Amid the quiet picturesque towns sprinkled across Long Island, N.Y., are more than 800 Airmen who are a part of history.

They are the men and women of the 106th Rescue Wing -- a unit that battled the “Perfect Storm,” witnessed the TWA Flight 800 disaster, supported response efforts after the Challenger explosion and saved countless lives in and out of combat. It is also the oldest Air National Guard unit in America.

And with each passing day, these guardsmen remain flexible to meet the needs of any mission.

“What is really amazing is that more than 70 percent of our Airmen are traditional guardsmen,” said Lt. Col. Bill McArdle, the wing’s mission support group commander. He said life at the wing changed after Sept. 11, 2001.

“Serving is no longer just a one-weekend-a-month, two-weeks-a-year duty,” he said. “We are always training, always preparing to be ready. We are a low-density, high-demand capability. With all that we accomplish -- when 70 percent of us are part-time -- that is really amazing.”

The wing’s primary mission is combat search and rescue. Its Airmen, stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Airport, have used their life-saving talents in operations Northern Watch and Southern Watch and -- most recently -- throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.

“When I deployed to Afghanistan, it was not the best of conditions there,” said Tech. Sgt. James Lee, a guidance and control systems specialist with the 106th Maintenance Squadron. “But in my perspective, it was the best experience of my life.”

“I think the 106th is a very special unit,” he said.

The guardsmen only deploy when needed. So the Airmen spend a lot of time training and maintaining their ability to save lives, the sergeant said.

“I don’t think there is a better mission out there,” Sergeant Lee said. “If we can only save one life -- then it’s all worth it.”

The wing also has a myriad of expeditionary combat supports elements that deploy around the world.

“These elements provide expeditionary combat support where ever they are needed,” said Maj. Emily Desrosier, the wing’s executive officer. “From our (civil engineers) to our medics, personnelists, finance and supply, these outstanding professionals do a great job. We are very proud of our combat support elements.”

Colonel McArdle agrees.

“Most of these amazing professionals do work in the civilian world,” he said. “The experience of our support elements is way up there and when they deploy, they take care of business. We always get tons of accolades about their work and in many ways it is not surprising.”

Besides its combat role, the wing provides civil search and rescue. Its area of operation stretches from the northeastern United States, south to the Bahamas and east to the Azores Islands. The wing can extend itself that far thanks to its long-range refueling capabilities.

“In-flight refueling is something the Coast Guard can’t do,” Colonel McArdle said. “Typically when storm fronts merge, some people are too far out and aren’t able to avoid it. They get caught in a really bad situation and sometimes their lives are on the line. And that is where we come in.”

The wing has been involved in many missions.

During one such mission, the wing went into what was called “The Perfect Storm.” The effort was featured in the movie of the same name, which was the story about the crew of the fishing boat “Andrea Gail.” Despite the unit’s attempts to rescue them, the crew and boat were lost during the sudden, violent storm that slammed into the eastern seaboard in October 1991.

The rescue crew returned to their base twice to continue the search, but it wasn’t enough. On its third attempt to find the Andrea Gail, the pilot had to ditch in the ocean in waves that topped 40 feet. Tech. Sgt. Rick Smith was lost at sea during the mission and never found, despite the unit’s month-long search. The rest of the crew spent five hours in the ocean before they were rescued.

The wing also had aircraft in the air and witnessed the crash of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, where more than 200 passengers died. The 106th also works with the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Wildlife to provide extensive mountain search-and-rescue support.

Besides its civil search-and-rescue mission, the wing provides support to NASA during space shuttle launches. The Airmen provide search and rescue aircraft and pararescuemen to the Kennedy Space Center in case the shuttle crew needs to bail out right after take-off or during a “worst case scenario,” such as the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

The unit has a specially trained NASA support team and the airport can be used as an alternate shuttle landing site.

The wing also puts its success-oriented attitude back into the local community, most notably in 1995, when wildfires ravaged Suffolk County, home of the wing. Alongside more than 190 local fire departments, the unit battled the sweeping blazes which consumed more than 5,000 acres of land. The Airmen also helped protect a local petroleum farm from the fires, saving an above-ground petroleum storage tank.

The Airmen’s efforts in the local community have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

Mike Refat, the manager of Tonino’s Pizza, said the base and its guardsman are important to the local community.

“They really help out a lot of people and a lot of businesses here,” Mr. Refat said. “I have been in this same spot for the past 12 years and I have gotten to know many of them very well. I know a lot of them by their first names and when I hear about them going overseas, I pray that they come home safe. And, I thank God when they do. We would really suffer without them.”

To show his appreciation, Mr. Refat offers all military members a lunch special and prominently displays “God Bless America” on the restaurant’s pizza boxes.

“I don’t know about everybody else. I can’t speak for them, but as for me I say, God bless America and our troops. We love our troops and we support our troops,” Mr. Refat said.

As the wing continues preparing for the future, it made its latest mark on history. On Feb. 27, they tested a new life-saving tool, the Heli-Basket. The cage-like frame is capable of rescuing up to 15 people at a time via helicopter airlift.

“No matter what, our unit operates as a team,” Sergeant Lee said. “We work our butts off to make sure we are always ready to save lives.”

That is a long-standing tradition. The wing is the parent organization of the oldest Air National Guard unit in America -- the 102nd Rescue Squadron. The squadron traces its roots to the 1st Aero Squadron, formed in New York in 1908.

The unit itself was created in 1915 as an unnumbered aviation detachment of the 1st Battalion Signal Corps. Then the wing trained with JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes on an airfield at Mineola, N.Y. Following World War I, the unit was re-numbered the 102nd Observation Squadron and assigned to the New York National Guard.

In 1956, after Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized nurses to join the Guard, the 106th entered the history books as the home of Capt. Norma Parsons-Erb, the first woman to legally become a member of the National Guard. She joined the New York Air National Guard that October as a nurse and eventually retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1967.

“We are very proud of what we do here,” Major Desrosier said. “We understand our mission and we do what ever we can so ‘that others may live.’”