Mechanicville Resident Promoted to Top Enlisted Position in New York Air National Guard.

A Mechanicville resident has been promoted to the top enlisted rank of the New York Air National Guard. 

Chief Master Sergeant    Lynette Tangredi was promoted during a change of command ceremony in Latham on August 6. She succeeds Chief Master Sergeant Michael Hewson who served in the role since 2023. 

In her new role, Tangredi will serve as the top enlisted leader of the New York Air National Guard, advising commanders on “all matters concerning the health, welfare, morale, career progression, professional development and the effective utilization” of personnel in the New York Air National Guard.

According to her official biography, Tangredi first enlisted in the Air Force in 1997, serving in Virginia as a computer systems operator. After serving on active duty for three years, she joined the Air National Guard in October 2003 — first with the 152nd Airlift Wing in The Nevada Air National Guard. 

In June 2004, Tangredi joined the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing based out of Schenectady. She would serve with the 109th, rising through the enlisted ranks until 2021, when she became the superintendent of the New York Air-Active Guard Reserve Office. Her most recent assignment was the Senior Enlisted Leader of the New York Air National Guard Headquarters which she took over in 2025.

In 2016, Tangredi was named First Sergeant of the Year for both the 109th and New York Air National Guard and earned the Outstanding Enlisted Leader of the Year Ribbon. Other notable awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Air and Space Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and Air and Space Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster.

The New York Air National Guard is comprised of five wings plus the Eastern Air Defense Sector and 152nd Air Operations Group. Its 5,900 airmen account for over five percent of the Air National Guard’s total personnel strength. The New York Air National Guard is unique as it contains the only ski equipped LC-130 cargo aircraft in the world. The LC-130 is the largest ski-equipped aircraft in the world and is in service with the 109th Airlift Wing out of Schenectady.

In addition to the 109th  , the Air National Guard is comprised of the 105th Airlift Wing out of Newburgh, the 106th Rescue Wing out of Westhampton Beach, the 107th Attack Wing out of Niagara Falls, and the 174th Attack Wing out of Syracuse. It’s also in command of the Eastern Air Defense Sector out of Rome which handles NORAD’s early warning mission for the Eastern United States and Canada.