Stratton Air National Guard Base


 * See: Schenectady County Airport for civil airport information

Stratton Air National Guard Base has hosted the New York Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing (in various designations) since 1949. The base is named after conservative Democratic US Representative Sam Stratton, who represented the Albany area.

Overview
Stratton ANGB hosts the NY ANG 109th Airlift Wing. The wing is uniqe as it is the only USAF unit equipped with 10 ski-equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft, and provides the nation's only air cargo lift capability to polar destinations. Since 1971, the 109th has played an important role in support of the National Science Foundation's research expeditions at both the North and South Poles.

Food, fuel and other equipment are delivered as far North as Thule Air Base, Greenland by normal air transport. From there, these supplies are flown by the LC-130H of the 109th. In addition to the polar missions, the 109th AW supports the airlift responsibilities in support of Air Mobility Command and uses its aircraft as directed by AMC. BRAC 2005 transferred four non ski-equipped C-130H aircraft to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.

The base has 39 buildings, amounting to approximately 353,000 sqft and occupies 122.21 acre of land on two holdings leased from Schenectady County. Most of the existing facilities are on the larger 105 acre main parcel while a Small Arms Firing Range and Rapid Runway Repair training facility are on the smaller south parcel. There are 526 full-time personnel on base with a once a month drill weekend surge to 1,268 personnel.

History
Following World War II, the New York Air National Guard was established at Schenectady Airport as the 139th Fighter Squadron and received Federal recognition on 18 November 1948. The 139th FS was a re-designation of the World War II 303d Fighter Squadron, which was an operational training unit for III Fighter Command in Florida during the war. The 139th's first assigned aircraft was the Republic F-47D Thunderbolt.

In 1950, the squadron moved across the runway to its present location on the north side of the airport and received F-51H Mustangs. The 139th was one of 17 squadrons not activated during the Korean War. In 1952, the 139th was assigned to Air Defense Command as a Fighter Interceptor Squadron. After the runway at Schenectady was lengthened to 7,000 ft, the squadron received its first jets in the form of the Lockheed F-94B Starfire in 1954. Starfire operations continued until 1957 when the North American F-86H Sabre began arriving. Receipt of the Sabre saw the squadron and group lose their Fighter Interceptor prefixes and gain that of Tactical Fighter.

In 1960, the unit joined the Military Air Transport Service as the 139th Air Transport Squadron. The mission of worldwide transport was assigned along with the Boeing C-97A Stratofreighter, the first four-engined transport to be used by the Guard. The 139th ATS was activated for the Berlin Crisis in October 1961, augmenting MATS airlift by flying worldwide missions. The unit returned to State control on 31 August 1962.

On 1 January 1966, the Military Air Transport Service was reorganized and renamed Military Airlift Command. Following this reorganization, the 139th was redesignated a Military Airlift Squadron and as such, made deployments worldwide during the Vietnam war. The unit converted to the Lockheed C-130A in early 1971, and now under Tactical Air Command, was designated the 139th Tactical Airlift Squadron.

The 109th TAG converted to C-130D and D-6s models in the summer of 1975, assuming responsibilities for the Volant Distant Early Warning Line resupply mission on the Greenland ice cap. Ten years later, the unit converted to the LC-130H and has been flying the Hercules to the north and south pole and everywhere in between since in support of USAF and NSF missions in the polar regions.