 The squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 102d Aero Squadron, established on 23 August 1917.Its origins begin however, on 30 April 1908 as the 1st Aero Company, a pre-World War I independent unit of the New York National Guard.After the war, the unit was reformed on 7 November 1921 as the 102d Observation Squadron, and is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II.