Griffiss International Airport | |||||||||||
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 USGS 1997orthophoto | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Oneida County | ||||||||||
| Serves | Oneida County | ||||||||||
| Location | Rome, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 504 ft / 154 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 43°14′02″N075°24′25″W / 43.23389°N 75.40694°W /43.23389; -75.40694 | ||||||||||
| Website | ocgov | ||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||
 FAA airport diagram | |||||||||||
 Interactive map of Griffiss International Airport | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
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| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||
Griffiss International Airport (IATA:RME,ICAO:KRME,FAALID:RME) is a publicairport in thenortheasternUnited States, located one mile (1.6 km) east of thecentral business district ofRome, a city inOneida County, New York. Publicly owned by the county,[1] the airport is located on the former site ofGriffiss Air Force Base, which closed in 1995. Four years later, the airfield hosted theWoodstock '99 music festival.
Operations from theOneida County Airport inOriskany, about five miles (8 km) south, were transferred here in 2006, after which the county closed that airport in January 2007. Griffiss is a maintenance and storage facility for several regional airlines, includingRepublic Airways andEnvoy Air.
Griffiss International Airport covers an area of 1,680 acres (2.6 sq mi; 6.8 km2) and contains onerunway:[1]
For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2023, the airport had 32,880 aircraft operations; an average of 90 per day: 85%general aviation, 12% military, 3%air taxi, and <1% commercial.[1]
On 3 April 1941, theWar Department began looking for an area to construct an air depot in central New York. Orders to begin construction came from the War Department on 23 June 1941 and ground was broken on 2 August 1941. Facilities were completed in February, 1942, and flight operations on the depot airfield began on 18 February 1942. Construction had been supervised byKenneth Nichols of theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers Syracuse Engineer District, which was headed byJames C. Marshall. Marshall and then Nichols became District Engineer for theManhattan Engineer District (MED) which built the atomic bomb.
After a series of names and realignments, the base was finally named "Griffiss Air Force Base" in 1948 to honorLieutenant ColonelTownsend Griffiss (1900–1942): aBuffalo native and 1922West Point graduate. In 1942, Griffiss became the first U.S. airman to be killed in the line of duty in theEuropean Theatre of World War II[2] when theB-24 Liberator bomber he was aboard was shot down by friendly fire over theEnglish Channel. The USAF had originally applied "Griffiss Air Force Base" toFort Worth Army Airfield inTexas on 1 January 1948, but its name was changed on 27 February.[3]
On 1 February 1942, the Rome Air Depot was activated and throughout World War II the depot provided aircraft engine maintenance and repair, and trained air depot groups in engine repair. With the end of the war and the sharp reduction of AAF aircraft operations, activities were sharply curtailed in the fall of 1945. The Rome Air Depot continued operations well into the 1960s as anAir Force Logistics Command Air Materiel Area (AMA), supporting USAF electronics and radar systems. The depot began a phasedown in the early 1960s, with the depot closing in 1967 and its functions being transferred to other AFLC Air Materiel Areas.
Although many aircraft landed at Griffiss during the war, the airfield had no permanently stationed flying units. It wasn't until after World War II that theAir Force Reserve 65th Reconnaissance Group conducted aerial photo and mapping operations from Griffiss, from 27 December 1946 until being inactivated on 27 June 1949.
On 3 October 1950, the1st Fighter-Interceptor Group ofAir Defense Command (ADC) became the first permanently assigned USAF flying unit at Griffiss. Although thegroup moved to California in 1951,[4] its27th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS) remained behind.[5] ADC units were stationed there for the next 30 years, as Griffiss became a center for the Northeast air defense mission and was the headquarters of theNortheast Air Defense Sector. The 27th FIS flewLockheed F-80 Shooting Stars,North American F-86 Sabres,Northrop F-89 Scorpion,Lockheed F-94 Starfires andConvair F-102 Delta Daggers before leaving Griffiss in 1959.[5]
In October, 1955, the465th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was assigned to Griffiss with F-89 Scorpion all-weather fighters.[6] ADC activated the4727th Air Defense Group as a headquarters for the two squadrons in February, 1957, and it became a major tenant at Griffiss.[7] The 49th FIS moved—less personnel, equipment and aircraft—fromHanscom AFB, Massachusetts and replaced the 465th FIS in October, 1959, receiving, after the transfer, itsMcDonnell F-101 Voodoos.[8] Later that year, when the 27th FIS departed Griffiss, the 4727th was discontinued.[7]
Electronic research began at the Rome Air Depot in 1949. TheWatson Laboratory complex was transferred to Rome fromRed Bank, New Jersey between 1950 and 1951. The Rome Air Development Center was established at the base on 12 June 1951, as a response to the electronics needs of air forces learned by theU.S. Army Signal Corps during the war. It formed part ofAir Research and Development Command. In 1991, as a response to its changing role, the RADC was renamed theRome Laboratory.
On 1 August 1958,Strategic Air Command (SAC) established the 4039th Strategic Wing at Griffiss AFB as part of SAC's plan to disperse itsBoeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for theSoviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.[9][10] The wing had both B-52s andKC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling aircraft. In 1963, the 4039th Strategic Wing was replaced by the416th Bombardment Wing.
Wing crews and aircraft deployed to the Pacific during the Vietnam War to bomb targets in both North andSouth Vietnam. In November 1984 the base was added to theNational Priorities List because hazardous chemicals were found in soil and ground water. Solvents, lead andpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) had been disposed in landfills and dry wells.
Prior to the1986 United States bombing of Libya, aLockheed SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3.2 supersonic reconnaissance aircraft leftBeale Air Force Base in California and, using multiple KC-135 midair refuelings plus a Griffiss land refueling each way, did the approximately 12,000-mile round-trip in less than half a day.
In 1988 the wing took up a primarily conventional role. In 1991, wing crews and aircraft bombed Iraqi targets after theInvasion of Kuwait, during theGulf War.
On 1 June 1992, as part of the disestablishment of SAC, the wing'sBoeing KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft were transferred to the newly establishedAir Mobility Command (AMC). The 416th retained its B-52 aircraft and the wing was transferred to the newly establishedAir Combat Command (ACC); Griffiss became an ACC base. The wing was inactivated in 1995, and the base closed.
Among the tenant activities at Griffiss AFB, the base was also home to aU.S. Army aviation brigade from 1988. The10th Mountain Division was set up atFort Drum from 198X. Yet there was no space at the fort for the division's aviation units. Despite this, the division's aviation brigade was technically activated in April 1988 at Fort Drum. In actual fact, theCombat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division was activated on 2 July 1988 at Griffiss AFB.[11] Several years afterwards, the brigade moved to Fort Drum.[citation needed]
At its peak, the base was the largest employer in Oneida County.[citation needed]
Griffiss AFB was selected for realignment by theBase Realignment and Closure Commission in 1993.[12] It was closed in September 1995. The base closure on 30 September 1995 meant that 5,000 jobs or 30 percent of the city's economic base were lost. The population decreased by almost 10,000, from 44,350 in 1990 to 34,950 in 2000. The Air Force Research Laboratory had not been closed, and became core of the redevelopment plan, of making it part of a corporate business and to build a technology park around it. In 2004, a new $24 million facility opened.[13]
The former base complex is now home to theGriffiss Business and Technology Park. Post-closure, two Air Force activities remained: theRome Research Site of theAir Force Research Laboratory, and theEastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) of theNorth American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) as operated by theNew York Air National Guard from a small complex of buildings in the Technology Park.
Griffiss was the site of theWoodstock '99 music festival in late July 1999. Notorious for overpricing, triple-digit heat, aggressive music, and lack of water, it descended into chaotic destruction and blazes with riot police deployed and making mass arrests, although base assets were unscathed.[14][15][16]
In December 2013, Griffiss International Airport was selected as a test site by theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) to "aid in researching the complexities of integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the congested, northeast airspace." Students from theRochester Institute of Technology will work with Griffiss to test drones at the airport.[17]
With the construction of a new terminal building in 2015, public officials hoped to secure additional investment in the facility to attract passenger airlines. The new terminal building also allows for international flights to the airport, as it was constructed to accommodate aUS Customs Service-regulation facility for potential international passengers.[18]
Griffiss AFB was designated asuperfund site in 1984 because solvents, lead andpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) had been disposed in landfills and dry wells.[19] These manmade pollutants contaminatedThree Mile Creek andSixmile Creek, and ground water beneath portions of the base, and led to accumulation ofvolatile organic compounds (VOCs). Leaking underground storage tanks andsoil contamination were dug out. People affected by contaminated well water received bottled water until, in 1991, everyone was connected to the municipal water supply. By 2013, 27 of the 31 "areas of concern" identified in 1995 had been cleaned up or addressed otherwise, and did not need "further action" per EPA.[20]
