Orchard Park resident, Lt. Col. William Gourlay, takes command of New York Air Guard unit

34-year military veteran takes command of 107th Attack Wing Mission Support Group

Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, New York (05/08/2024) — Lt. Col. William Gourlay, an Orchard Park resident, is now the commander of the Mission Support Group of the New York Air National Guard's 107th Attack Wing.

Gourlay had previously served in the Air Force Reserve's 914th Airlift Wing, and in the New York Army National Guard before that.

He is now responsible for ensuring that 107th Airmen are prepared to support deployments around the world.

Gourla's last assignment was as the commander of the 914th Airlift Wing's security forces squadron.

The Air Guard's 107th Attack Wing shares Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station with the Air Force Reserve unit.

Gourlay said he is looking forward to his new job in the Air National Guard.

"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 enlisted in the New York Army National Guard's 105th Military Police Company in 1990. He served as an enlisted Soldier until 2000 when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army after earning a degree at the University of Buffalo.

From 2000 to 2008, Gourlay served in a number of positions in the Army National Guard, eventually ending up as the commander of B Troop of the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry.

That unit is based at the Armed Forces Reserve Center located at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

Gourlay said he decided to switch from the Army National Guard to the Air Force Reserve for family reasons.

"When I enlisted in the Army, I was single. When I got out - I was married with 3 young children," Gourlay said.

"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," he explained.

Gourlay served in the 914th Security Forces Squadron as the operations officer until he was named squadron commander in 2017.

During that time, he deployed as the operations officer of the 376th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in 2011.

He later deployed back-to-back, as the director of planning and logistics in the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait and as the director of operations for the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in 2016.

Along with overseeing the 107th Attack Wing units stationed in Niagara Falls, Gourlay is also responsible for the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, and the 222nd Command and Control Squadron in Rome.

The 274th is responsible for providing ground forces with air support, while the 222nd conducts space operations.

While serving in the reserve forces, Gourlay also served for 27 years in Troop T of the New York State Police.

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