Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base is an

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

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 Military operation, operations. A military base always provides ...

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 Westhampton Beach Village ...

. 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 U.S. state of New York. It is an element of the New York National Guard as part of the larger Air National Guard, a reservist force under the command of the United States Ai ...

's 106th Rescue Wing. The base is named for Colonel Francis Stanley Gabreski, an American Air Force pilot who was the top American and

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 ...

fighter ace over Europe during World War II and a jet fighter ace with the Air Force in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

History

Suffolk County Army Air Field

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

sub-base of

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People and fictional characters *Mitchell (surname), including lists of both people and fictional characters *Mitchell (given name), lists of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Ca ...

. Later assigned to

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) 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 i ...

, 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 force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

reclaimed the airport in 1951, Suffolk County Air Force Base was part of the

Eastern Air Defense Force The Eastern Air Defense Force (EADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 1 July 1960. History EADF wa ...

's defense of the NYC metro area. The

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

'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, 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 The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

as part of the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Group (23 FIG). In 1955, the 23 FIG was reassigned to

Presque Isle Air Force Base Presque Isle Air Force Base was a military installation of the United States Air Force located near Presque Isle, Maine, Presque Isle, Maine. In the late 1950s and early 1960s it became a base for Strategic Air Command. The original airport was ...

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 The Lockheed F-94 Starfire is a first-generation jet powered all-weather day/night interceptor aircraft designed and produced by Lockheed Corporation. It was the first operational United States Air Force (USAF) fighter equipped with an afterbu ...

F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a penetration fighte ...

and

F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger is an interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter op ...

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 U ...

(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 No ...

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 at

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, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is unde ...

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

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

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 Stratofreighter The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Design and developm ...

s. 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 in 1995. Today, the 106th Rescue Wing uses HC-130J Combat King II 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 Rescue Wing *** 106th Operations group **** 101st Rescue Squadron – HH-60G Pave Hawk,

HH-60W Jolly Green II The Sikorsky MH-60/HH-60 Pave Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. The HH-60 Pave Hawk and its successor the HH-60W Jolly Green II are combat rescue helicopters, though i ...

****

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 tran ...

– HC-130J Combat King II **** 103d Rescue Squadron –

Air Force Pararescuemen Pararescuemen (also known as Pararescue Jumpers or PJs) are United States Air Force Special operations, special operators who conduct personnel recovery and combat search and rescue operations as well as other missions for the U.S. military and ...

**** Operation Support Squadron *** 106th Force Support Squadron **** 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 Squadron **** 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 known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

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 damaging and deadly nor'easter in October 1991. Initially an extratropical cyclone, the storm a ...

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