In addition to its combat airlift mission, particularly when placed in a Federalized status, the wing also provides domestic-related functions commonly associated with Air National Guard units, such as disaster or hurricane relief.

The 109th Airlift Wing consists of the following major units Established by the USAF and allotted to New York ANG in 1956.

Received federal recognition by the National Guard Bureau and activated on 1 May 1956 as the 109th Fighter Group (Air Defense).

The new assignment involved a change in the group's training mission to include high-altitude interception, air-to-ground rocketry, ground strafing and tactical bombing.

During the 1960s, the Group flew scheduled MATS transport missions to Europe, Africa the Caribbean and South America.

Operating mainly from the Broome County Airport at Binghamton, 109th crews provided the lion's share of airlift into stricken areas, particularly Elmira, where surface transportation was cut off.

The Navy's Antarctic Development Squadron Six had been flying scientific and military missions to Greenland and the arctic Operation Deep Freeze compound's Williams Field since 1975.

After the closure of the Greenland stations, the experience gained by the wing was transferred to its new mission: airlift support to the National Science Foundation's South Pole research program and the U.S. Navy's Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6).

In March 1992, with the end of the Cold War, the 109th adopted the Air Force Objective Organization plan, and the unit was re-designated as the 109th Airlift Group.

During October 1999 the 109th AW aided in the rescue of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, a doctor with breast cancer symptoms and based at isolated Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica.

The 109th Wing's high operational tempo increased dramatically with the surprise attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Since that time, the men and women of the 109th AW have continued to voluntarily deploy in support of military operations in Southwest Asia and around the world.

Aircrews and maintainers from the 109th Airlift Wing took off on 18 October 2013 to begin the unit's annual support of the National Science Foundation in the Antarctic.

The wing has deployed 479 Air National Guardsmen to Antarctica since the season began in October, with an average of 150 on duty at any one time.

The 109th Airlift Wing provided transportation for US National Guard and Canadian Reserve troops in a joint tactical insertion exercise off the coast of Canada in 2023.