Hogs and Vipers at the FOL!

Detachment 2 of the 174th Fighter Wing is the host unit for the Forward operating Location located at Fort Drum since the early 1980s. The FOL services both A-10 and F-16s from Active Duty, Reserve and Air National Guard wings. Aircraft from the A-10 Fighter weapons School at Nellis AFB, NV, "Hawgsmoke" Worldwide A-10 Competition and many fighter units from different State have turned sorties through, or supported by, the FOL. The location is ideal for units to get more training time with shorter flights to and from the range complex. The FOL is the premier location for live ordinance build-up, handling and loading in the Northeastern United States.

In the early ‘80’s, Hancock Field maintainers used to travel to Fort Drum’s Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield (WSAAF) and work on A-10s, operating out of the back of pickup trucks. A more formal arrangement was made between 1984 and 1985 with the FOL being added to the Fort Drum Airfield Construction Master plan and a ramp to be built on the NE of the Approach end of RWY15. Due to other considerations and the arrival of the 10th Mountain Division, the FOL was instead allocated 29.37 acres on Golf Ramp west of RWY3-21. At this location, tents and conexs were put in place for operations.

Initially the FOL hosted active duty and ANG A-10s at an austere, short field operating location, with 5,000ft runways. The Keyhole off Golf Ramp was where live munitions loading and operations occurred. Personnel were still assigned to Hancock Field, home of the 174th FW, and would perform TDY at Fort Drum, till the mid-1990s. The FOL at Fort Drum stood up as a separate Detachment from Detachment 1/Range in 1997. In 1998, once the Detachment was standing up, it was awarded a 15 vehicle fleet, and 85 pieces of powered and non-powered aerospace ground equipment (AGE). The mobility facilities from Cannon AFB also made the FOL a more permanent fixture with their arrival in 1998. WSAAF also extended its main runway to 10,000ft, allowing for better all weather and night operations. This also allows the FOL to act as divert location for Burlington and Syracuse F-16s and Seymour Johnson AFB F-15Es among other types in the USAF inventory.

As a tenant unit on Fort Drum, Detachment 2 has maintained a high degree of flexibility through joint training, and support with the US Army, US Air Force, Navy Reserve Center, and ARNG through various programs and interfaces. This strong working relationship with the host Garrison has given the FOL a breadth of capabilities not usually available at most ANG bases. The 174th FW/Det 2 has for mission to support national security objectives by arming, refueling and generating fighter aircraft in performance of peacetime training missions and contingency combat missions. Peacetime operations from the FOL provides flying units the opportunity to operate out of and austere forward location, providing realistic wartime training for pilots, maintenance and support personnel. The FOL wartime mission is to provide a responsive aircraft generation facility supplying rapid refueling and rearming capabilities to all fighter aircraft while operating from a forward location or bare base eliminating extended flight times between rearming and refueling, and the battlefield.

Current year-round operations turn between 800 and 1500 sorties per year. Throughout the winter, the FOL regularly turns sorties for A-10s from the Maryland, Massachusetts and Connecticut ANG. During the warmer months, the FOL is quite busy with five to seven 'live' weeks building and employing Mk-82 500lb general purpose bombs.

Also known as the Adirondack Air-to-Ground Range (Ft.Drum Range 48) is Detachment 1 from the 174th Fighter Wing of the New York ANG. Det.1 maintains an operations facility and target area to provide air-to-ground (bombing and gunnery) training. The primary range mission is to safely and efficiently provide combat readiness training opportunities for air-to-ground to units in the Northeast.

Detachment 2 is always looking to attract more units to fly to and from the FOL. In 2007, fighter units flying F-16 and F-15 will be able to perform 'Hot pit refueling' at the FOL.

The following selection of photos depicts aircraft from various units in operation at the FOL during 2006. Special Thanks to the folks of Det 2 at the FOL for their support.

(all photos by author)