New York ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized.

State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of vital public services, and support to civil defense.

Current New York Air National Guard Structure;[3] Meets inter-theater airlift and expeditionary combat support commitments.

The name change reflects the wing's mission of providing aircrew members and supporting staff trained to operate the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.

[5] The New York Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 102d Aero Squadron as part of the World War I American Expeditionary Force.

Its origins begin however, on 30 April 1908 as the 1st Aero Company, a pre-World War I independent unit of the New York National Guard.

The 1st Aero Company was provisionally recognized by the federal government in June 1916 and called to active duty between July 13, 1916, and November 15, 1916, to continue training with the purpose of joining the 1st Aero Squadron, a Regular Army unit deployed to Mexico with the Punitive Expedition.

It was reorganized and federally recognized in November 1922 at Miller Field on Staten Island and re-designated as the 102nd Observation Squadron in January 1923.

However, squadron elements were called up periodically by the state of New York to perform emergency duties that included reconnaissance for the Treasury Department of vessels conducting illegal-liquor trade off the New York-New Jersey coast in the 1920s; support of flood relief efforts in Vermont 6–16 November 1927; aid to civil authorities during a prison break from the maximum security Auburn Prison, 11–12 December 1930; and flood relief efforts in upstate New York 11–13 July 1935.

The 102d Observation Squadron was ordered into active service on 15 October 1940 as part of the buildup of the Army Air Corps prior to the United States entry into World War II.

On 24 May 1946, the United States Army Air Forces, in response to dramatic postwar military budget cuts imposed by President Harry S. Truman, allocated inactive unit designations to the National Guard Bureau for the formation of an Air Force National Guard.

[6] The modern New York ANG received federal recognition on 20 February 1947 as the 102d Bombardment Squadron (Light) at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn.