In
December 1957, the 138th was reassigned a ground attack mission and
a new aircraft, the F-86H. These F-86s were armed with four 20mm cannons
and could carry 500lb.bombs or fuel tanks. Also, "Sidewinder" missiles
could be mounted on rail launcher. In 1961, the Air Force Association
designated the 138th TFS as the best F-86 unit in the country ! "The
Boys from Syracuse" were called to active duty during the Berlin Crisis
on October 1st, 1961 and departed Hancock Field on October 28th. The
jets were not equipped for aerial refueling and had to make stops
at Loring AFB, Goose Bay, Sonderstrom, Keflavik and Prestwick before
landing at Phalsbourg in France, their final destination. When deployed,
the 138th was attached to the 102nd Wing from the MA ANG. During their
assignments in Europe, the unit made regular deployments to Wheelus
AB in Lybia for bombing and gunnery training. "The Boys from Syracuse"
returned home and State control in August 1961. In August 1962, the
unit reached Group status with federal recognition of the 174th Tactical
Fighter Group.
In
April 1968, the unit was again called to active duty in response to
the North Korean seizure of the USS PUEBLO. The 138th TFS went on
active duty to Cannon AFB, NM with its maintenance support only, the
remainder of the 174th TFG stayed at Hancock Field. While in new Mexico,
the F-86s were used to train the Air Force Forward Air Controllers
who were badly needed in Vietnam. They returned to state control on
December 20, 1968. In the Fall of 1970, the 174th TFG converted to
the Cessna A-37B, a primary trainer aircraft modified with a 7.62mm
minigun and strengthened wings to carry an impressive ordinance load.
The A-37s could be air-refuelled and the 138th was no longer limited
by the range of its aircraft. The last F-86H was ferried to White
Plains, NY, by Lt. Monforte on January 8, 1971.
In
February 1977, LtCol. Paul Schempp became the new 174th TFG's C/O,
replacing Col. Irwin who commanded the unit for over 20 years. 1979
saw the conversion to a new aircraft specially designed for the air-to-ground
mission, the A-10A "Thunderbolt II" and the reorganization from a
Group to a Tactical Fighter Wing. From February 28 to March 14, 1981,
the 174th TFW became the first ANG A-10 to deploy to Germany under
operation "Coronet Sail". In September of the same year, the 174th
participated for the first time in a "Gunsmoke" competition held at
Nellis AFB, NV. In 1984, the Wing returned to Germany as part of the
largest A-10 deployment ever by the Air National Guard, twenty-four
aircraft from the 174th/NY ANG and 128th/WI ANG participated in operation
"Coronet Giant".
In
1988, the 174th TFG received the big news that it was to convert to
F-16A equipped to carry GPU-5/A 30mm gun pod for Close Air Support
with complete conversion in 1989. "The Boys from Syracuse" were now
proudly identifying themselves as "Fastass CAS".In the Spring of 1988,
the 174th TFW was presented with the Outstanding Unit Award by Major
General Cooper. March 1989 saw the last A-10A leaving Syracuse bound
for the WI ANG. The official acceptance ceremonies of the F-16 took
place on May 6th followed by a family day for the local population
to have a closer look at the new plane of the 174th TFW.
On
August 7th, 1990, Operation Desert Storm was initiated and five days
later, the 174th stepped up training and readiness to prepare for
activation. The unit was called to active duty as part of Operation
Desert Shield on December 20, 1990 and deployed to Al Kharj AB in
Saudi Arabia. On January 2, 1991, 261 personnel left and the next
day saw 65 more leaving Syracuse. The 174th's F-16s arrived safely
in the operation's theater on January 3. While deployed to Al Kharj
AB, located southeast of Riyadh, the 138th TFS was part of the 4th
Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) which grouped two TAC F-15E squadrons
( 335th and 336th TFS), a USAFE F-15C squadron ( 53rd TFS) and another
ANG F-16A squadron (157th TFS, SC ANG). The base soon became known
as the "Camel Lot" but was changed for the more acceptable "Camelot"
spelling. While preparing for combat operations, the 138th TFS lost
an aircraft due to mechanical failure but the pilot was safely recovered
on January 13. On February 28, 1991, the ground war in the Gulf was
over. Statistics of the 174th TFW says a lot about the quality of
the training and experience of the Guard. During Desert Storm, 1411
sorties were flown, 3714 combat hours, 3397 bombs dropped, 73 missiles
fired. Maintenance effectiveness was 99 % with mission capable rate
of 87.7 %. The 174th TFW was informed that it would be there for a
while longer as First in, first out policy was implemented. In mid-April,
unit members began to return home and on May 17, the 174th ceased
CAP and alert missions and prepared its aircraft for the return home.The
174th TFW was released from active duty on June 30, 1991. And by July
31, all unit members had returned to Syracuse. During 1991, the unit
received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with the 'V' for valor.
Major
changes in the ANG command structure in 1993 saw the 174th Fighter
Wing loose the word Tactical and was now comprised of an Operations
Group, a Support Group and a Logistics Group as well as personnel
assigned to the Wing. That same year saw the 174th FW upgrading to
Block 30 F-16s with the first arriving to Syracuse in April. In June
1995, the Unit went on to a 30 days rotation to Incirlik, Turkey to
take part in Operation Provide Comfort, an ongoing Air Force mission
supported by the Air National Guard, which protected the Kurdish people
in Northern Iraq. The 174th FW helped enforce the No Fly Zone over
Northern Iraq. In March 1996, Col. Robert Knauff assumed command of
the 174th FW. Col. Knauff was previously the Operations Support Commander
with the 177th FW of the New Jersey ANG at Atlantic City.
1996
proved to be another busy year with many deployments and 1997 started
on the same note. The 174th FW deployed to Andoya, Norway to take
part in the NATO exercise "Adventure Express 97". In August, the unit
deployed 6 F-16s as part of a joint deployment with 6 F-16s from the
187th FW, AL ANG to Incirlik AB, Turkey to support Operation Northern
Watch. In the fall of 1997, the 174th Fighter Wing of the New York
Air National Guard has officially celebrated its 50th Anniversary
with various events and among them, the 50th Anniversary air show
featuring the USAF Thunderbirds was certainly the most popular one,
with a large attendance. Official recognition for the 50th Anniversary
of the 174th Fighter Wing took place on November 1st, 1997 by a formal
celebration and an Air Force Dining Out with a keynote speaker, Congressman
James Walsh.
At
the beginning of 1998, the 174th FW deployed to Tyndall AFB for "Combat
Archer". This type of exercise gives units such as the 174th FW the
opportunity to fire live air-to-air missiles at drones over the Gulf
of Mexico.The Wing held its annual "Family Day" on June 7, with some
displays in the main hangar and some visiting aircraft. The rain and
cooler temperature kept a lot of people away, but as usual, it was
nice to meet people and discover other aspect of the Guard. July saw
the 174th FW deploying to Dugway Proving Ground, Utah with 12 F-16C
and 340 personnel to participate in the nation's largest military
exercise "Global Patriot 98". This deployment also served as the unit's
ORE. In October 1998, the Wing swapped aircraft with the 149th FW
of the Texas ANG and received Block-25s powered by Pratt&Whitney
F-100-220 engines. The conversion took a few months during which necessary
training to basic qualification level on the new engine took place.
The Cobras worked very hard to bring these jets to their high standards.
The 174th Fighter Wing entered in the new millennium with two deployments
to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Southern watch.
In
response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks of September
2001, the wing sent hundreds of personnel to New York City and began
flying air defense missions over the Northeast United States. During
October 2002, the 174th FW began another conversion back to Block
30s coming from the Iowa ANG. The conversion was completed by the
Spring of 2003 and training with the 'Litening' targeting pod began
soon after. Later that year, Colonel Anthony Basile became the new
commander of the 174th Fighter Wing at Hancock Field Air National
Guard base. In the Fall 2003, the 174th Fighter Wing deployed aircraft
and personnel in the Gulf region to be part of the 379th Air Expeditionary
Wing. Primarily tasked with Close Air Support (CAS) missions, the
138th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flew missions in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom as well. The 174th FW's
participation in this AEF cycle represented the largest deployment
of maintainers and equipment since Operation Desert Shield in 1991.
Under the BRAC of 2005, the 174th Fighter Wing is scheduled to loose its F-16s and convert to a new platform to perform its new mission. In 2009, the unit is scheduled to convert to the MQ-9A reaper. The MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-to-high altitude, long-endurance remotely-piloted aircraft system. In addition to its primary role as a
persistent hunter-killer of targets, the Reaper also acts as an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance asset, employing sensors to provide real-time data to commanders and intelligence specialists at all levels.
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