The
Air National Guard (
ANG) , often referred to as the
Air Guard, is part of the
United States National Guard and a
reserve component of the
United States Air Force (USAF). Like the
Army National Guard, the ANG is administered by the
National Guard Bureau and an ANG unit may be activated by either the
President of the United States or the
governor of the state in which it resides. The national guard is located in every state in the union, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C.
The oldest ANG unit is the 102nd Rescue Squadron, New York Air National Guard. The unit was federalized for service in 1916. It was a component of the Army National Guard at the time, and has the distinction of flying balloons as early as 1908. The 102nd was commanded by Capt Raynal C. Bolling, who was killed in France during World War I. The 102nd was also highlighted in the national best selling book, The Perfect Storm, written by Sebastian Junger, as well as the film by the same title which was based on the book.
Although the ANG was not established as a separate component of the USAF until 1947, throughout the twentieth century National Guard aviators have played significant roles in all wars involving the United States and in most of its major contingencies. ANG units served on active duty during the Korean War, and ANG F-100 squadrons from Colorado, New York, Iowa, and New Mexico served at Phan Rang AB, Vietnam, for eleven months of 1968-1969, flying over 24,000 combat sorties. In recent operations, entire units and individuals have also been activated.
The ANG is often described as a "reserve" force of "part-time airmen," although the demands of maintaining modern aircraft mean that many ANG members work full-time, either as Air Reserve Technicians (ART) or Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) personnel. Even traditional part-time air guardsmen, especially pilots, navigators/combat systems officers, air battle managers and enlisted aircrew, will serve 100 or more man-days annually. As such, the concept of Air National Guard service as representing only "one weekend a month and two weeks a year" is no longer valid.
