Hancock Field Air National Guard Base

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Coordinates: 43°06′41″N 076°07′25″W / 43.11139°N 76.12361°W / 43.11139; -76.12361 (Hancock Field)
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Hancock Field Air National Guard Base
Near
AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
10/28 2,744.1 metres (9,003 ft) Asphalt
15/33 2,286 metres (7,500 ft) Asphalt
Airfield shared with Syracuse Hancock International Airport
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Hancock Field Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, co-located with Syracuse Hancock International Airport. It is located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) north-northeast of Syracuse, New York, at 6001 East Molloy Road, Mattydale, NY 13211. The installation consists of approximately 350 acres (1.4 km2) of flight line, aircraft ramp and support facilities on the south side of the airport.

Hancock Field is the home station of the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing (174 ATW), and the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron (274 ASOS). Both units are operationally gained by Air Combat Command (ACC).

The base employs approximately 2,000 personnel consisting of full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR), Air Reserve Technicians (ART) and traditional part-time Air National Guardsmen. ANG personnel maintain the BAK-14 arresting gear on the airport's primary runway for emergency use by military tactical jet aircraft. They also operate an Air Force crash fire station that augments the airport's civilian Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) department.

On 11 August 2008, it was reported that the 174th Fighter Wing would replace all

MQ-9 Reaper
, and was re-designated as an Attack Wing with the new aircraft.

History

Origins

1951 airphoto of Hancock Field

With the outbreak of World War II, many believed that the East Coast was vulnerable to enemy attack. On December 31, 1941, 24 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Office of the Chief of the Army Air Force authorized the construction of an air base at Syracuse, New York.

A 3,500 acre parcel located north of the city was selected, displacing several inhabited farms. Authorized on 1 January 1942, three 5,500 foot runways were built, at a cost to the Army of more than $16,000,000. These runways were constructed over existing asparagus beds, which continue producing asparagus to this day. The first military personnel arrived on the airfield on 16 August 1942.

Syracuse Army Air Base (a.k.a. Mattydale Bomber Base) was intended to be a First Air Force all-purpose station, but it became a personnel activation station instead and provided first phase training for recruits. Beginning in 1943, the First Concentration Command, later known as the

Curtis E. Lemay
, who later became the Air Force Chief of Staff.

On July 22, 1946, the City of Syracuse took over the Mattydale Bomber Base on an interim lease. In 1948, the base was dedicated as a commercial airfield. The Clarence E. Hancock Airport opened to the public on September 17, 1949.

The New York Air National Guard 174th Fighter Wing was formed at Hancock Field on October 28, 1947 as the

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
in 1981, 1983, 1986, and 1990.

Air Defense Command

The

Air Defense Command
(ADC). The base was renamed Syracuse Air Force Station on 1 December 1953. The 4624th Air Base Squadron was activated as the host unit at Hancock Field. Upgraded to the 4624th Support Group on 1 January 1960, it remained the base support organization until Hancock Field's inactivation as an active-duty air force facility on 31 December 1983

Dobbins AFB
, Georgia on 15 November 1958.

SAGE Data/Combat Center

SAGE Combat Center CC-01

In 1958 a

Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Data Center (DC-03) and Combat Center (CC-01) was established at Syracuse, located about 1.4 miles (2.3 km) 43°07′19″N 076°06′01″W / 43.12194°N 76.10028°W / 43.12194; -76.10028 (Syracuse AFS DC-03/CC-01)
north-northwest of the ANG facility.

The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force (and later FAA) General Surveillance Radar stations into a centralized center for Air Defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack. This automated control system was used by NORAD for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft. In the later versions the system could automatically direct aircraft to an interception by sending instructions directly to the aircraft's autopilot.

Data was collected at Syracuse from over 100 different sources such as radar, human volunteers and aircraft sightings. This information was collated and forwarded via telephone communication lines to the Data Center (DC). The information was interpreted by the computer and displayed on a cathode ray tube display screen. The display, while similar to a radar screen, was extremely versatile. The operator of the terminal could pull up past positions of aircraft or missiles, as well as project future locations. In addition, the system used another feature advanced for its time: a light gun. The gun was used by the operators to point at an aircraft on the screen, and the computer would respond by displaying related identification information about that aircraft. The system has the distinction of being the largest (physical size) computer ever created.

DC-03/CC-01 had two separate computers, the second serving as a "hot standby" in case the active computer failed. With this backup, availability was an unprecedented 99.6%, when many other computers from that era failed every few hours. The computer weighed 300 tons and typically occupied one floor of a windowless 4-story concrete blockhouse. On another floor, dozens of Air Force operators watched their display screens and waited for signs of enemy activity.

SAGE was never designed to counter a space or missile threat. It was designed to counter the air threat. In the last years of its use, replacement vacuum tubes had to be purchased from Soviet-bloc countries where they were still being manufactured.

Command and Control of DC-03/CC-01 was initially under the

Griffiss AFB
, New York.

The remaining ADTAC operations at Syracuse were moved to Griffiss AFB on 1 December 1983 and active Air Force use of Hancock Field ended on 31 December. Today, an Army switching center had been located on the 3rd floor of the old SAGE DC/CC blockhouse. It is rumored to be slated for demolition to accommodate another runway.

Known ADCOM units assigned

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base.[3][4]

United States Air Force

Air National Guard

See also

  • New York World War II Army Airfields
  • List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
  • Eastern Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)
  • 32nd Air Division (United States)

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Airport Diagram – Syracuse Hancock Intl (SYR)" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Warplanes: Rise of the Droids". Strategy Page. 2008-08-11.
  3. ^ "Hancock Field". Air National Guard. 2009. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Aircraft and Squadrons of the US Air Force". United States Air Force Air Power Yearbook 2019. Key Publishing: 94. 2019.

Bibliography

  • A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
  • Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hancock Field Air National Guard Base.
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