Griffiss Air Force Base Griffiss Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force installation , located in Rome , New York , about NW of Utica in central New York state . Missions at Griffiss AFB included fighter interceptors , electronic research , installation , and support activities , aerial refueling , and bomber s . Opened in 1942 , the base closed in 1995 and its airfield is now Griffiss International Airport , owned by Oneida County . Realigned for civilian and non - combat purposes in 1995 , it is now home to the Griffiss Business and Technology Park and the Rome Research Site of the Air Force Research Laboratory . The New York Air National Guard operates the Eastern Air Defense Sector ( EADS ) of North American Air Defense Command ( NORAD ) from a small complex of buildings in the Technology Park . History . Ground was broken on August 2 , 1941 for the Rome Air Depot , to be completed in 1942 . After a series of names and realignments , the base was finally named " Griffiss Air Force Base " in 1948 . The base was named in honor of Lt . Col . Townsend Griffiss ( 1900 – 1942 ) , a Buffalo native and 1922 West Point graduate who , in 1942 , became the first U . S . airman to be killed in the line of duty in the European Theatre of World War II when the Consolidated B - 24 Liberator in which he was flying was shot down by friendly fire over the English Channel . On April 3 , 1941 , the War Department began looking for an area to construct an air depot in central New York . Orders to begin construction came from the War Department on June 23 , 1941 . Facilities were completed in February 1942 , and flight operations on the depot airfield began on February 18 , 1942 . Rome Air Depot . On February 1 , 1942 , the Rome Air Depot was activated and throughout World War II the depot provided aircraft engine maintenance and repair , and trained air depot groups in engine repair . With the end of the war and the sharp reduction of AAF aircraft operations , activities were sharply curtailed in the fall of 1945 . The Rome Air Depot continued operations well into the 1960s as an Air Force Logistics Command Air Materiel Area ( AMA ) supporting USAF electronics and RADAR systems . The depot began a phasedown in the early 1960s , with the depot closing in 1967 with its functions being transferred to other AFLC Air Materiel Areas . Air Defense . Although many aircraft landed at Griffiss during the war , the airfield had no permanently stationed flying units . It wasn ' t until after World War II , that the Air Force Reserve 65th Reconnaissance Group conducted aerial photo and mapping operations from Griffiss from December 27 , 1946 until being inactivated on June 27 , 1949 . On October 3 , 1950 the 1st Fighter - Interceptor Group of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) became the first permanently assigned USAF flying unit at Griffiss . Although the group moved to California in 1951 , its 27th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron ( FIS ) remained behind . ADC units were stationed there for the next 30 years as Griffiss became a center for the Northeast air defense mission , and was headquarters of the Northeast Air Defense Sector . The 27th FIS flew Lockheed F - 80 Shooting Star s , North American F - 86 Sabre s , Northrop F - 89 Scorpion , Lockheed F - 94 Starfire s and Convair F - 102 Delta Dagger s before leaving Griffiss in 1959 . In October 1955 , the 465th FIS was assigned to Griffiss with F - 89 Scorpion all - weather fighters . ADC activated the 4727th Air Defense Group as a headquarters for the two squadrons in February 1957 and it became a major tenant at Griffiss . The 49th FIS moved , less personnel , equipment , and aircraft from Hanscom AFB , Massachusetts and replaced the 465th FIS in October 1959 , receiving , after the transfer , its McDonnell F - 101 Voodoo s . Later that year , when the 27th FIS departed Griffiss , the 4727th was discontinued . Rome Laboratory . Electronic research began at the Rome Air Depot in 1949 . The Watson Laboratory complex was transferred to Rome from Red Bank , New Jersey between 1950 and 1951 . The Rome Air Development Center was begun at the base on June 12 , 1951 , as a response to the specific electronics needs of air forces learned by the U . S . Army Signal Corps during the war . The RADC would be renamed to Rome Laboratory in 1991 as a response to its changing role in research and development . Strategic Air Command . The base was home to the 10th Mountain Division ' s aviation brigade from 1988 to 1992 . BRAC Realignment . Griffiss AFB was selected for realignment by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1993 . The facility is now home to the Griffiss Business and Technology Park , and it is still home to the Rome Research Site of the Air Force Research Lab as well as the Eastern Air Defense Sector ( EADS ) of North American Air Defense Command ( NORAD ) , and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service ( DFAS ) Rome Location . At its peak , the base was the largest employer in Oneida County , New York . The base was designated a Superfund site in 1987 . Griffiss was the site of the Woodstock 1999 concert festival . The base was chosen for its defensibility .