page_title: 138th Attack Squadron
section_title: Close Air Support
hierarchical_section_title: 138th Attack Squadron / History / New York Air National Guard / Tactical Air Command / Close Air Support
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II (s/n 78-0652) from the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 174th Tactical Fighter Wing, New York Air National Guard, undergoing maintenance during exercise "Sentry Castle '81" at Hancock Field, New York (USA) on 9 July 1981.
context_page_description: The 138th Attack Squadron is a unit of the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing located at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York. The 138th is equipped with the MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft.
context_section_description: During 1970, the 174th began retiring its F-86H Sabres after over a decade of service, the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron flying the last USAF/ANG Sabre sortie on 30 September.   Replacing the Sabre was the Cessna A-37B Dragonfly and a newly conceived close air support tactical fighter mission in a ground insurgency environment which were gained by combat experience in Vietnam.
  After a decade of routine peacetime exercises and training with the A-37, in 1979 the 174th began a transition to the A-10A Thunderbolt II Close Air Support fighter.  With the arrival of the A-10, the 174th was changed in status from a Group to a Wing on 1 July 1979.   The wing was one of three Air National Guard units equipped with the A-10 as part of the "Total Force" concept which equipped ANG units with front-line USAF aircraft.  In 1980, after the transition to the A-10 was completed, the 138th TFS was deployed to Savannah Air National Guard Base, Georgia. On arrival, the unit was given sealed orders directing them to a remote, forward operational location and operate combat sorties, fully loaded with live ordnance. Not only was the 174th's combat readiness put to the optimum peacetime test, but the unit's mobility was tested to the fullest.  In response, an additional six A-10s were assigned to it, making the 138th TFS the Air National Guard's only "super" squadron, with 24 aircraft.
  With the transition complete, the unit deployed eight A-10 aircraft from Syracuse, non-stop to a forward operation location in West Germany. In exercise Cornet Sail, the 138th demonstrated for the first time the ability of an Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve unit to deploy this advanced aircraft in this manner.  Combat readiness in West Germany was achieved 12 hours after departing Hancock Field.
  With the move of the USAF 21st Air Division to Griffiss AFB in 1984, the 174th TFW became the host unit at Hancock Field.  Later that year, the unit deployed to Exercise Air Warrior at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California; a three-week deployment to Lechfeld Air Base, West Germany and with the NY ANG 107th Fighter-Interceptor Group at Goose Air Base, Labrador.
  The 174th also was among the first A-10 close support aircraft organizations to provide temporary tactical air defense support from Howard Air Force Base, Panama when the unit deployed to Howard in March 1985 when runway construction precluded the use of the A-7D Corsair IIs that normally fulfilled the tactical air defense duties of the Panama Canal.  Shortly afterward, it deployed to Alaska for the first time.  The 138th TFS completed the 2,700-mile flight to Eielson AFB without external navigation aids.
  As in past years, continuing NATO deployments to West Germany in the late 1980s saw the 174th TFW personnel training and living side-by-side with their West German Air Force counterparts as they would in a combat situation.  The 174th began 1988 on a high note when the Air Force announced the wing would convert from the A-10 to the specialized Block 10 F-16A/B Fighting Falcone, also referred to as the F/A-16 due to its close air support configuration.   With the Block 10 F-16, the 174th became the first Air Force organization to fly the Fighting Falcon with a Close Air Support mission.
  The first F-16 aircraft started arriving in late 1988. These aircraft were passed down from regular USAF units who were upgrading to the F-16C/D model. During 1989 the 138th TFS was chosen as a test unit for a close air support version of the F-16. The aircraft were the only F-16s ever to be equipped with this weapon, intended for use against a variety of battlefield targets, including armor with the 30 mm gun pod. The unit received the USAF's Outstanding Maintenance Squadron Award that year.
caption: A 138th TFS A-10A at Hancock Field, 1981.
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