49th FIS

History of Griffiss AFB
Rome, NY

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History of Griffiss Air Force Base

Griffiss Air Force Base has played a vital role in defending the nation for more than 50 years. The War Department dispatched a survey team to Rome, New York on April 3, 1941 to investigate the feasibility of building an air depot in the nation's strategically important Northeast. Rome provided office space to the engineers and the common council voted to provide free l,000,000-gallons a day water service to the proposed air depot along with sewage disposal services and street expansion work.

A month later, after a favorable site survey, the War Department awarded a $13,123,600 contract to begin construction of Rome Air Depot. The original site encompassed 2,488 acres, 228 of which were donated by Oneida County.

The official groundbreaking ceremony was held on August 2, 1941, and by October, despite heavy rains and snow, construction workers had finished the first run way. On December 8, 1941, a day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the undersecretary of war initiated a stepped-up work program at the depot. During the construction project, the depot poured $10,000 a day into the local economy. The completed Rome Air Depot became operational on February 1, 1942, less than a year after the survey crew visited the area! Lt Col George B. McPike assumed command of the 7,500 people assigned to the depot after its activation.

The first aircraft to land at the depot, a Northrop A-17, touched down on February 18, 1942. At the peak of the war effort in 1944, 19,000 people were assigned to the depot and, just before Germany fell on May 8, 1945, 14,000 aircraft engines destined for Europe were in storage here. Despite the rapid reduction in the size of the nation s military forces after World War II, the work force stayed at about 13,000 people until 1950 when the Korean War began.

From its activation until September 20, 1948, the depot changed its name 13 times before it became Griffiss Air Force Base. The name honors the memory of Lt Col Townsend E. Griffiss, a Buffalo, NY, native and Army Air Force Pilot who was the first American aviator to die in action in the European theater during World War II.

Many aircraft landed at Griffiss during the war, but it wasn't until October 3, 1950 that the base's first permanently assigned flying unit arrived. The 1st Fighter Interceptor Group, however, was reassigned to California just nine months after its activation here.

The Air Materiel Command, later renamed the Air Force Logistics Command, was the depot's host command from its opening until April 2, 1951. The Air Research and Development Command then took over control of the base because Watson Laboratories was moved here as the foundation of an electronics development center. Watson Labs became Rome Air Development Center in June 1951 and Rome Laboratory in December 1990. Host responsibilities then returned to the Air Material Command in July 1954 and the base's employee population stabilized at about 8,000 people. The 4727th Air Defense Group, equipped with F-89J fighters, was assigned to Griffiss in February 1957.

The headquarters for the Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency was placed here in June 1958 to direct the engineering and installation of ground communications equipment around the world. The agency assumed host responsibilities for the base on Jan. 1, 1968. The Rome Air Force Specialized Depot was redesignated the Rome Air Material Area in late 1958, with the primary mission of managing Air Force communications support programs. The material area was phased out in early 1967.

The 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron replaced the 4727th ADG in 1959 and Strategic Air Command's 4039th Strategic Wing, equipped with B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 Stratotankers, was activated here soon after that as a tenant unit. The 49th FIS was inactivated July 1, 1987 and its air defense mission shifted to the Air National Guard. In February 1963, under an Air Force program to reestablish outstanding units from the World War II-era, the 4039th became the 416th Bombardment Wing.

Also in 1963, the GEEIA merged with the Air Force Communications Service to form a single organizationÑ the Northern Communications Area. The Continental Communications Division replaced NCA on July 1, 1981 as one of seven AFCS divisions. The CCD was inactivated on December 31, 1985 as AFCS became the Air Force Communications Command. The 49th FIS replaced its McDonnell F-101 Voodoos in late 1968 with F-106 Delta Darts. In July 1970, the 416th assumed host responsibilities for the base. The headquarters of the 24th North American Air Defense Region moved here in the fall of 1983. Concurrent with the move, the 21st Air Division at Hancock Field, Syracuse, was inactivated and its people were assigned to the 24th Air Division.

Congress announced in May 1979 that the 416th BMW was to be the first SAC unit to receive the new Air Launched Cruise Missile. The missiles began arriving in early 1981 and the wing reached ALCM operational capability December 16, 1982.

Griffiss served as the home of the U.S. Army's 10th Aviation Brigade, a subordinate unit of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, NY from July 1988 until August 1992. The brigade's aviators and maintenance specialists flew and maintained a variety of helicopters as the division's air arm.

The 24th AD was inactivated September 30, 1990. Meanwhile, the Northeast Air Defense Sector continues to operate the Sector Operations Control Center here. The SOCC is a critical link in the air defense network for North America.

On August 30, 1991, the 416th BMW was redesignated the 416th Wing as part of an Air Force reorganization program.

With more than 8,000 employees, Griffiss is presently the largest employer in Oneida County and one of the largest in Central New York. The base's economic impact on the five-county area was $800 million in 1991.