101st Intelligence Squadron The United States Air Force ' s 101st Intelligence Squadron ( 101 IS ) , Massachusetts Air National Guard , is an intelligence unit assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing and located at Otis Air National Guard Base , Massachusetts . From its creation in 1921 to its mission change in 2008 , the 101st was the mainstay of aerospace defence for the Northeastern United States . The 101st was deployed during the Berlin Crisis to France and was also deployed to Panama during Operation Coronet Nighthawk . It also participated in Operation Northern Watch . During the September 11 attacks , the 101st was the first Air Force unit to send aircraft toward New York City , but they arrived too late to help stop the attacks . Base downsizing through the Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) process removed the wing ' s F - 15C Eagle s beginning in 2007 , leaving the 101st with an intelligence gathering mission that will be fully active starting in 2010 . It is one of three Air National Guard wings that works with the Air Force Intelligence , Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency . History . World War I . The squadron has its origins at Kelly Field , Texas , being organized as the 101st Aero Squadron on 22 August 1918 . The personnel were composed of new recruits from various Recruit Barracks , including Fort McDowell , Vancouver Barracks , Fort Sam Houston , Columbus Barracks , Fort Williams , Fort Warren and Fort Oglethorpe . During September 1917 , it was found necessary to transfer many of its men . Altogether , 113 men were transferred out and 32 transferred in , leaving the squadron well below its authorized strength . In October , the squadron was again filled up to a required total of 150 recruits . After basic indoctrination into the military , on 29 October , the squadron was ordered to overseas service , being ordered to report to the Aviation Concentration Center , Garden City , Long Island . Arrived at Camp Mills on 3 November . A wave of measles and mumps plagued the squadron , and it was placed in the Quaranteen barracks for several weeks . It Received orders to report to the Port of Entry , Philadelphia for immediate transport to France in mid - December 1917 , sailing on the SS Northland on 4 December . It arriving in Liverpool , England on Christmas Day , after spending a week at Halifax , Nova Scotia , awaiting to form up with a convoy for the cross - Atlantic voyage . After a few days at a Rest Camp near Winchester , England , the squadron moved to Le Harve , France , and then traveled by train to the Replacement Concentration Center , AEF , St . Maixent Replacement Barracks , France , arriving on 1 January 1918 . At St . Maixent , the 101st was re - organized according to the vocations of the men . As a consequence , many changes were made with transfers in and out of the squadron . It was designated as a " Service Squadron " , and assigned to the 3d Air Instructional Center ( 3d AIC ) , Issoudun Aerodrome . It was assigned to the main field initially , before being moved to Field Five to take up the duties of the Engineering department . Its primary duty became the reparing and maintaining the conditions of the planes used in the instructional classes , primarily French Nieuports . The squadron remained at 3d AIC until after the Armistice with Germany in November 1918 , then returned to the United States in early April 1918 . Arrived at Michel Field where the squadron members were demobilized and returned to civilian life . Intra - War era . After World War I ended , there was a general interest in organizing aviation assets for the National Guard system . At the time , in the US force structure aircraft were organized into infantry units in a fashion similar to other weapons , like artillery . Guard units without their own aircraft units would need units from other forces to be sent to operate with them , a situation no - one thought was promising . In Massachusetts , the Archie Club , composed of former Army Air Service pilots , lobbied for the formation of an air unit for the Massachusetts National Guard . The state had earlier been allotted the entire 26th Guard Division . The 101st built its own air base on land - filled tidal flats at Jeffries Point , East Boston . The 101 flew its Curtiss JN - 4 " Jenny " aircraft throughout New England at air shows , county fairs and other events . In addition , the 101st attended two - week summer camps that simulated forward deployments . Pilots flew their Curtiss O - 11 s to temporary fields on Cape Cod while ground crews followed in trucks . One of these fields became Cape Cod Airfield . In 1933 Jeffery Field was rebuilt with new hangars and administrative buildings , and renamed Logan Airport in honor of Major General Edward L . Logan , who commanded the 26th Division from 1923 to 1928 . The 101st helped gained fame when it played a big part in the U . S . Army Air Service ' s flight around the world . It then cared for the Spirit of St . Louis when Charles Lindbergh visited the state . On 11 January 1937 , 2nd Lieutenant Frank Otis died when his Douglas O - 46A crashed into the Illinois River . As a result , Otis Field was named for him in 1938 . World War II . In 1940 , the 101st was separated from the 26th Infantry Division . On July 31 , 1941 when it was then moved from Logan to Otis Field at Camp Edwards . Otis Field was named in after 1st Lt Frank J . Otis , Jr . On May 20 , 1944 had its mission changed when it was re designated as the 39th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron . It was then placed under the command of the Ninth Air Force and deployed to the European Theater in December 1944 . The 39th returned to the states in August 1945 and was re designated as the 101st Fighter Squadron in May 1946 , and then inactivated two month later . Veterans of the 101st and Army Air Force reorganized the 101st at Logan Airport on July 29 , 1946 . Cold War . In the post - war era the National Guard Bureau began a major expansion of its air units . Massachusetts was allotted the 67th Fighter Wing , which was assigned to Air Defense Command . With the formation of the US Air Force the Guard units suffered from neglect . In the midst of the switch to jet fighters , the Guard units were left with their handed - down and generally overused World War II propeller aircraft , and had little money for training . As the Cold War intensified , the Air Forced looked to the Guard to fill US - based interception missions and started overhauling their organization . On 1 November 1950 the 67th Fighter Wing was inactivated and replaced by the 102nd Fighter Wing , including just the 101st and 131st along with their associated support units . The squadrons were issued F - 84B Thunderjet s , but these aircraft were recalled and replaced by F - 51 Mustang s which were flown until 1954 when the F - 94 Starfire replaced the Twin Mustangs . In 1952 the 253d Combat Communications Group was activated and added to the 102nd . In 1958 the Wing converted to the F - 86H Sabre . From 1956 to 1976 , the 102d was headed by Brigadier General Charles W . Sweeney , who piloted the B - 29 Superfortress , which dropped the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki , Japan in 1945 . Berlin Crisis . During the summer of 1961 , as the Berlin Crisis unfolded , several USAF reserve units were notified on August 16 of their pending recall to active duty . On October 1 , the Massachusetts Air National Guard ' s 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing and its three squadrons , the 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron , the 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron , and the 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron went on active duty at Otis Air Force Base . Between 28 – 30 October , the 101st TFS departed Logan International Airport to Phalsbourg , France . The wing deployed 82 Sabres across the Atlantic . In addition two C - 47 Skytrain s and six T - 33 Shooting Star aircraft were assigned to the wing for support and training purposes . The 101st ' s primary mission at the time was to provide close air support to NATO ground forces and air interdiction . Starting on December 5 , the 102nd began deploying to Wheelus Air Base , Libya for gunnery training . During its time in Europe , the 101st 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 May 7 , 1962 , the Seventeenth Air Force stated that the 102nd would deploy back to the United States during the summer , returning 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 . Relocation to Otis . In 1968 , the 102nd Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Otis Air Force Base . The next year the squadron was reassigned from Air Defense Command to Tactical Air Command . The wing flew the F - 84F Thunderstreak from 1964 until June 1971 , when a squadron of F - 100D Super Sabres was transferred directly from units fighting the Vietnam War . After making the transition to the " Hun , " the Mach 2 F - 106 Delta Darts soon arrived to replace them . On June 10 , 1972 , after completing the move to the F - 106 , the unit officially became the 102nd Air Defense Squadron . The squadron participated in the interception of Soviet TU - 95 Bear bombers on many occasions , the first of which occurred off Long Island in 1975 . Many of these occasions included escorting the aircraft to Cuba . Other escort missions involved the escorting of drug smuggling planes and the identifying of one mysterious ghost plane , which turned out later to be a weather balloon . In 1976 , the 102nd Fighter Interceptor Group was inactivated and the 102nd Fighter Interceptor Wing assumed authority for the 177th and 125th Fighter Interceptor Groups in Atlantic City , New Jersey , and Jacksonville , Florida , and for the 107th and 147th Fighter Interceptor Groups , flying F - 4C Phantom at Niagara Falls , New York , and Ellington Field , Texas . The 102nd FIW deactivated its F - 106s on January 5 , 1988 . Between January and April 1988 , the squadron converted to the F - 15A Eagle , which it received from a unit inactivating at Minot Air Force Base . It then resumed its alert commitment at Otis , and also provided an alert detachment at Loring AFB . The 101st was the first ANG air defense unit to be equipped with the F - 15 . Post - Cold War . The squadron continued its air defense mission after the fall of the Soviet Union . With the reorganization of the USAF in 1992 , the wing was reassigned from the disbanding Tactical Air Command to the new Air Combat Command . Global War on Terror . 9 / 11 Terrorist Attacks . On September 11 , 2001 , two planes were hijacked and flown towards New York City . Then Federal Aviation Administration contacted the North American Aerospace Defense Command ' s Northeast Air Defense Sector at Rome , New York , bypassing standard procedures . NORAD ordered the 101st Fighter Squadron to scramble its jets . Two F - 15s piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Duffy and Major Daniel Nash were scrambled and took off to fly to New York . Difficulties in pinpointing the exact location of Flight 11 led to a delay of five minutes before the scramble order was given at 8 : 43 . When Flight 11 hit the North Tower at 8 : 46 , the two F - 15 Eagles that had been ordered to scramble were still on the runway at Otis ; they did not take to the air until 8 : 52 . Lacking a target , the F - 15s were directed to airspace off the Long Island coast . Uncertain about what to do , the planes were ordered to ' hold as needed ' there . At 9 : 02 , Flight 175 hit the South Tower while the fighters flew to their holding position . The Northeast Air Defense Sector was not contacted about this hijacked plane until 9 : 03 . From 9 : 09 to 9 : 13 the F - 15s stayed in the holding pattern . At 9 : 13 , the pilots of the F - 15s told FAA Boston Center that they were heading for Manhattan to establish a Combat Air Patrol ( CAP ) over the area . The F - 15s arrived over Manhattan at 9 : 25 . Operations Noble Eagle . More than 600 wing members were mobilized for Operation Noble Eagle at different times . The wing never deployed overseas to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but it did continue to patrol the Northeastern United States skies . The wing converted from the F - 15A / B to the F - 15C / D in 2004 . BRAC 2005 . The BRAC 2005 commission originally planned to close Otis Air National Guard Base and dissolve the 101st . Locals argued that this would leave a huge gap in the national air defenses . BRAC officials , after visiting the base , decided to keep it open , but the 101st would still lose its planes , only this time they were only going to the 104th Fighter Wing , based at Barnes Municipal Airport . The wing hosted its last airshow with the F - 15C Eagle at the end of Air Force Week in August 2007 . The wing shared a commonality with the 101st Air Refueling Wing , the 103d Fighter Wing , and the 104th Fighter Wing , which due to BRAC decisions , also changed the type of planes that they flew . Beginning in 2007 , the F - 15s began moving to Barnes Municipal Airport . With the grounding of the F - 15 Eagles , the 158th Fighter Wing , which is based in Vermont temporarily took over the role of patrolling the Northeast ' s skies . This interruption of the F - 15 ' s flight , coinciding with the transitioning of the fighter jets to the 104th Fighter Wing , created some issues . The move was originally scheduled to be completed at the end of January , but the grounding of the F - 15 ' s in late 2007 and early 2008 delayed this move to the end of February . On January 24 , 2008 , the 101st Fighter Squadron flew its last patrol mission . The unit ' s wing commander , Colonel Anthony Schiavi , led the flight , accompanied by Major Daniel Nash , who was one of the first responders for 9 / 11 . Fire trucks were on hand when the team landed a half - hour later , giving the planes and the pilots the customary ceremonial hose - down for the last time . New Mission . As soon as it was announced that the wing would be kept alive and Otis Air National Guard Base would remain open , the state government began thinking of the future for the 101st . There was talk among the members of the Massachusetts National Guard that it could transition to an intelligence mission so that it could help support the War on Terror . The plans hit a roadblock when it was announced that there were few funds left with which the wing could use to transition into its new mission . The new mission was finally confirmed when Governor Deval Patrick announced that the wing would transition to an intelligence mission as soon as the planes left . Original BRAC plans only said that a Distributed Common Ground System would be created at Otis . These plans didn ' t include the air guardsmen affected by the loss of their jobs . The issue was finally resolved when the Air Force announced its plans , right before the F - 15 ' s started to leave for Barnes . On April 1 , 2008 , the 101st Fighter Squadron was re - designated as the 101st Intelligence Squadron , with a formal ceremony on April 6 . The wing will reach full operation in 2010 . By October 1 , the wing is expected to be operationally ready . During the time preceding the wing reaching full operational capacity , members of the wing had the option of moving with the F - 15s to Barnes . Most members decided to stay behind and train for their new missions . The crash trucks moved with the F - 15s to Barnes , leaving the brush breaker s of the Massachusetts Military Reservation behind . The buildings formerly occupied by the planes will be reused for the intelligence mission by wing members . These buildings include the hangars that the F - 15s formerly occupied .