It is located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) north-northeast of Syracuse, New York, at 6001 East Molloy Road in Mattydale.

The installation consists of approximately 350 acres (1.4 km2) of flight line, aircraft ramp and support facilities on the south side of the airport.

ANG personnel maintain the BAK-14 arresting gear on the airport's primary runway for emergency use by military tactical jet aircraft.

They also operate an Air Force crash fire department that provides Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), structural Fire/Rescue, and Emergency Services to the National Guard Base and the civilian Syracuse Hancock International Airport .

Aircraft 85-1570 and 85-1561 made three low passes for the assembled crowd gathered to commemorate the end of manned aviation for the Wing.

With the outbreak of World War II, many believed that the East Coast was vulnerable to enemy attack.

They used the base as a staging and storage area, repairing and re-outfitting the B-17 and B-24 aircraft that had been used in World War II.

One of the first units to pass through Syracuse was the 305th Bombardment Group, flying B-17s and led by Colonel Curtis E. Lemay, who later became the Air Force Chief of Staff.

The 138th FS was the first post-World War II New York Air National Guard flying unit.

Initially, it assumed responsibility for an area including Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and part of New York, using a manual control center.

The operator of the terminal could pull up past positions of aircraft or missiles, as well as project future locations.

On another floor, dozens of Air Force operators watched their display screens and waited for signs of enemy activity.

Command and Control of DC-03/CC-01 was initially under the Syracuse Air Defense Sector (SADS) which was activated under the 32d AD on 15 August 1958.

Both DC-03 and the 21st AD were inactivated on 23 September 1983 when technology advances allowed the Air Force to shut down SAGE and transitioned to the 21st North American Aerospace Defense Region's new Northeast Region Operations Control Center (NE ROCC) at Griffiss AFB, New York.