Otis Air Force Base

 

The mission of 102nd Fighter Wing is to provide a ready, fully capable fighting force prepared to employ wherever needed.

The 102nd Fighter Wing deployed more than 300 personnel in early 1999 for six weeks to Incirlik AB, Turkey, as part of Operation Northern Watch, enforcing the northern no-fly zone over Iraq.

About 300 members of the Air National Guard's 102nd Fighter Wing were scheduled to deploy in late 2000 as part of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone in southern Iraq.

Airnorn in six minutes after Norad contacted them.

 

OPERATION NOBLE EAGLE (AFIE) -- An F-15 Eagle from the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 102nd Fighter Wing flies a combat air patrol mission over New York City in support of Operation Noble Eagle. More than 11,000 airmen -- the majority Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve -- have generated more than 7,500 sorties to patrol American skies around the clock since Sep. 11. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Bill Ramsay) (VIRIN: 011106-F-4308R-001) Today, Otis is the largest Air Defense Command Base in the World with a year-round population of more than 7,000 officers and airmen

The 101st Fighter Squadron was originally designated as the 101st Aero Squadron which was organized at Kelly Field, TX, on August 22, 1917. The squadron deployed to France where it was redesignated as the 639th Aero Squadron. The squadron was deactivated upon its return in the United State in April 1919.

Equipment

The squadron was consolidated with the 101st Squadron which was activated as a Massachusetts National Guard unit in November 1921.

During World War II, the squadron took part in combat operations in Europe.

The squadron was redesignated as the 101st Fighter Squadron on July 29, 1946 and federally recognized as a unit of the Massachusetts National Guard.

The squadron was called to active duty as a result of the Berlin Crisis.

The squadron transitioned to the F-15 fighter in 1988.

The 101st, along with its parent unit, the 102nd Fighter Wing, was reassigned to Air Combat Command, in June 1992.

The 101st was deployed to Panama from 1991 to 1995, as part of Operation Coronet Nighthawk. The 101st also took part in the 1996 NORAD Exercise Amalgam Warrior 96-1.

The 101st FS, along with the 102nd FW, deployed in early 1999 for six weeks to Incirlik AB, Turkey, as part of Operation Northern Watch, enforcing the northern no-fly zone over Iraq.

 

 

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At Otis, two F-15 fighter jets stood on alert even before the Sept. 11 attacks. But since the suicide hijackings, Otis pilots fly regular two- to six-hour patrol flights over American cities, scanning the airspace for any planes that wander out of expected flight paths or violate protected airspace.

 

 SUITING UP: Fighter pilot Ludes (who disclosed only his call name), prepares for a mission flying over New York. Ludes is one of 32 pilots at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.