Syracuse AAB

  16 August 1942 to present

  United States of America

CITY: Syracuse, NY

IATA/ICAO CODES: SYR / KSYR

COORDINATES: 43°07'N / 76°06'W

OTHER NAMES: Syracuse AAB, Mattydale Bomber Base, Hancock Field (1952-1953), Syracuse AFS (1953-1983), Hancock Field ANGB (1983-present), Syracuse Hancock International (present)

With the outbreak of World War II, many believed that the East Coast was vulnerable to enemy attack. On 31 December 1941, only twenty-four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USAAF authorized the construction of an air base at Syracuse, NY. Three 5,500-foot runways were built over existing asparagus fields, and the first military personnel arrived on the airfield on 16 August 1942.

Syracuse Army Air Base, a.k.a. Mattydale Bomber Base, was intended to be an all-purpose station. However it soon became a personnel activation station instead, and provided first phase training for recruits. Beginning in 1943, the First Concentration Command, later known as the Air Technical Service Command, used the base to assemble and test B-24 Liberator aircraft, and then were sent to fly bombing missions over England. The airfield had an extraordinary large number of hardstands which were used for aircraft in transient status. Many Commandos transited through Syracuse as they left the factory and were assigned to newly-activated units.

After the war, Syracuse AAB became a civilian airport from 17 September 1949, with a military side used by fighter wings and the Air Defense Command. Today, the USAF uses Syracuse as an Air National Guard base.

4202^nd AAF Base Unit (Syracuse AAB)

2^nd Combat Cargo Group (May 1944 to October 1944)

2^nd Combat Cargo Group, 5^th Combat Cargo Squadron (May 1944 to October 1944)

2^nd Combat Cargo Group, 7^th Combat Cargo Squadron (May 1944 to October 1944)

4^th Combat Cargo Group (June 1944 to August 1944)

4^th Combat Cargo Group, 16^th Combat Cargo Squadron (June 1944 to August 1944)

• Curtiss C-46A-41-CU Commando: 42-107294