Stewart Air National Guard Base
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| Stewart Air National Guard Base Formerly Stewart Air Force Base
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| Part of New York Air National Guard | |
| Located near Newburgh, New York | |
 Stewart Air National Guard Base,1994  Location of Stewart ANGB |
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| Coordinates | 41°30′15″N 74°06′17″W / 41.50417°N 74.10472°W |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | United States Army Air Forces (1942–1945) United States Air Force (1950–1969) Air National Guard/Various Reserve Units (1970–Present) |
- Not to be confused with Sewart Air Force Base.
- For the civil use of this facility, see Stewart International Airport
Stewart Air National Guard Base is the home of the 105th Airlift Wing (105 AW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the New York Air National Guard and "host" wing for the installation. The former Stewart Air Force Base is also known as Newburgh-Stewart IAP and Stewart International Airport, while the military portion of this now-joint civil-military airport is known as Stewart Air National Guard Base (Stewart ANGB). The base is named in honor of 19th century Scottish-born sea captain, Lachlan Stewart, and his son, who donated the land it now occupies.
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[edit] Overview
Located two miles (3 km) west of Newburgh, New York. The 105th Airlift Wing's mission is to provide peacetime and wartime inter-theater airlift operations using the C-5A “Galaxy” cargo aircraft. Newburgh is approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of New York City, NY and 100 miles (160 km) due south of Albany, the capital of New York State. The air national guard base encompasses 267 acres (107 ha) and contains 36 buildings, amounting to approximately 757,000 square feet (68,130 m²). There is no family or transient military housing, with military personnel residing outside of a 50 miles (80 km) radius normally being billeted in nearby hotels and motels under military contract arrangements.
The day-to-day military population of Stewart ANGB is approximately 660 full-time Air National Guard personnel, both Technicians and Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) personnel, plus approximately 150 additional active duty Army, AGR Army Reserve and AGR Army National Guard, active duty Marine Corps and Active Reserve Marine Corps personnel. This is further augmented on a daily basis by a fluctuating number of over 3,000 additional traditional, part-time Air National Guard, Army National Guard, Army Reserve and Selected Marine Corps Reserve (SMCR) personnel. Because of the operational flying mission, most of the wing's personnel are funded for, and perform, additional military duty in either a drilling status or an active duty status far in excess of the typical ground-based reserve or national guard unit. For example, on at least one weekend each month, the 105 AW's population surges to over 1,600 personnel in response to the monthly required Air National Guard unit training assembly (UTA) by nearly all of the wing's personnel.
Stewart ANGB and the 105 AW also host a site of the C-5 Aircrew Training System [ATS], which provides assured aircrew ground training that is concurrent with the C-5 weapon system and its operating procedures for regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard C-5 flight crews in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The ATS includes total contractor training with instructors, courseware, aircrew training devices (ATD), computer based training (CBT) and instructor based training (IBT). A contract was awarded to FlightSafety Services Corporation (FSSC), Englewood CO, on 5 May 1999 and the basic contract delivered a new C-5 Weapon Systems Trainer (WST) to Stewart ANGB with spares.[1]
Stewart ANGB is also host to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 (VMGR-452) and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 49, both units of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, the former flying the KC-130T Hercules aircraft and the latter a non-flying support squadron. It is also an emergency landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter.
The U.S. Army Reserve also maintains the Stewart-Newburgh Armed Forces Reserve Center on the installation.
[edit] History
[edit] Major USAF Units Assigned (1950–1969)
- Headquarters, Eastern Air Defense Force, August 1, 1950 – July 1, 1960
- 32d Air Division, September 1, 1950 – February 1, 1952
- 4707th Air Defense Wing, 16 Feb 1953-18 Oct 1956
- 4700th Air Defense Group, 20 Sep 1954
- Redesignated: 329th Fighter-Interceptor Group (Air Defense), August 18, 1955 – August 1, 1959
- 330th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1952–1959 (F-80, F-86A/F/D/L)
- 539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1954–1955 (F-86D)
- 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1955–1958 (F-86D/L)
- 33d Fighter Group, 18 October 1956-18 Oct 1957
- 64th Air Division, July 1, 1960 – July 1, 1963
- First Air Force, April 1, 1966 – December 31, 1969
- 26th Air Division, June 15, 1964 – April 1, 1966
- 904th Troop Carrier (later Military Airlift) Group (AFRES)
- 336th Troop Carrier (later Military Airlift) Squadron, March 15, 1961 – December 31, 1969
[edit] Operational History
[edit] Origins
Stewart Airfield was named in honor of a Scottish-born sea captain, Lachlan Stewart, who skippered schooners, packets and other sailing vessels in the years 1850–1870. The original tract of land was donated by his son, Samuel L. Stewart, to the City of Newburgh in 1930 for use as a municipal airport. It was at this time that plans were being laid to establish a flying facility for the Air Corps detachment then stationed at the United States Military Academy.
Accordingly, on October 29, 1941, the Stewart Field lands were made part of West Point with the exchange of the city’s deed for a U.S. Treasury Department check in the amount of one dollar.
On August 25, 1942, Stewart Field was officially dedicated as the "Wings of West Point" when 245 West Point cadets began their basic flying instruction at the partially constructed post, which rapidly developed during the latter years of World War II.
During the war, the main AAF unit at Stewart was the 320th Army Air Force Base Unit. The airfield was under the command of the Air Education and Training Command.
[edit] Cold War
When the Air Force became a separate department in 1947, the base was turned over to the United States Air Force became part of Air Defense Command beginning in 1951. “Stony Lonesome,” as the area was once called, increased to about 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) and had a garrison strength of some 3,000 personnel.
Stewart Air Force Base was home to the 4603rd Air Base Group, which had the overall responsibility of maintaining and running the base. Assigned to the 4603rd was the 4713th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, flying B-57 Canberra aircraft. The pilots and electronic warfare officers of the 4713th tested the effectiveness of the NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system by substituting for an attacking enemy over Greenland, Alaska, the continental U.S. and its seaward approaches. The B-57s were equipped with well over a ton and a half of electronic countermeasures equipment used in attempting to jam NORAD’s various electronic defense systems.
Also headquartered at Stewart AFB was the 26th Air Division which was responsible for the aerospace defense of 6,000,000 square miles (16,000,000 km2) of North America, including 24 eastern states, Puerto Rico and Greenland. Stewart was also home to the First Air Force Reserve Region Headquarters, which was responsible for more than 10,000 reservists assigned to units in New York, New Jersey and the New England states.
In 1970 with the drawdown of the then-renamed Aerospace Defense Command, the Air Force released most of Stewart AFB back to civilian control. To the original 1,552-acre (6.28 km2) facility, the state of New York added an additional 8,600 acres (35 km2), which was designated for future development as well as a 4.7-mile (7.6 km) long noise buffer zone.
Stewart International Airport is the nation’s second largest airport in total area. The main runway is 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long. New York Air National Guard interest in the base began in the late 1970s, leading to the stationing of the 105th Airlift Wing here in 1983 and a new base development project. Completion of Stewart’s new Air National Guard facilities came about in late 1987.
In 1998, the United States Marine Corps became a tenant of the 105th with the establishment of Marine Air Refueler and Transport Squadron (VMGR) 452 and Marine Aircraft Group 49 Detachment Bravo. A Marine Corps Reserve unit of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, VMGR-452 operates 14 KC-130T Hercules aircraft available for world-wide tasking in support of Marine Expeditionary Forces and combatant commanders.
Stewart Army Sub-Post and the Stewart-Newburgh Armed Forces Reserve Center are also located on Stewart ANGB. The former supports the U.S. Military Academy, the 1st Battalion/1st Infantry (1/1 INF BN) and the UH-72 Lakota-equipped 2nd Aviation Detachment (2ND AVN DET)[2][3], while the latter supports the consolidation of several smaller and obsolescent U.S. Army Reserve Centers and New York Army National Guard Armories throughout the Hudson River Valley, colocating their associated units at a single site with modern training facilities[4].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).
[edit] External links
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