Grenier Air Force Base Grenier Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located three miles ( 5 km ) south of the central business district of Manchester , New Hampshire on the county line of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties . After its closure in 1966 , it was reopened as Manchester - Boston Regional Airport . History . Origins . The Manchester airport was founded in June 1927 , when the city ' s Board of Mayor and Aldermen put $ 15 , 000 towards the project . By October , a board of aviation had been founded and ground was broken at an site near Pine Island Pond . It took only a month for two runways to be constructed . After the formation of Northeast Airways at the site in 1933 , the first passenger terminal was built . World War II . New Boston Air Force Station was established in 1940 at Manchester Airport in the build - up of the United States Army Air Corps prior to World War II . Grenier AAF ' s initial mission after the Pearl Harbor Attack was to support the squadrons of the First Air Force I Bomber Command and later Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command with a mission to patrol the Atlantic coast , locate and attack German U - boat s . During the war , bombers and fighters practiced over the area now known as New Boston Air Force Station west in the town of New Boston . On February 22 , 1942 , the base was dedicated as Grenier Army Airfield to honor 2nd Lt Jean Donat Grenier , born in Manchester on November 24 , 1909 , and killed on February 16 , 1934 , in the crash of Curtiss A - 12 Shrike " 33 - 244 " in bad weather at Oakley , Utah , while flying an advance air mail route between Salt Lake City and Cheyenne , Wyoming . In addition to the antisubmarine mission ( which was transferred to the Navy in August 1943 ) , Grenier became a First Air Force group training station , which provided group organizational training prior to the units ' deployment to overseas combat theaters . Training P - 47 Thunderbolt units , the following groups trained at Grenier : With the reassignment of the 58th Fighter Group , the 1377th Army Air Forces Base Unit became the primary host unit at Grenier . Its mission changed from group training to replacement pilot training . P - 39 Aircobra s and P - 40 Warhawk s were used for this RTU mission , with the graduates being deployed overseas to combat groups after graduating . In addition to the replacement training mission , on 1 January 1944 Grenier became the headquarters of the North Atlantic Division of Air Transport Command ( ATC ) . Its primary mission was the ferrying of aircraft from the United States to Great Britain . Using airfields at Presque Isle , and Dow , Maine , ATC ferried thousands of combat and non - combat aircraft through airfields in Newfoundland and Labrador though Greenland and Iceland to Scotland . Long - range transports could also fly directly across the Atlantic to England or via the Azores Islands . The Air Weather Service established a detachment at Grenier which provided long - range weather reconnaissance over the North Atlantic convoy shipping lanes . At the end of the war , jurisdiction of Grenier was transferred from First Air Force to ATC on 18 August 1945 . Its new operational mission was to operate scheduled aircraft service between Grenier and bases of the ATC North Atlantic Division ; primarily C - 54 Skymaster s and C - 47 Skytrain s . On 1 July 1946 Grenier was phased down as part of the general demobilization of the armed forces . The 110th Army Air Force Base Unit became the host organization . It was placed on standby status on 30 October 1946 . Strategic Air Command . In April 1947 , The 112th AAF Base Unit was activated at Grenier , with the 66th Combat Fighter Wing ( Provisional ) activated under Fifteenth Air Force , Strategic Air Command . The wing was the first SAC unit assigned to New England . Under the 66th FW was the 82d Fighter Group , equipped with P - 51 Mustang s ( D / H Models ) , with a mission for training pilots in Very Long Range All Weather Fighters ( P - 61 Black Widow s , later F - 82 Twin Mustang s ) . The unit comprised the 95th , 96th and 97th Fighter Squadron . Most officers that were assigned were rated pilots that had recently returned to military life . Many had World War II combat experience . Many officers and enlisted men arrived at Grenier from the 62d Fighter Squadron , a unit that had just returned from a winter test in Alaska . In November 1948 2Lt . Brent Scowcroft joined the 95th Fighter Squadron With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947 , the airfield was redesignated as Grenier Air Force Base on 13 January 1948 . Due to budget reductions , the 82d FG was relieved of its responsibilities to the 15th Air Force on 22 August 1949 and was assigned to the First Air Force until 2 October 1949 , at which time it was inactivated , and Grenier AFB was again placed in a standby status . Air Defense Command . Air Defense Command assumed jurisdiction of the base in January 1951 and activated the 4657th Training Group as the host unit , assigning the base to the 32d Air Division , Eastern Air Defense Force ( EADF ) . In May , ADC transferred the Federalized Maine Air National Guard 101st Fighter - Interceptor Wing to Grenier from Dow AFB , Maine . The 101st Air Base Group took over base hosting responsibilities . The 133d Fighter - Interceptor Squadron operated F - 47D Thunderbolts from the airfield . The 101st FIG remained at the base only a brief time , being moved to Larson AFB , Washington , and transferred to the Western Air Defense Force ( WADF ) on 2 August 1951 . With the 101st ' s departure , the 4681st Air Base Squadron ( 4707th Defense Wing ) took over base hosting responsibilities . The 48th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron replaced the 133d FIS , which remained until 14 January 1953 when it moved to Langley AFB , Virginia . In the fall of 1951 , ADC begin using Grenier as an administrative training station for organizing new federalized Air National Guard Aircraft Control and Warning ( Radar ) squadrons and preparing them for operational duty . These units were then sent to Northeast Air Command ( NEAC ) in Canada , or to new Pinetree Line stations . New ADC active - duty units were also formed at the base : Military Air Transport Service . Military Air Transport Service ( MATS ) assumed jurisdiction of Grenier AFB in July 1953 , and the 1610th Air Transport Group ( ATG ) was activated at the base . The mission of the 1610th ATG was support of U . S . military operations under Northeast Air Command in the Arctic region . Destinations such as Argentia in Newfoundland , Sondrestrom and Thule in Greenland , Goose Bay in Labrador , and Keflavík in Iceland were logistically supported by the C - 54 Skymaster transports of the wing . Just a few years earlier , Air Defense Command activated many Aircraft Control and Warning ( ACW ) squadrons at Grenier AFB . Personnel from these radar and communication units in the far north . These radar outposts were needed to provide warning of airborne Soviet nuclear attack . Grenier AFB had a long - standing connection to U . S . Air Force Arctic operations going back to World War II , when the Air Transport Command ' s North Atlantic Wing directed the ferrying of thousands of bombers and fighters across the Atlantic Ocean through many of these same northern bases . However , the 1610th ATG was in existence for only a short time , due to funding shortages and the phaseout of the C - 54 in the MATS inventory . The mission of the wing was turned over to the Continental Air Command ( ConAC ) Air Force Reserve 81st Troop Carrier Squadron ( TCS ) at Grenier AFB on 22 August 1955 . Continental Air Command . The 81st Troop Carrier Squadron was activated at Grenier AFB . This unit operated Curtiss C - 46 Commando transports and was assigned to the 436th Troop Carrier Wing at Naval Air Station New York ( Floyd Bennet Field ) , Brooklyn , New York . Grenier AFB was assigned to First Air Force , Continental Air Command on 1 November 1955 . The 2235th Air Reserve Flying Center was activated at Grenier to oversee control of the airbase and its tenant units . In preparation for a busy 1956 Air Force Reserve summer encampment period at Grenier AFB , 24 barracks were renovated and furnished . In 1957 , Grenier AFB was selected as a major training facility in the equipping of Air Force reserve organizations with more modern aircraft , principally the Fairchild C - 119 Flying Boxcar . A transition school for this type aircraft was established at Grenier , and many reserve units from the northeast would rotate their personnel and equipment through this school during the latter half of the year . On 28 February 1957 , the first of 18 Fairchild C - 119 Flying Boxcar medium transports arrived to equip the 81st TCS . On 25 March 1958 , a reorganization of reserve forces resulted in resources of 1st Air Force , CONAC , which included Grenier AFB , to be assigned to 14th Air Force at Robins AFB , Georgia . On 1 October , the 2235th Air Base Squadron took command of Grenier AFB . This coincided with the introduction of the Air Reserve Technician ( ART ) program throughout AFR . The ART program enabled a staff of civil service employees to operate AFR units during the week who would become training cadre for reservists during monthly Unit Training Assemblies ( UTA ) . The 2235th ARFC was inactivated in March 1959 . With this , the C - 119 aircraft on base were officially turned over to the 732d Troop Carrier Squadron , although the 732nd TCS still was supported by 2235th Air Base Group . On 15 July 1960 , the 732nd TCS reassigned directly to CONAC due to inactivation of 14th Air Force . Later , on 26 December , the 2235th ABG was inactivated . The 732d TCS took over as manager of all Grenier Field units , including those supported off - base . In 1962 , Tactical Air Command took over from Military Air Transport Service control of the 732d Troop Carrier Squadron . On 11 February 1963 in a command - wide reorganization , the 902nd Troop Carrier Group ( TCG ) was activated at Grenier AFB . The 732nd TCS became a subordinate unit to that group , and most of the other units at Grenier that supported the 732nd TCS were assigned to the 902nd TCG . 15 Jan 1966 - Det 6 , 2200 Air Base Wing ( ABW ) activated by CONAC to perform caretaker functions at Grenier AFB . The airfield control tower was to be operated by AFCS until 1 Jul 1966 . Department of Defense proposed to move 6594th Instrument Squadron to vacated NH ANG buildings . On 25 Jan 1966 , Special Order G - 128 was issued by CONAC , officially inactivating the 902nd TCG as of that date . On 30 January 1966 , the Air Force removed its remaining forces and closed Grenier AFB .