page_title: Quartier La Horie
section_title: 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing
hierarchical_section_title: Quartier La Horie / USAF use / 1961 Berlin Crisis / 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing
caption_attribution_description: F-86H Serial 52-2116 of the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron/102d Tactical Fighter Wing Deployed For Berlin Crisis from The New York Air National Guard - Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base France - July 1961; Piloted by Major W. H. Bortle, NYANG, 138th TFS, "The Boys from Syracuse". Source: United States Air Force Historical Research Agency - Maxwell AFB, Alabama
context_page_description: Quartier La Horie is a French Army base. It is located in the Moselle département, about 2 miles west of the town of Phalsbourg, on the north side of the Route nationale 4 Highway adjacent to the village Saint-Jean-Kourtzerode; 29 miles northwest of Strasbourg.
  During the Cold War, Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base was a front-line base for the United States Air Forces in Europe.
context_section_description: During the summer of 1961, as the Berlin Crisis unfolded, several USAF reserve units were notified on 16 August of their pending activation and recall to active duty.  On 1 October the Massachusetts Air National Guard 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing and its three fighter squadrons, the 101st, 131st, and 138th went on active duty at Otis AFB.  The 138th TACFRON was a New York State Air National Guard unit situated in Syracuse New York at Hancock Field.  It was added to the 101st and 131st from Otis.  I was a member of the 138th and activated then and believe that Syracuse should get mention in this paragraph. I do not know if there is still an NYANG unit in Syracuse but this should be verifiable in a history of this unit.
  Between 28 and 30 October, the 102nd TFW departed Logan International Airport to Phalsbourg.  The wing deployed 82 F-86H "Sabre"s.  The 101st were marked with green stripes on their vertical stabilizers, the 131st with red stripes, and the 128th with yellow stripes.  In addition 2 C-47 and 6 T-33 aircraft were assigned to the wing for support and training purposes.
  The 102nd's primary mission was to provide close air support to NATO ground forces and air interdiction.  This involved keeping its aircraft on 24/7 alert.  Starting on 5 December, the 102nd began deploying to Wheelus AB Libya for gunnery training.
  During its time in Europe, the 102nd participated in several USAF and NATO exercises, including a deployment to Leck Air Base, West Germany near the Danish border.  At Leck, ground and support crews from both countries exchanged duties, learning how to perform aircraft maintenance and operational support tasks.
  On 7 May 1962, Seventeenth Air Force directed that the 102nd TFW would deploy back to CONUS during the summer, and the 102nd TFW returned to the United States in July 1962,  Regular USAF personnel, along with a group of ANG personnel who volunteered to remain on active duty formed the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the newly activated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing.
  During July and August the 102nd returned to Massachusetts, with the last of the ANG aircraft departing on 20 July. With their departure, Phalsbourg AB was again placed under the control of the 7486th Air Base Group serving as the host unit.
  After the departure of the 102nd TFW, a major refurbishing of the runway at Phalsbourg commenced, with the base closed to tactical aircraft operations until December.
caption: North American YF-86H-5-NA Sabre Serial 52-2116 of the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron/102d Tactical Fighter Wing deployed at Phalsbourg - 1962. Originally manufactured as a pre-production F-86H, this aircraft was modified to production specifications before seeing operational service.
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