64th Air Division The 64th Air Division ( 64th AD ) is an inactive United States Air Force organization . Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command , being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base , New York . It was inactivated on 1 July 1963 . History . World War II . The organization was established during the early days of World War II as an air defense command and control wing assigned to First Air Force at Mitchel Field , New York . By February 1943 , it was clear that no German planes were heading to attack the East Coast , and the organization was realigned to become a command and control organization for Twelfth Air Force , engaged in combat as part of the North African Campaign . The wing moved to North Africa in February 1943 and supported combat operations with a warning and control system , and , occasionally , augmenting the operations section of the XII Air Support Command in the Tunisian campaign . During the Sicilian and Italian campaigns ( 1943 – 1944 ) , it administered fighter and fighter - bomber support to ground forces in a wide range of operations that included cover patrols , battle - area patrols , invasion coverage , escort missions , dive bombing missions , and reconnaissance . In Italy , the 64th directed close air support operations against enemy objectives in advance of Allied troops . Its primary targets included enemy gun positions , road junctions , traffic concentrations , assembly areas , bridges , and targets of opportunity . In August 1944 during the invasion of southern France , wing personnel , applying techniques developed in the invasion of Sicily and Italy , controlled air operations while aboard ships patrolling the assault beaches . With the landing of troops , a beachhead control unit directed aircraft to hit enemy strong points , ammunition dumps , troop concentrations , road intersections , supply lines , and communications . As Allied forces advanced northward along the Rhone valley , the wing implemented a plan to give more rapid support to the ground troops . Forward control units , equipped with the latest in air ground communications , directed sector air ground support . During the operations in France and Germany ( 1944 – 1945 ) , the 64th continued to coordinate the close air - ground support of its fighter aircraft . After the end of hostilities in May 1945 , the wing served in the occupation of Germany as part of the XII Tactical Air Command , United States Air Forces in Europe . In Occupied Germany the wing performed many occupation duties such as destroying captured enemy aircraft , repairing roads , bridges and processing Prisoners of War . It also commanded combat units which were inactivating and sending their aircraft to storage , disposal or return to the United States . It was inactivated in Germany on 5 June 1947 . Cold War . Reactivated as an Air Division under Northeast Air Command ( NEAC ) , being stationed at Pepperrell AFB , Newfoundland in December 1952 . NEAC had taken over the former Newfoundland Base Command atmospheric forces and ground air and radar stations in Newfoundland , Northeastern Canada and Greenland upon the former commands inactivation . The 64th Air Division was NEAC ' s command and control echelon of command over these assets . It ' s mission was the administration , training and providing air defense combat ready forces within its designated geographic area of responsibility , exercising command jurisdiction over its assigned units , installations , and facilities . In addition , the division and its subordinate units under its control participated in numerous exercises . NEAC was inactivated in April 1957 , and its mission was reassigned to Air Defense Command ( ADC ) . The 64th AD continued its operations under ADC at Pepperrell AFB including the operational control of the Distant Early Warning Line ( DEW Line ) and Air Forces Iceland . In January 1960 , it activated the Goose Air Defense Sector ( Manual ) at Goose AFB . On 26 May 1960 , the division headquarters moved from Newfoundland to Stewart AFB , New York , when part of its mission was taken over by the 26th Air Division ( SAGE ) in a realignment of forces . The Division was reassigned to Stewart AFB , New York , where it assumed the mission of training and providing air defense combat ready forces for the aerospace defense of a 6 , 000 , 000 square miles ( 16 , 000 , 000 km2 ) region of North America , including New Jersey , New York , New England north of Massachusetts , Eastern Canada , and atmospheric forces in Greenland . The Division was inactivated in July 1963 with the phasedown of ADC at Stewart AFB , it ' s mission being taken over by First Air Force .