Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base
| Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base | |
|---|---|
Part of  New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) |
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Located at Long Island,3 nmi (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) N of central Westhampton Beach |
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102 RQS HC-130 from F.S. Gabreski Airport at Patrick AFB
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| Coordinates | 40°50′21″N 072°38′29″W / 40.83917°N 72.64139°W |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | New York Air National Guard |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1943 |
| In use | 1943–Present |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison |
 106th Rescue Wing
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Located at Long Island,3 nmi (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) N of central Westhampton Beach
Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base (Suffolk County Army Air Field in World War II) is a former air defense military installation collocated to use runways with the Westhampton, New York, municipal airport. Some of the facilities and real estate of Suffolk County AFB, which closed in 1969, are now part of the renamed Francis S. Gabreski Airport, while other former Air Force facilities, as well as new military construction, are used by the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing (106 RQW) stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base.
The Suffolk County Army Air Field was built in 1943 as a United States Army Air Forces sub-base of nearby Mitchel Field. Later assigned to First Air Force, the 437th Army Air Force Base Unit defended the New York City area and flew antisubmarine patrols. Post-war, the airfield was conveyed to Suffolk County for use as a civilian airport, but to include a reversal clause if future military use was ever needed.
Renamed when the United States Air Force reclaimed the airport in 1951, Suffolk County Air Force Base was part of the Eastern Air Defense Force's defense of the NYC metro area. The Air National Guard's 103rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing (103 FIW), along with the 118th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and its F-47N Thunderbolts, was federalized on March 2, 1951 and moved from Brainard Field, Connecticut, to Suffolk County AFB on June 1. The 103 FIW was returned to state control on February 6, 1952 and remained briefly at Suffolk County until replaced by the 45th and 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons in November 1952, flying the F-86 Sabre as part of the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Group (23 FIG).
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