) United States Army airfields Transportation buildings and structures in Jefferson County, New York