For the civil use of this facility and airport information, see Bangor International Airport

Bangor International Airport

Bangor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located west of the city of Bangor, in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Bangor and was formerly a military installation known as Dow Air Force Base. The airport possesses a single...

Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 base, located at Bangor International Airport

Bangor International Airport

Bangor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located west of the city of Bangor, in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Bangor and was formerly a military installation known as Dow Air Force Base. The airport possesses a single...

 in Bangor, Maine

Bangor, Maine

Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...

.

Overview

The base is the home of the 101st Air Refueling Wing

101st Air Refueling Wing

The United States Air Force's 101st Air Refueling Wing is an Air National Guard aerial refueling unit located at Bangor International Airport, Maine.-Mission:Federal...

, Maine Air National Guard

Maine Air National Guard

The Maine Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Maine. It is, along with the Maine Army National Guard, an element of the Maine National Guard...

. The 101st provides 24 hour air and ground refueling for many aircraft whose destination takes them across the Atlantic. Gained by Air Mobility Command

Air Mobility Command

Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....

, the wing participates around the globe supporting USAF contingency operations such as Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. The Wing has operated KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft since April 1976 and is part of the Northeast Tanker Task Force (NTTF).

The Northeast Tanker Task Force plans and executes theair refueling portion of fighter and cargo aircraft movements to and from Europe and Southwest Asia. Ground support services contribute to aircraft movement velocityobjectives of Department of Defense and US Allies. Provide logistical and supportservices to the community and State of Maine in the event of natural disasters or asdirected by the Governor.

History

See Dow Air Force Base

Dow Air Force Base

-History:Dow Air Force Base began as "Godfrey Field" in 1927, on land owned by local attorney Edward Rawson Godfrey . Commercial flights began at the field in 1931 under Northeast Airlines...

, for a complete history prior to 1968

Bangor Air National Guard Base began as "Godfrey Field" in 1927, on land owned by local attorney Edward Rawson Godfrey (1877–1958). Commercial flights began at the field in 1931 under Northeast Airlines. Just prior to the Second World War Godfrey Field was taken over by the US Army Air Corps and was named "Godfrey Army Airfield" (Godfrey AAF).

Under USAAF control, Godfrey AAF was initially placed under the jurisdiction of the 8th Service Group, Air Service Command. Its initial mission was the maintenance and preparation of Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

 aircraft bound for Great Britain, being transported by AAF Ferrying Command to RCAF Stations in Newfoundland. On 28 February 1942, with the United States entering World War II, Dow Field's mission was upgraded to that of being a springboard for the ferrying of B-17 Flying Fortress and, later, B-24 Liberator

B-24 Liberator

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

 heavy bombers and other combat aircraft to the European Theater of Operations flying on the Great Circle Route.

On 5 March 1944, jurisdiction of Dow AAF was transferred from Air Service Command to Air Transport Command

Air Transport Command

Air Transport Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its mission was to meet the urgent demand for the speedy reinforcement of the United States' military bases worldwide during World War II, using an air supply system to supplement surface transport...

, being placed under its North Atlantic Wing. Over 8,400 aircraft passed though Dow in 1944, and approximately 2,150 in the last five months of the European conflict in 1945. The base was drawn down during the demobilization in late 1945, and placed in a standby status on 7 May 1946, being made a satellite base of Westover Field, Massachusetts.

During the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, Dow Air Force Base was used by Air Defense Command beginning in 1946 primarily as an interceptor base, and by Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command

The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

 beginning in 1952, for fighters, tankers and B-52 Stratofortress

B-52 Stratofortress

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...

 bombers beginning in 1960. The base was inactivated in April 1968 as both a cost-cutting measure and as a result of ICBMs causing a reduction in the number of SAC B-52 wings.

Dow AFB also became the home to the Maine Air National Guard 101st Fighter Group beginning in April 1947. It has operated under different designations at the base for over 60 years, currently the 101st Air Refueling Wing since 1976.

Maine Air National Guard

With the inactivation of Dow AFB in 1968, most of the base was purchased by the city of Bangor and reopened the following year as Bangor International Airport. That portion of Dow AFB not turned over to the city became the basis for the current Air National Guard Base and the Maine Army National Guard

Army National Guard

Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...

's Army Aviation Support Facility.

Under Maine ANG jurisdiction, the airfield was initially the home to the 101st Air Defense Wing of the Maine Air National Guard, an ANG associate of Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) 36th Air Division at Topsham AFS, Maine. It operated F-106s until 1969, then changed to F-101B Voodoo interceptors from Dow until 1976. It was reassigned to be an associate unit of SAC, and was renamed the 101st Air Refueling Wing (101st ARW).

The wing was re-equipped with the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, which it continues to operate today and shares the civilian airport facilities. Currently, the 101 ARW is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command

Air Mobility Command

Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....

 (AMC).

Over the horizon radar

About 1985, Air Force Materiel Command

Air Force Materiel Command

Air Force Materiel Command is a major command of the United States Air Force. AFMC was created July 1, 1992 through the reorganization of Air Force Logistics Command and Air Force Systems Command....

 re-activated the 776th Radar Squadron

776th Radar Squadron

The 776th Radar Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Electronic Systems Division, Air Force Materiel Command, stationed at Moscow Air Force Station, Maine. It was inactivated on 1 October 1997....

 at Bangor ANGB. The mission of the squadron was to operate two over the horizon radar (OTH-B) very long-range early warning radar sites. The squadron operated a OTH-B transmitter site at Moscow AFS, Maine, 45°08′14"N 069°48′07"W and a receiver site at Columbia Falls AFS, Maine 44°47′42"N 067°48′41"W. These systems were inactivated in 1997, and the unit was inactivated.

Major units assigned

• 101st Fighter Group, 4 April 1947

Re-designated 101st Fighter Wing, 1 October 1950

Re-designated 101st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 1952

Re-designated 101st Air Defense Wing, December 1960

Re-designated 101st Air Refueling Wing

101st Air Refueling Wing

The United States Air Force's 101st Air Refueling Wing is an Air National Guard aerial refueling unit located at Bangor International Airport, Maine.-Mission:Federal...

, 1976–present

Planes based here

• KC-135R Stratotanker (2007–present)MEANG
• KC-135E Stratotanker (1984-2007 MEANG
• KC-135A Stratotanker (1976–1984)MEANG
• F-101B Voodoo  (1969–1976)MEANG
• F-102A Delta Dagger (1969) MEANG
• F-89J Scorpion (1959–1969) MEANG
• F-89D Scorpion (1957–1959) MEANG
• F-94A Starfire  MEANG
• F-86D Sabre MEANG
• P-51H Mustang MEANG
• P-51D Mustang (1950)MEANG
• P-80C Shooting Star (1948–1950)MEANG
• P-47D Thunderbolt (1947–1948)MEANG