Fort Drum's Wheeler Sack Army Airfield is the home of the 10th Mountain Division (LI) Aviation Brigade. What is not common knowledge is that it also serves as the174th FW's Forward Operating Location, also known as Det.2. Little is known in the aviation community about the activities taking place at this Army Airfield occupied by hundreds of US Army helicopters. Historically, air operations at Fort Drum began early in the century and the name Wheeler Sack Army Airfield derives from the names of two 27th Brigade Army officer aviators who died in the crash of their biplane on Fort Drum (then named Pine Camp) in 1927.

The 174th Fighter Wing from the New York Air National Guard has had a Forward Operating Location at Wheeler Sack AAF since 1984. At that time, the unit was flying the A-10A 'Thunderbolt II' with Close Air Support (CAS) as one of its primary mission from Hancock Field in Syracuse, New York. Before 1984, the 174th FW Range 35 Complex (also known as the R5201 Restricted Area) located 7 miles north of the airfield had been in operations as Det.1. The unit leases the range from the Army and have guaranteed range time through an Inter-Service Support Agreement. The FOL officially became Detachment 2, 174th FW in 1997. The Range complex had officially became Detachment 1 several years before that. The concept for the FOL was developed at Wing HQ when the 174th was flying the A-10A. The Forward Operating Location allowed the unit's A-10s to both refuel and recalibrate their GAU-8 30mm cannons, and drop live bombs on the range without having to fly back to Syracuse. Aircraft were able to 'turn' much quicker if they stayed at the FOL, and the unit saved considerably in associated costs of flying repeatedly back to home base. The A-10A was designed to operate from austere forwards airfields close to the front during conflicts, including many in Germany and Southern Europe, as well as sections of the autobhan in Germany.
Crews at the FOL learn their various skills in 'turning' an aircraft in what is described as an 'academic' environment, rather than a combat environment. Typical of the numerous duties performed by the crew is munitions handling. Live bombs cannot be armed or stored on most of ANG bases because they share facilities with civilian commercial airports. Instead, the bombs are assembled and loaded at the FOL for training missions on the range. Live missiles can't be used on the range because it is located in the very heavily traveled northeast air corridor, where a missile going awry would present a serious hazard to life and property. Following Desert Storm, daytime range utilization had decreased and night range utilization steadily increased when A-10's Wings started to train with Night Vision Goggles (NVG).

When the 174th Fighter Wing officially converted from the A-10A to the F-16A in 1989, its aircraft could no longer use the short runway at the FOL Activities at the FOL continued for other units flying the A-10 in the northeast and even when the 174th FW deployed to Desert Storm. When the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) officially moved to Fort Drum on 13 February 1985, it brought with it a very ambitious construction program which included plans to lengthen the runway. Runway expansion took place during 1988 when the old 5,000 feet airstrip became a 10,000 feet brand new runway allowing larger transport planes and fighters such as the F-16 to land and take-off from Wheeler Sack AAF with ease. Additionally, infrastructure improvements were made to the FOL. A 14x70 feet trailer was donated by the Air Force Research Laboratory from Verona, NY. The trailer is used as the FOL Command Center and a remote lab for the Air Force active duty Rome Research Site. Also used for Command and Control at the FOL are 12 white rectangular portable shelters which are linked together. The 174th FW acquired these when they became surplus at Cannon AFB, NM. They were used as maintenance shop for the EF-111A from the 27th FW.
Soon after the 174th FW started operations at the FOL in 1984, other units flying the A-10 in the Northeastern United States like the 175th FW/MD ANG, 104th FW/MA ANG and 103rd FW/CT ANG started to use the facility on a part time basis with staffing by the members of the 174th FW .It became a full time operation in 1988. With time, other units flying the A-10 learned of the facility and the possibility for training their own people at the FOL

The use of the FOL saves a lot of time and money to these units. It takes about 40 minutes to fly from Barnes ANGB, home of the 104th FW, to Fort Drum. With the range only a few miles away from the FOL, the A-10s are literally in the conventional bomb pattern or in the hold for the impact area soon after take-off. On the range, pilots will work with ground or air FACs (Forward Air Controllers) and even drop live ordnance such as Mk-82 500lbs, GBU-12 500lbs precision guided bombs and fire 'Willy Pete' 2.75-inch rockets. Other weapons typically carried on the A-10A include the primary defensive missile AIM-9L/M Sidewinder mounted on LAU-105 or -114 launcher rails, and the air-to-ground missile AGM-65 Maverick. None of these are fired live on the range.

There's a lot of action at the FOL and the aircraft are 'turned' quickly and safely. On a typical day, the first wave of A-10s lands in the morning and after a rapid post-flight inspection, are refueled. Next step is to load the bombs on the aircraft and make sure they will drop when they need to! If a malfunction should take place and a live bomb stay hung on a pylon, it could lead to disaster! If the aircraft has to come back and land at the FOL with one live bomb left under its wing, special procedures will be initiated to insure everyone's safety. EOD personnel will be called to deal with the bomb and other non-essential personnel will be evacuated to a safe distance. Typically, a unit deployment to the FOL will involve a dozen of its members consisting of crew chiefs, weapons loaders and a line chief for a week. Two teams, or even three, may be at the FOL during the same week and they will assist each other if necessary. In fact, it's not surprising to see members of different units working together to solve a problem with one aircraft or giving a hand! "The people who run the FOL are top shelf. I couldn't imagine a better-run operation anywhere in the country. They are very accommodating, very good and very quick at what they do. They can get us in and on our way in minimum time. They always have a smile and a handshake waiting for you!" said LTC Bob Pagoni, an experienced A-10A pilot from the 104th FW at Barnes ANGB. During good weather from spring to fall, a great barbecue always awaits the pilots and crews for lunch under the trees.
A typical training mission originating from Barnes ANGB will get two A-10A taking off and fly a low level route, either selected prior to takeoff with specific low level navigation points or fly from the entry area near the Great Sacandaga Reservoir, to the range. They can enter the low level environment literally from anywhere because it is a Low Altitude Tactical Navigation (LATN) area. Enroute, they may attack a simulated target with simulated heavy weight ordnance or with captive Maverick missiles. As they approach the Fort Drum area, contact is made with Sack Approach which have been around for a couple of years since Wheeler Sack AAF got busier and bigger in the last few years following the lengthening of their North/South runway (03/21). Once in contact with Sack Approach, pilots announce where they want to go, the scored range or the impact area, and then proceed to that location and talk with the Range Control Officer (RCO) or the Forward Air Controller (FAC). In this typical mission, they will drop 6 BDU-33 bombs simulating low drag ordnance and shoot around100 rounds (or less) of 30mm training projectiles (TP). The scored range will include 45, 30, 20, 10 degrees or 0 (Level) passes simulating high and low drag ordnance, typically Mk-82 500lbs bombs or CBUs. Some of these drops may take place at altitude as high as 2 nautical miles above the target. The gun is employed at all angles up to 60 degrees and these shots can take place from 2000 feet out to 15000 feet. Two-target strafe shooting is also common practice for pilots shooting at one target and quickly picking up the second target to shoot at it. All this in one pass. On the impact area, pilots will work with the 20th ASOS and will be given target description, threats and any other information necessary to hit a specific target with the preferred ordnance. It is the pilot's responsibility to determine if he can hits his target and do it with the ordnance that the FAC requested. Pilots can determine that the request cannot be met for different factors and will request another target. Simulated friendly troop locations near-by the enemy and simulated threats greatly affect the pilot's decision to hit a target.
Once done with this mission, pilots do a battle damage check coming off the range to confirm no loose panels, anything missing and that all ordnance supposed to be dropped has actually dropped. A live bomb hung on the pylon is a big sign of trouble! Pilots then go over to the FOL frequency and talk to the personnel to confirm plans for the day, ordnance and fuel requirements for the next sortie. After landing, post flight inspections are made on the aircraft, then refueled. If the aircraft are at the FOL for live bombing, they will be loaded with Mk-82 500lbs. If not in a 'Live Bombing' training period, practice bombs such as the BDU-33, GBU-12 and others can be loaded on the A-10A for the next sortie. After having lunch at the FOL, pilots are back in the air for the next mission similar to the one described above. During their second mission of the day, pilots will fly to the range to drop their bombs and fire their guns as well. Typically, the pilot will request from the ground crew to set the gun from 75 to 100 rounds. After this mission, pilots can either go back to the FOL if they need to or return to base (RTB) and do a Surface Attack Tactics (SAT) on simulating targets or Maverick mission on their way home.
"Flying to and from the FOL is a good deal and good training.for any unit using the FOL In the best scenarios, the wing would get only two sorties flying all home stations missions. This way we get 3 missions with all the enroute squares filled going to and from Barnes ANGB, and pick up the middle mission without the dead time going to and from the low fly area from Barnes ANGB." states LTC B.Pagoni.
Following the lengthening of the runway in 1988, ANG units flying the F-16s have been able to fly to and operate from the FOL. F-16 units can fly to and from the FOL in the same mode as the A-10's unit. ANG units such as the 158th FW/VT ANG, 174th FW/NY ANG and 177th FW/ NJ ANG operate from the FOL on a regular basis. Units flying the A-10A are coming to the FOL from as far as Whiteman AFB, MO! The 174th Forward Operating Location is definitely a great place to get more training in the Air-to-Ground mission for any units in the USAF, including ANG and AFRC. Thanks to the members of the 174th Fighter Wing of the New York Air National Guard and their professionalism, the FOL will remain the number one Air-to-Ground training site for flying units in New England and elsewhere in the CONUS.

Special thanks to LTC R.Pagoni, 104th FW.