Pine State flyers

We continue our special US state-by-state reports with Tom Kaminski explaining which units are based in Maine

aine is the northernmost

Mstate in the New England region and is bordered by New Hampshire to the west, the Canadian provinces of Quebec and

New Brunswick to the northwest and northeast and the Gulf of Maine and the

Atlantic Ocean to the southeast.

It is the 12th smallest state by area, the ninth least populous and the least densely populated state east of the

Mississippi River. Originally a part of

Massachusetts, Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820. Its 35,385sq mile land area includes more than 17 million acres of forests and Maine is nicknamed the Pine Tree State.

As recently as 1994, it was home to a single US Air Force base (AFB) and a

Naval Air Station (NAS). However, the closure of Loring AFB in September 1994 and NAS Brunswick in May 2011 left the state with one site that supports aviation units of the Maine Air (ANG) and Army National Guard (ARNG).

Known as Dow AFB from 1947 until it closed in April 1968, most of the property was turned over to the city of Bangor. Opened in 1969 as a joint-use facility, the Bangor International Airport is in the south-central part of Maine.

MAINE STATE REPORT

Operating from the Bangor Air National Guard Base, Maine ANG's 101st Air Refueling Wing (ARW) is the largest unit at the airport.

Reporting to the wing's 101st Operations Group (OG), the 132nd Air Refueling Squadron is responsible for operating and maintaining ten Boeing KC-135Rs. The ‘Mainiacs’ have been stationed at the Bangor facility since 1952. The squadron's association with the Stratotanker began in April 1976 when the fi rst KC-135As arrived.

It transitioned to the KC-135E variant in 1984 and the KC-135R followed in 2007. The 101st ARW is one of at least 15 ANG units hoping to be selected to transition to the KC-46A.

The USAF expects to announce the preferred locations for the next two ANG units that will receive the Pegasus later this year. Maine National Guard Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) supports four fl ying units from its location adjacent to the Bangor ANGB.

Company G(-), 3rd Battalion, 126th

Location Command Unit Aircraft

Bangor International Airport / Air National Guard Base 101st Air Refueling Wing / Operations Group 132nd Air Refueling Squadron KC-135R AASF Maine Army National Guard G(-)/3-126th AVN (AA) ‘Moxie Medevac’ UH-60A+/L Det. 1 C/3-142nd AVN (ASLT) UH-60L/M Det. 2 B/1-224th AVN (S&S) UH-72A Det. 3 A/2-641st AVN / OSACOM Det. 14 C-12U

Houlton International Airport CBP Air & Marine Operations Houlton Air Unit AS350B Below: A KC-135R from the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing refuels F-22As from the 1st Fighter Wing’s 94th Fighter Squadron during a training evolution over the Atlantic Ocean, on February 22, 2018 USAF/TSgt Natasha Stannard

Aviation Regiment is an air ambulance unit that operates the Sikorsky UH-60A/L Black Hawk. Known as ‘Moxie Medevac’, it is responsible for a detachment in Hawaii and reports to the 3rd Battalion headquarters in Massachusetts. When the company deployed to Afghanistan in 2018, it was supported by detachments from the District of Columbia and Idaho Army National Guards.

Detachment 1, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment recently completed its conversion from the UH-60A/L to the more capable UH-60M and operates fi ve of the Black Hawk utility helicopters. The main body of Company C is in Connecticut and the battalion headquarters is in Ronkonkoma, New York.

The Maine Army National Guard received two Airbus Helicopters UH-72As in June 2014. Operated by Detachment 2, Company B, 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment, the Lakotas are tasked in the Security and Surveillance (S&S) role. The main body of the company is located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and the battalion is headquartered in Maryland.

The facility is also home to the Detachment 4, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 641st Aviation Regiment, which is also known as OSACOM Detachment 14, and operates a single C-12U King Air.

Under the Operational Support Airlift Activity (OSAA) role at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, it provides non-executive airlift support moving passengers, cargo, and/ or information within the continental US as well as in international locations on an on-demand schedule.

For its wartime mission, the unit is militarily aligned to the Oregon ARNG’s 2nd Battalion, 641st Aviation Regiment.

Houlton International Airport in east-central Maine is a small public-use airport located in the town of Houlton on the border of New Brunswick, Canada. It supports a small aviation unit that is a component of the Department of Homeland Security.

A component of the US Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, the Houlton Air Unit fl ies the Airbus Helicopters AS350B3 AStar light enforcement helicopter. The air unit reports to the Manassas Air Branch in the city of Manassas in Virginia.

Above: UH-60L serial 96-26671 operated by the Maine Army National Guard’s Company G, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, transports a 400 gallon water tank to Criehaven Island, during a simulated wildfi re exercise on July 9, 2014 Maine ANG/CW5 Jon Campbell

MAINE

CANADA CANADA

Holton International Airport • Houlton Air Unit (USCBP)

Maine

Bangor International Airport • Bangor ANGB • AASF (Maine ARNG) Augusta

Atlantic Ocean Above: A KC-135R from the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing conducts refueling operations with a pair of F-35As operated by the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing during a training evolution, on February 11, 2020 Jim Haseltine Below: One of two Lakota light utility helicopters assigned to the Maine Army National Guard, UH-72A serial 17-72286 is operated by Detachment 2, Company B, 1st Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment from the state’s only Army Aviation Support Facility at Bangor International Airport US Army National Guard/SFC Pete Morrison