Wheeler-Sack AAF | |||||||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
Owner | U.S. Army ATCA-ASO | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Fort Drum, New York | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 690 ft / 210 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 44°03′20″N 075°43′10″W / 44.05556°N 75.71944°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration
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Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield (ICAO: KGTB, FAA LID: GTB) is a military use airport located at Fort Drum, in Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is owned by the U.S. Army.
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned GTB by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA (which assigned GTB to Genting Airport in Malaysia). However, as of November 2012, IATA (in its Location Identifier Notification #40 bulletin, 2012) claimed back the GTB code because Genting's airport could not be found.
Although in use in the early years of army aviation supporting the "Pine Plains" military training ground, during World War II the airfield was extensively expanded for use by the United States Army Air Forces as home of the 91st Observation Squadron, USAAF. The 91st was attached to the Army's 4th Armored Division, training at the time for the division's later role exploiting Operation Cobra in Northern France. Additions to the field including two new 4500' x 150' concrete runways and a steel hangar.
Throughout World War II and the Korean War, Wheeler-Sack continued to support the needs of Fort Drum, which ebbed and flowed with the Army's training needs.