Photo By 1st Lt. Jason Carr | Lt. Col. William M. Gourlay, who formerly led the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 914th...... read more read more
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NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y.- A New York Air Guard officer from Orchard Park, who has also served in the New York Army National Guard and the Air Force Reserve for 34 years, has taken command of the 107th Attack Wing’s Mission Support Group.
Lt. Col. William M. Gourlay, who formerly led the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 914th Security Forces Squadron, replaced Col. Stephen Hefferon in March.
Hefferon now serves as the deputy commander of the 107th Attack Wing.
As the new commander of the 107th Mission Support Group, Gourlay is responsible for ensuring that 107th Airmen are prepared to support deployments around the world.
“I feel extremely lucky and fortunate, I’ve got an excellent team here with the 107th”, Gourlay said. “Even though coming to work is just the other side of the base, it already feels like a great move.”
Gourlay cited family as one of the driving factors in switching between branches and components.
“When I enlisted in the Army I was single. When I got out – I was married with 3 young children,” said Gourlay. “The 15 month Army deployments at that time were tough to manage and the Air Force was doing six month tours which my wife and I felt was doable.”
This responsibility also extends to the 107th’s two geographically separated units, the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron at Hancock Field Air National Guard base in Syracuse NY and the 222nd Command and Control Squadron in Rome, New York, as well as domestic operations as directed by the Governor of New York State.
Gourlay enlisted in the New York Army National Guard’s Buffalo-based 105th Military Police Company in 1990. He graduated from the University of Buffalo in 2000 and received his commission as a second lieutenant in 2000.
From 2000 to 2008 Gourley served in a number of Army National Guard positions, including commander of B Troop of the 2nd Squadron of the 101st Cavalry. The unit is based at the Armed Forces Reserve Center at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.
Gourlay transferred to the Air Force Reserves in 2008, assigned to the 914th Security Forces Squadron serving as the operations officer until 2017 when he was named the commander of the same squadron.
During that time he was deployed as the Operations Officer to the 376th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan (2011).
He later deployed back-to-back as the Director of Planning and Logistics to the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait and as the Director of Operations to the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan (2016).
In his civilian capacity, Gourlay retired from Troop T in Buffalo after a 27 year career with the New York State Trooper, and has years of study in Political Science, Criminal Justice, Homeland Security, and International Terrorism.
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.06.2024 13:36 |
| Story ID: | 470438 |
| Location: | NIAGARA FALLS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 176 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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