- Source: 108th Attack Squadron
The 108th Attack Squadron is a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York. It was most recently activated on 5 October 2014 and assigned to the 174th Operations Group, 174th Attack Wing. The squadron operates the MQ-9 Reaper.
History
On May 3, 2015, the squadron opened a renovated Formal Training Unit (FTU) on Hancock Field to train pilots, MQ-9 sensor operators, and mission coordinators. The building is named after Major General Robert A. Knaff who saw the squadron's transition from F-16s to MQ-Rs and increases the student body at the base to around 90. Renovations began on the 15,6562ft facility on May 12, 2014 and was completed on March 9, 2015 costing $3.5 million, half the projected cost of an entirely new building.
In 2019, the squadron was the first to bring MQ-9 Reapers to Red Flag – Alaska, flying out of Eielson Air Force Base while the pilots remained at their home station in New York, over 4,000 miles (6,400 km) away.
On 25 June 2020, one of the squadron's MQ-9s crashed at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base after losing engine power. An investigation determined that the cause of the accident was pilot error when it was found that the pilot accidentally cut the fuel supply to the drone's engine causing a crash.
Lineage
Received federal recognition as the 108th Air Control and Warning Squadron on 22 Nov 1948
Redesignated 108th Aircraft Control and Warning Flight in 1960
Redesignated 108th Tactical Control Squadron in 1965
Redesignated 108th Air Control Squadron in 1992;
Inactivated on 16 February 1994
Redesignated 108th Attack Squadron and activated on 5 October 2014
= Assignments
=152nd Tactical Control Group (later, 152nd Air Control Group), unknown
174th Operations Group, 5 October 2014 – present
= Stations
=Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York, 1948
Grenier Air Force Base, New Hampshire, 1951
Pepperrell Air Force Base, Newfoundland, 1952
Sembach/Hamm, Germany, 1961
RAF Gütersloh, Germany, 1962
Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York, 1962
Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, 1983
Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York, 5 October 2014 – present