Stratton Air National Guard Base Stratton Air National Guard Base has hosted the New York Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing ( in various designations ) since 1949 . The base is named after conservative Democratic US Representative Sam Stratton , who represented the Albany area . Overview . Stratton ANGB hosts the NY ANG 109th Airlift Wing . The wing is uniqe as it is the only USAF unit equipped with 10 ski - equipped C - 130 Hercules aircraft , and provides the nation ' s only air cargo lift capability to polar destinations . Since 1971 , the 109th has played an important role in support of the National Science Foundation ' s research expeditions at both the North and South Poles . Food , fuel and other equipment are delivered as far North as Thule Air Base , Greenland by normal air transport . From there , these supplies are flown by the LC - 130H of the 109th . In addition to the polar missions , the 109th AW supports the airlift responsibilities in support of Air Mobility Command and uses its aircraft as directed by AMC . BRAC 2005 transferred four non ski - equipped C - 130H aircraft to Little Rock Air Force Base , Arkansas . The base has 39 buildings , amounting to approximately and occupies of land on two holdings leased from Schenectady County . Most of the existing facilities are on the larger main parcel while a Small Arms Firing Range and Rapid Runway Repair training facility are on the smaller south parcel . There are 526 full - time personnel on base with a once a month drill weekend surge to 1 , 268 personnel . History . Following World War II , the New York Air National Guard was established at Schenectady Airport as the 139th Fighter Squadron and received Federal recognition on 18 November 1948 . The 139th FS was a re - designation of the World War II 303d Fighter Squadron , which was an operational training unit for III Fighter Command in Florida during the war . The 139th ' s first assigned aircraft was the Republic F - 47D Thunderbolt . In 1950 , the squadron moved across the runway to its present location on the north side of the airport and received F - 51H Mustang s . The 139th was one of 17 squadrons not activated during the Korean War . In 1952 , the 139th was assigned to Air Defense Command as a Fighter Interceptor Squadron . After the runway at Schenectady was lengthened to , the squadron received its first jets in the form of the Lockheed F - 94B Starfire in 1954 . Starfire operations continued until 1957 when the North American F - 86H Sabre began arriving . Receipt of the Sabre saw the squadron and group lose their Fighter Interceptor prefixes and gain that of Tactical Fighter . In 1960 , the unit joined the Military Air Transport Service as the 139th Air Transport Squadron . The mission of worldwide transport was assigned along with the Boeing C - 97A Stratofreighter , the first four - engined transport to be used by the Guard . The 139th ATS was activated for the Berlin Crisis in October 1961 , augmenting MATS airlift by flying worldwide missions . The unit returned to State control on 31 August 1962 . On 1 January 1966 , the Military Air Transport Service was reorganized and renamed Military Airlift Command . Following this reorganization , the 139th was redesignated a Military Airlift Squadron and as such , made deployments worldwide during the Vietnam war . The unit converted to the Lockheed C - 130A in early 1971 , and now under Tactical Air Command , was designated the 139th Tactical Airlift Squadron . The 109th TAG converted to C - 130D and D - 6s models in the summer of 1975 , assuming responsibilities for the Volant Distant Early Warning Line resupply mission on the Greenland ice cap . Ten years later , the unit converted to the LC - 130H and has been flying the Hercules to the north and south pole and everywhere in between since in support of USAF and NSF missions in the polar regions .