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102nd Intelligence Wing

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102d Intelligence Wing
File:Too-102iw.jpg
102d Intelligence Wing emblem
Active1946-Present
CountryUnited States
AllegianceUnited States Air Force
BranchAir National Guard/Air Combat Command
TypeWing
RoleGround-based distributed radar installation[1]
Size950 members
Including:80 officers
745 enlisted personnel
Part ofAir National Guard/Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQOtis ANGB, Massachusetts
Nickname(s)"Eagle Keepers"
"Bear Chasers"
Motto(s)"Vir Omnis Tigris"
Everyone A Tiger
EquipmentDistributed Common Ground Systems
Air Operations Center[2]
Commanders
Current CommanderAnthony E. Schiavi

The United States Air Force's 102nd Intelligence Wing (102 IW), Massachusetts Air National Guard, is an intelligence unit located at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts. It is a parent unit of the 101st Intelligence Squadron. For most of its history it was a fighter wing for the Massachusetts Air National Guard, and was deployed in areas ranging from France, Panama, to Turkey. During the September 11, 2001 attacks, the 102nd was the first wing to respond to New York City but it arrived too late to help stop the attacks. Base downsizing through the BRAC process removed the wing's F-15C Eagles in 2005, leaving the 102nd with an intelligence gathering mission that will be fully active starting in 2010. It is one of three Air National Guard wings that works with the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency.

History

Origins

After World War I ended, there was a general interest in organizing aviation assets for the National Guard system. At the time, in the US force structure aircraft were organized into infantry units in a fashion similar to other weapons, like artillery. Guard units without their own aircraft units would need units from other forces to be sent to operate with them, a situation no-one thought was promising. The War Department agreed that the Guard should organize aviation squadrons as an organic part of the 18 infantry divisions assigned to the National Guard.[3]

In Massachusetts, the Archie Club, composed of former Army Air Service pilots, lobbied for the formation of an air unit for the Massachusetts National Guard. The state had been allotted the entire 26th Guard Division. On June 27, 1921, the Adjutant General of Massachusetts authorized the organization of the 101st Observation Squadron, and within weeks 15 veteran World War I pilots were commissioned and assigned to the 101st under the command of Capt. James K. Knowles. The 101st built its own air base on land-filled tidal flats at Jeffries Point, East Boston.[4]

The 101 flew its Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" aircraft throughout New England at air shows, county fairs and other events. In addition, the 101st attended two-week summer camps that simulated forward deployments. Pilots flew their Curtiss O-11s to temporary fields on Cape Cod while ground crews followed in trucks. One of these fields became Cape Cod Airport. In 1933 Jeffery Field was rebuilt with new hangers and administrative buildings, and renamed Logan Airport in honor of Major General Edward L. Logan, who commanded the 26th Division from 1923 to 1928.[3]

The 101st was ordered into state service in 1936 and 1938 during a devastating flood and hurricane to fly observation missions and to drop food and equipment to stranded fishermen and the residents of Isle au Haut, Maine[3] The 101st helped gained fame when it played a big part in the U.S. Army Air Service's flight around the world. It then cared for the Spirit of St. Louis when Charles Lindbergh visited the state.[5]

World War II

In 1940, the 101st was separated from the 26th Infantry Division and in November was ordered into active Federal service for intensive training. Initially the 101st’s 25 officers and 133 enlisted men remained at home station until July 31 1941 when it was then moved from Logan to Otis Field at Camp Edwards. Otis Field was named in after 1st Lt Frank J. Otis, Jr., MD, a 101st flight surgeon who was killed in a flight accident in 1938. The 101st participated in the North Carolina maneuvers in the fall of 1941 and returned to Otis on December 6 1941.[3]

With the outbreak of World War II, the 101st was assigned to fly anti-submarine patrols off the coast of New England until September 10 1942. By then many of its original members has been reassigned during the expansion of the Army Air Forces. During the next two years, the 101st was transferred to several bases and on May 20, 1944 had its mission changed when it was re designated as the 39th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron. It was then placed under the command of the Ninth Air Force and deployed to the European Theater in December, 1944 with 45 officers and 297 enlisted men. The 39th flew both P-38s and P-51s during operational missions from January, 1945 to the end of the war in May. The 39th returned to the states in August, 1945 and was re designated as the 101st Fighter Squadron in May 1946, and then inactivated two month later.[3]

Veterans of the 101st and Army Air Force reorganized the 101st at Logan Airport on July 29, 1946. The squadron was equipped with the P-47 Thunderbolt and was federally recognized on October 15, 1946.[3]

Cold War

In the post-war era the National Guard Bureau began a major expansion of the Air units. Massachusetts was alloted the 67th Fighter Wing, which consisted of the 101st, the 131st Fighter Squadrons, the 202nd Air Service Group, 601st Signal Construction Company, 101st Communications Squadron, 101st Air Control Squadron, 151st Air Control and Warning Group, 567th Air Force Band, 101st Weather Flight and the 1801st Aviation Engineer Company.[3]

With the formation of the US Air Force the Guard units suffered from neglect. In the midst of the switch to jet fighters, the Guard units were left with their handed-down and generally overused WWII propeller aircraft, and had little money for training. As the Cold War intensified, the Air Forced looked to the Guard to fill US-based interception missions and started overhauling their organization. On 1 Nov. 1950 the 67th Fighter Wing was inactivated and replaced by the 102nd Fighter Wing, including just the 101st and 131st along with their associated support units, and assigned to Air Defense Command.[3] The squadrons were issued F-84Bs, but these aircraft were recalled and replaced by F-51s which were flown until 1954 when the F-94 replaced the Twin Mustangs. In 1952 the 253d Combat Communications Group was activated and added to the 102nd.[citation needed]

From 1956 to 1976, the 102d was headed by Brigadier General Charles W. Sweeney, who piloted the B-29 Superfortress, which dropped the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.[citation needed]

Berlin Crisis

During the summer of 1961, as the Berlin Crisis unfolded, several USAF reserve units were notified on August 16 of their pending recall to active duty. On October 1st, the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing and it's three squadrons, the 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron, the 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron, and the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron went on active duty at Otis Air Force Base.[6]

North American YF-86H-5-NA Sabre Serial 52-2116 of the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron/102d Tactical Fighter Wing deployed at Phalsbourg - 1962. Originally manufactured as a pre-production F-86H, this aircraft was modified to production specifications before seeing operational service.

Between the 28th and 30th of October, the 102nd TFW departed Logan International Airport to Phalsbourg, France. The wing deployed 82 F-86H Sabres. The 101st's planes were marked with green stripes on their vertical stabilizers, the 131st with red stripes, and the 138th with yellow stripes. In addition two C-47 Skytrains and six T-33 Shooting Star aircraft were assigned to the wing for support and training purposes. The 102d's primary mission at the time was to provide close air support to NATO ground forces and air interdiction. Starting on December 5, the 102nd began deploying to Wheelus Air Base, Libya for gunnery training.

During its time in Europe, the 102nd participated in several USAF and NATO exercises, including a deployment to Leck Air Base, West Germany near the Danish border. At Leck, ground and support crews from both countries exchanged duties, learning how to perform aircraft maintenance and operational support tasks.[6]

On May 7 1962, the Seventeenth Air Force stated that the 102nd would deploy back to the United States during the summer, returning in July 1962. Regular USAF personnel, along with a group of ANG personnel who volunteered to remain on active duty formed the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the newly activated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing.

Relocation to Otis

File:Too-102fw.jpg
Older emblem of the 102d

In 1968, the 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Otis Air Force Base. The wing flew the F-84F Thunderstreak until June 1971, when a squadron of F-100D Super Sabres was transferred directly from units fighting the Vietnam War.[5] After making the transition to the "Hun," the Mach 2 F-106 Delta Darts soon arrived to replace them. On June 10 1972, after completing the move to the F-106, the unit officially became the 102nd Air Defense Wing.[5] On December 30, 1973, Otis AFB was inactivated and transferred to the Massachusetts ANG as Otis Air National Guard Base.

The wing participated in the interception of Soviet TU-95 Bear bombers on many occasions, the first of which occurred off Long Island in 1975. Many of these occasions included escorting the aircraft to Cuba. Other escort missions involved the escorting of drug smuggling planes and the identifying of one mysterious ghost plane, which turned out later to be a weather balloon.[7]

In 1976, the 102nd Fighter Interceptor Group was deactivated and re-formed as the 102nd Fighter Interceptor Wing, assuming authority for the 177th and 125th Fighter Interceptor Groups in Atlantic City, NJ, and Jacksonville, FL, and for the 107th and 147th Fighter Interceptor Groups, flying F-4C at Niagara Falls, NY, and Ellington Field, TX.[5]

The 102nd FIW deactivated its F-106 on January 5, 1988. Between January and April 1988, the wing converted to the F-15A Eagle and resumed its alert commitment at Otis, and also provided an alert detachment at Loring AFB. The 102nd was the first ANG unit to be equipped with the F-15.[5]

Post-Cold War

File:070606-F-0894S-166.jpg
F-15's From Otis

The wing continued air defense mission after the fall of the Soviet Union. Examples of this include a 1992 deployment of eight pilots, five F-15 Eagles, and 48 maintenance and security personnel, for five days to Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. Another is the humanitarian deployment of 50 personnel from the 102nd Civil Engineering Squadron under field conditions, to the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas in July 1993. They helped to rebuild school buildings and municipal facilities that were damaged by Hurricane Andrew.[8]

Between 1991 and 1995 the wing deployed to Panama as part of Operation Coronet Nighthawk, a drug interdiction operation. From 1995 to 1998 the wing deployed to Iceland for 45 days of air defense duty. During 1998 members both trained for and performed in real-world contingency assignments in Iceland, Canada, Korea, and Europe. In 1999 the wing participated in Operation Northern Watch when it deployed with its F-15 Eagle aircraft to Turkey to patrol and enforce the no-fly zone north of the 36th Parallel in northern Iraq. The wing again deployed more than 350 personnel to the Middle East and Europe in 2000 to participate in Operation Southern Watch.[5]

Global War on Terror

F-15 Over New York City after 9/11

On September 11, 2001, the wing sprang into action just minutes after the terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. More than 600 wing members were mobilized for Operation Noble Eagle. The wing began flying around-the-clock combat air patrols missions immediately thereafter, and continued doing so until February 2002. Overall during 2001, wing aircraft flew 2,388 sorties compiling more than 3750 flying hours.[6]

BRAC 2005

Emblem of the 102d before it changed to its new mission

The BRAC 2005 commission originally planned to close Otis Air National Guard Base and dissolve the 102nd[8] Locals argued that this would leave a huge gap in the national air defenses. BRAC officials, after visiting the base, decided to keep it open, but the 102nd would still lose its planes, only this time they were only going to the 104th Fighter Wing, based at Barnes Municipal Airport.

File:DSC00772.jpg
F-15 From 101st Fighter Interception Squadron during the 2007 Cape Cod Airshow

The wing hosted its last airshow with the F-15C Eagle at the end of Air Force Week in August, 2007. The wing shared the last months with the F-15 with the 101st Air Refueling Wing, the 103d Fighter Wing, and the 104th Fighter Wing. Beginning in 2007, their planes began moving to Barnes Municipal Airport. With the grounding of the F-15 Eagles, the 158th Fighter Wing, which is based in Vermont temporarily took over the role of patrolling the Northeast's skies. This interruption of the F-15's flight, coinciding with the transitioning of the fighter jets to the 104th Fighter Wing, created some issues. The move was originally scheduled to be completed at the end of January, but the grounding of the F-15's in late 2007 and early 2008 delayed this move to the end of February.

On January 24 2008, the 102nd Fighter Wing officially flew its last patrol mission. The unit's wing commander, Colonel Anthony Schiavi, led the flight, accompanied by Major Daniel Nash, who was one of the first responders for 9/11. Fire trucks were on hand when the team landed a half-hour later, giving the planes and the pilots the customary ceremonial hose-down for the last time.[7]

New Mission

As soon as it was announced that the wing would be kept alive and Otis Air National Guard Base would remain open, people began thinking of the future for the 102nd. There was talk that the wing could transition to an intelligence mission so that it could help support the growing War On Terror. The plans hit a roadblock when it was announced that there were few funds left with which the wing could use to transition into its new mission.[9]

The new mission was finally confirmed when Governor Deval Patrick announced that the wing would transition to an intelligence mission as soon as the planes left. Original BRAC plans only said that a Distributed Common Ground Station would be created at Otis. This didn't include the air guardsmen affected by the loss of their jobs. The issue was finally resolved when the Air Force announced its plans, right before the F-15's started to leave for Barnes. On April 1 2008, the 102nd Fighter Wing was re designated as the 102nd Intelligence Wing, with a formal ceremony on April 6. The wing will reach full operation in 2010.[10] By October 1st, the wing is expected to be operationally ready.

Major Command/Gaining Command

Previous designations

Previous designations include:[11]

  • 102d Intelligence Wing (2008-Present)
  • 102d Fighter Wing (1992-2008)
  • 102d Fighter Interceptor Wing (197?-1992)
    • 102d Fighter Interceptor Group (197?-1976)
  • 102d Air Defense Wing (1972-197?)
    • 102d Air Defense Group (1972-197?)
  • 102d Tactical Fighter Wing (196?-1972)
    • 102d Tactical Fighter Group (196?-1972)
  • 102d Air Defense Wing (1950-196?)
    • 102d Air Defense Group (1950-196?)
  • 102d Fighter Wing (1946-1950)
    • 102d Fighter Group (1946-1950)

Units assigned

Current

Information on this is speculative because accurate data is not out there concerning the units assigned to the wing.

Fighter Wing[12]

Units that were part of the 102d Fighter Wing:

  • 102d Operations Group
  • 102d Maintenance Group (???-2008?)
    • 102d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
    • 102d Maintenance Squadron
    • 102d Maintenance Operations Flight
  • 102d Mission Support Group
    • 102d Civil Engineering Squadron
    • 102d Communications Squadron
    • 102d Logistics Readiness Squadron
    • 102d Security Forces Squadron
    • 102d Mission Support Flight
    • 102d Services Flight
  • 102d Medical Group
    • 102d Medical Squadron

Cold War

Units with the 102d during the deployment to France:

Bases Stationed

Aircraft Operated[13]

Decorations

References

  1. ^ "102nd Fighter Wing". Ken Middleton. 2008-01-22. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  2. ^ "Commander Environmental Statement" (PDF). 102IW Public Affairs office. 2008-01-22. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Commonwealth of Massachusetts Military Division, Air National Guard History". National Guard Museum & Archives. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  4. ^ "Team Otis Online, The 102d Intelligence Wing". US Air Force. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "The 102nd Fighter Wing". Philippe Colin. 2008-01-22. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  6. ^ a b c "102nd Intelligence Wing History". The 102nd Fighter Wing & 101st Fighter Squadron. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  7. ^ a b "Otis See Its Last Landing". Boston News. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  8. ^ a b "Global Security History of the 102d Fighter Wing". Global Security. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  9. ^ "CapeCodTimes.com - New Otis mission in limbo". Cape Cod Times. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  10. ^ "A change of the Guard at Otis". Massachusetts National Guard. 4/7/08. Retrieved 2008-05-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Rogers, B. (2006). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. ISBN 1-85780-197-0
  12. ^ "FY05 Annual Report Fina" (PDF). Massachusetts National Guard. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  13. ^ World Airpower Journal. (1992). US Air Force Air Power Directory. Aerospace Publishing: London, UK. ISBN 1-880588-01-3
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