Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station

History

The Army's Air Service had begun operations in western New York by 1917 when a school for photofinishers opened in Rochester. Niagara Falls Airport opened at Niagara Falls, New York, in 1928 as a city-owned municipal airport with four crushed-stone runways. Bell Aircraft Corporation completed a manufacturing plant in Wheatfield adjacent to the airport for World War II military pursuit planes in 1941 and the 3522d Army Air Force Base Unit managed the airport and coordinated use of the airfield.

Bell Modification Center

The Bell Modification Center at the Niagara Falls Airport was 1 of 21 built by Materiel Command in 1942 "to fit the mass production aircraft models to the needs of the specific theaters of operations". Bell was contracted to operate the center, and the airfield leased by the USAAF was improved with macadam runways (three at 4000x150 feet and the E/W runway at 4200x300), taxiways, etc. Military units at Niagara Falls included a Modification Center Headquarters and a training school, "Niagara Falls East Tr Sch" (a different modification center, "Buffalo Mun-Mod Ctr B", was located at the 1925 Buffalo Municipal Airport). In 1944, the Manhattan Engineer District used the military Niagara Falls Storage Site on the 1941 Lake Ontario Ordnance Works Site for radioactive residues and wastes from uranium ore processing.

Naval air station

The Naval Air Station Niagara Falls was established in 1946 and the installation was expanded. Jurisdiction of the airport returned to a civilian agency later in 1946 (a USAF joint-use agreement was made for Air Force Reserve and NYANG use of the airport).

ConAC's First Air Force assigned the Air Force Reserve's 90th Reconnaissance Wing to the military installation on 26 December 1946, followed by the 26th Reconnaissance Group (23 October 1947) and the 4th Reconnaissance Squadron. The reconnaissance units were inactivated on 27 June 1949, and the New York Air National Guard's 107th Fighter Group was federalized on 8 December 1948 (initially equipped with TAC P-47 Thunderbolts). 107th personnel deployed in March 1951 to the Far East Air Forces for the Korean War. Air Defense Command (ADC) assumed jurisdiction of the Niagara Falls military installation and the federalized 136th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.

USAF base

Niagara Falls Air Force Base (NFAFB) was established by 1955 after the 76th Air Base Squadron was activated in February 1952 as the host unit. Following Korea operations, the 107th converted to F-51 Mustangs and was reassigned to Air Defense Command. The 136th FIS was returned to state control when ADC activated the 47th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 1 December 1952 as a replacement. The 47th FIS initially used the F-47s of the 135th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. NFAFB activated the 518th Air Defense Group on 16 February 1953 (designated 15th Fighter Group on 18 August 1955 under Project Arrow) and upgraded to F-86F Sabres in February 1953 (F-86D in September).

In January 1954, the 107th received its first jet aircraft (F-94 Starfire, followed by F-86 Sabres in October 1957 & F-100C Super Sabre in August 1960). The Air Force Reserve's 445th Fighter-Bomber Group with F-84 Thunderjets moved to Niagara Falls from Buffalo Airport on 15 June 1955 and moved to Memphis on 16 November 1957. Two 15th FG aircraft--T-33 & F-86 at Niagara Falls Air Force Base—collided in 1956, the AFB's medical unit treated injuries from a 1958 railcar explosion. In 1959 a NFAFB helicopter crashed in Letchworth State Park searching for an 83-year-old professor emeritus, and in 1961 an F-100 from the base crashed into the Niagara Gorge.

SAGE interceptors

The 47th FIS aircraft were modified to the F-86L automated data link configuration after the April 1958 Syracuse Air Defense Sector was designated, and a Ground Air Transmit Receive station was built to relay ground-controlled interception commands from the sector's Hancock Field Air Defense Direction Center (DC-03) at Syracuse, New York (operational on December 1, 1958.) The F-86L interceptors were replaced by F-102 Delta Daggers in 1959 (June). NFAFB's 4621st Air Base Group was the host unit and supported the adjacent 1961-9 Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site with CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missiles. On 1 July 1960 at NFAFB, the 15th Fighter Group was inactivated and the 47th FIS was reassigned. The 107th deployed to the Berlin Crisis of 1961 for 11 months. On February 11, 1963, the 512th Troop Carrier Group equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars was redesignated the 914th Troop Carrier Group and concurrently assigned to the Air Force Reserve at Niagara Falls. In 1968, the 107th Tactical Fighter Group was stationed at Niagara Falls Air Force Base (3rd activation in 17 years.)

Vietnam War

In July 1968, approximately 400 members of the 107th were deployed to Tuy Hoa Air Base, Republic of Viet Nam, for almost a year attached to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing. In 1969, the Niagara Support Center was planned to be closed, and the 4621st ABG was inactivated on 31 March 1970 (the last active-duty ADC organization at the base).

Air reserve station

In 1971 the 914th assumed command of the installation from active duty units and switched from C-119 to C-130A Hercules aircraft. At the same time, the 107th converted to McDonnell F-101 Voodoo interceptors. The 1985 Niagara Falls A-4 collision of Blue Angels at the Western New York Air Show '85 was "in front of a reviewing stand" (1 pilot killed.) The 914th received C-130E aircraft in 1986, and was the first to convert to the Air Force's more advanced C-130, the H-3, in late 1992. The 107th received F-4C Phantoms, then F-4Ds and in 1990, F-16ADF Fighting Falcons.

In October 1990, over 300 members of the 914th Airlift Group spent seven months in the United Arab Emirates for Operation Desert Shield; 107th members were also activated. In 1994, the 107th Wing switched to an aerial refueling mission and the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended closing the "United States Army Reserve Center and Army Maintenance Support Activity, Niagara Falls". The Wing changed to aerial transport in 2008 and now shares C-130s with the 914th. The USGS added the military station to the Geographic Names Information System on November 17, 2008. Since 2011, the Army Reserve's 277th Quartermaster Company has provided support for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft operations.

In 2016, it was announced that the 914th will replace their aging C-130 aircraft with eight KC-135 Stratotankers. The conversion is included in the 2017 budget, but the timeline is still unclear. This changes the 914th's mission, as they adapt to the new air refueling role.

Major units assigned

90th Reconnaissance Wing, 1946–1949

26th Reconnaissance Group, 1946–1949

107th Group (Currently designated 107th Airlift Wing), 1948–Present

518th Air Defense Group, 1953

Re-designated 15th Fighter Group (Air Defense), 1955–1960

47th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1952–1960

35th Air Defense Missile Squadron, 1960–1969

445th Fighter-Bomber Group, 1955–1957

914th Troop Carrier Group (Currently designated 914th Airlift Wing, 1963–Present