DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORIES
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard is administered by the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the departments of the Army and Air Force. The Air National Guard has both a federal and state mission. The dual mission, a provision of the United States Constitution and the United States Code of Laws, results in each Guardsman holding membership in the National Guard of his/her state and in the National Guard of the United States.
The Air National Guard’s Federal mission is to maintain well-trained, well-equipped units available for prompt mobilization during war and provide assistance during national emergencies (such as natural disasters or civil disturbances). During peacetime, the combat-ready units and support units are assigned to Air Force major commands to carry out missions compatible with training, mobilization readiness, and contingency operations. The Air National Guard units may be activated in a number of ways as prescribed by public law.
When Air National Guard units are not mobilized or under Federal control, they report to the governor of their respective state, territory or the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. Each of the 54 National Guard organizations is supervised by the Adjutant General of the state or territory. Under State law, the Air National Guard provides protection of life, property and preserves peace, order and public safety. These missions are accomplished through emergency relief support during natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and forest fires; search and rescue operations; support to civil defense authorities; maintenance of vital public services and counterdrug operations.
The primary sources of full-time support for Air National Guard units are the dual-status military technicians/guardsmen on active duty. These personnel perform day-to-day management, administration and maintenance. By law, dual-status military technicians are civil service employees of the federal government who must be military members of the unit that employs them. Technicians train with the unit and are mobilized with it when it’s activated.
Air National Guard history
In April 1908, a group of Guard enthusiasts had organized an “aeronautical corps” in New York City to learn ballooning, but there is no evidence that they ever actually ascended in those machines. In 1910, unit members raised $500 privately to buy their first aircraft. The investment disappeared when the plane crashed on takeoff during maneuvers that same year. There were several other early efforts to form Guard aero units in various states by civilian flyers, businessmen and Guardsmen. They were as interested in promoting the general development of American aviation as they were in establishing Guard aviation. The Missouri Guard established a small aero detachment in 1909. California established an aeronautical detachment in its 7th Coast Artillery Company March 12, 1911. Eugene Ely, the first man to launch an aircraft from the deck of a warship, was the detachment’s first private and the first pilot to be commissioned in that state. Several states had established small aviation branches within their National Guard organizations by 1916. Aside from New York, none were able to provide those fledgling air organizations with anything approaching adequate financial support.
On Nov. 1, 1915, Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, organized and was appointed commander of the first real Guard aviation unit, the 1st Aero Company, New York National Guard. Bolling’s air unit was called into federal service on July 13, 1916, during the crisis with Mexico precipitated by Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, N.M. In September, they were augmented by the 2nd Aero Company of the New York Guard from Buffalo plus 10 officers from other states. The 2nd Aero Co. had been organized in 1916. Following Villa’s raid, President Woodrow Wilson mobilized the entire National Guard and dispatched most of it to the Mexican border. The 1st Aero Co. never saw the Mexican border. Instead, it trained at Mineola, N.Y. For the first five weeks at camp, all of its expenses for equipment maintenance and operation were paid by the Aero Club. The Army finally began to pay those bills on Aug. 1, 1916. The company was released from federal service on Nov. 2, 1916 and disbanded on May 12, 1917.
Bolling was disillusioned by the whole experience at Mineola. He doubted that aviation could ever be a success in the Guard because it was costly and highly technical. There was no shortage of volunteers to learn flying. But Bolling concluded that Guard aero units would never attract enough qualified enlisted mechanics. Bolling and virtually all of the members of the 1st Aero Co. left the Guard. They joined the Army Signal Corps Reserve and founded the 1st Aero Reserve Squadron in May 1917 which was sent to France in August 1917. Bolling’s skepticism was shared by the acting chief of the Militia Bureau, Col. G.W. McIver, a regular Army officer. The War Department decided Guard aviation units would not be activated during World War I. Instead, those organizations were disbanded and individual Guard volunteers provided a major pool for the Army to draw aviators from. They were required to leave the Guard and enter the Signal Corps Reserve if they wished to fly in the war.
After World War I the War Department and the Army Air Service initially did not plan to organize National Guard aviation units. Political lobbying on its behalf in Washington, D.C., plus the availability of large stocks of surplus World War I aircraft caused the War Department to change its position. Early in 1920, the Militia Bureau and the Air Service agreed on a plan for organizing National Guard air units. That action placed Guard aviation on a permanent footing. During the interwar period, 29 observation squadrons were established. Those units were either integral elements of National Guard infantry divisions or assigned to corps aviation. But the observation mission was relegated to the margins of Air Corps thinking and resource allocations in the 1930s as the latter's emphasis shifted toward independent air missions, especially strategic bombing.
On October 16, 1936, the Army, "in order to perpetuate the history and traditions of units which had served as part of the American Expeditionary Forces," reconstituted units that took part in the Great War and consolidated them with contemporary units; several of which were National Guard units. As a result several National Guard units have lineage that starts before the United States entered the second World War.
All of the organized National Guard observation squadrons had the luxury of being situated at civilian or former military airfields on which the squadrons possessed two or three hangers and perhaps a few auxiliary buildings. The units were typically assigned about six aircraft for flight training and proficiency which were parked and maintained at the Guard unit’s facilities. In addition to normal flight training operations, National Guard observation squadrons were employed in a large number of training and other missions such as search and rescue, tow-target and spotter flights for the coast and field artillery, photo missions, forest fire patrols, search and rescue missions, aerial photography and mapping missions, and aerial observation support to assist field and coast artillery organizations during live-fire exercises.
In 1940, National Guard observation squadrons were mobilized as non-divisional formations and absorbed into the Army Air Forces. Approximately 4,800 trained National Guard aviation personnel were mobilized. Some of the early-deploying squadrons maintained a degree of unit integrity and cohesion. But, most lost their character and identity as Guard organizations. Units exchanged their obsolete equipment for modern fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance planes. The rapidly expanding Army Air Forces used most of its key people to help organize and train new units. Guard units and individual Guard aviators served in combat in every major combat theater during the war.
The organizational structure of the post World War II Air National Guard was almost identical to that of comparable units in the regular Air Force. Every state in the Union had a least one Air National Guard unit with, in some instances, several states combining their Air Guard units to form a "Wing Organization." A "Wing" was the smallest self-supporting unit in the Air Force and in the Air National Guard. There were four major "Groups" within a Wing. The Group Commanders were responsible for the operation of their respective Groups and report directly to the Wing Commander. The Groups included: The Tactical Flying Group, the Medical Group, the Maintenance and Supply Group and the Air Base Group. The basic difference in Air Force and Air National Guard Wing structure was that often-times the various units within the Wing are located on separate airfields and many times were located in different states. In those cases where the Groups were separated, a small element of each Group were assigned to each Tactical Squadron and were responsible for all support functions for that Squadron.
The Air National Guard was established as a separate reserve component of the U.S. Air Force on 18 September 1947.
In 1950, the president activated the Air National guard and about 45,000 Air Guardsmen, 80 percent of the force, were mobilized. That call-up exposed the weaknesses of all U.S. military reserve programs, including the ANG. Sixty-six of the Air Guard's ninety-two flying squadrons, along with numerous support units, were mobilized. Once in federal service, they proved to be unprepared for combat. Many key Air Guardsmen were used as fillers elsewhere in the Air Force. It took three to six months for some ANG units to become combat ready. Some never did. Eventually, they made substantial contributions to the war effort and the Air Force's global buildup.
In the early 1960’s the Air National Guard created a combat group to manage the flying squadron and the support units.
On 30 August 1961, President John F. Kennedy had ordered 148,000 Guardsmen and Reservists to active duty in response to Soviet moves to cut off allied access to Berlin. The Air Guard's share of that mobilization was 21,067 individuals. ANG units mobilized in October included 18 tactical fighter squadrons, 4 tactical reconnaissance squadrons, 6 air transport squadrons, and a tactical control group. On 1 November; the Air Force mobilized three more ANG fighter interceptor squadrons.
The Air Guard played a limited role in the Cuban missile crisis between October-November 1962. Although some of its units were alerted for a possible recall, none were mobilized.
On 23 January 1968, the North Koreans seized the American spy ship, U.S.S. Pueblo. President Johnson ordered a limited reserve mobilization. Next, the Tet offensive in South Vietnam in February 1968 stretched American military resources thinner. Consequently, the President ordered another small mobilization. In response to the first presidential order, the ANG mobilized 9,343 personnel on 25 January 1968. Within 36 hours, approximately 95 percent of the Air Guardsmen had reported to their units. Those included eight tactical fighter groups, three tactical reconnaissance groups and three wing headquarters. The President mobilized and additional 1,333 Air Guardsmen on 13 May. ANG units mobilized in May included two tactical fighter groups and a medical evacuation unit.
In 1975 the Air National Guard inactivated combat groups that were collocated with a wing headquarters. Making the flying squadrons reporting directly to the wing.
As early as February 1988, ANG senior leaders and long range planners began discussing ways to involve the Guard in military space missions. The 1990 Air National Guard Long Range Plan urged the Guard to actively pursue support and operational roles in space. That interest was sparked by a determination to diversify the ANG's force structure and gain a foothold in emerging missions.
In 1992 the Air National Guard restructured to mirror the active duty wing structure, ie the objective wing with an Operations Group, Maintenance Group, Mission Support Group and a Medical organization.
On 30 June 1995, the Air Force announced force structure changes that resulted in the creation of the Air Guard's first space unit and would be devoted to the space warning mission. The unit was activated as the 137th Space Warning Squadron, Colorado ANG, on 21 January 1996 at Greeley, Colorado after gaining federal recognition on 1 October 1995. It consisted of 6 separate flights that could survive as independent deployable units for up to 60 days. It was to be manned 45 percent with full-timers primarily because of the intense maintenance on its equipment. By the end of CY 1997, approximately 60 percent of the unit consisted of full-timers due to the high operations tempo associated with around-the-clock operations.
The Air National Guard created several associate units that were located with active duty and Air Force Reserve units. Under this model, two or more components of the Air Force (Regular Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve) associate and operationally integrate, but retain separate chains of command. The host and associate each retain command authority of their own forces, separate organizational structures and chains of command; they operationally and functional integrate based upon mutual agreement. This innovative concept hopes to capitalize on the inherent strengths of each component, enhance combat capabilities, and achieve operational efficiencies.
The Air National Guard is administered by the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the departments of the Army and Air Force. The Air National Guard has both a federal and state mission. The dual mission, a provision of the United States Constitution and the United States Code of Laws, results in each Guardsman holding membership in the National Guard of his/her state and in the National Guard of the United States.
The Air National Guard’s Federal mission is to maintain well-trained, well-equipped units available for prompt mobilization during war and provide assistance during national emergencies (such as natural disasters or civil disturbances). During peacetime, the combat-ready units and support units are assigned to Air Force major commands to carry out missions compatible with training, mobilization readiness, and contingency operations. The Air National Guard units may be activated in a number of ways as prescribed by public law.
When Air National Guard units are not mobilized or under Federal control, they report to the governor of their respective state, territory or the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. Each of the 54 National Guard organizations is supervised by the Adjutant General of the state or territory. Under State law, the Air National Guard provides protection of life, property and preserves peace, order and public safety. These missions are accomplished through emergency relief support during natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and forest fires; search and rescue operations; support to civil defense authorities; maintenance of vital public services and counterdrug operations.
The primary sources of full-time support for Air National Guard units are the dual-status military technicians/guardsmen on active duty. These personnel perform day-to-day management, administration and maintenance. By law, dual-status military technicians are civil service employees of the federal government who must be military members of the unit that employs them. Technicians train with the unit and are mobilized with it when it’s activated.
Air National Guard history
In April 1908, a group of Guard enthusiasts had organized an “aeronautical corps” in New York City to learn ballooning, but there is no evidence that they ever actually ascended in those machines. In 1910, unit members raised $500 privately to buy their first aircraft. The investment disappeared when the plane crashed on takeoff during maneuvers that same year. There were several other early efforts to form Guard aero units in various states by civilian flyers, businessmen and Guardsmen. They were as interested in promoting the general development of American aviation as they were in establishing Guard aviation. The Missouri Guard established a small aero detachment in 1909. California established an aeronautical detachment in its 7th Coast Artillery Company March 12, 1911. Eugene Ely, the first man to launch an aircraft from the deck of a warship, was the detachment’s first private and the first pilot to be commissioned in that state. Several states had established small aviation branches within their National Guard organizations by 1916. Aside from New York, none were able to provide those fledgling air organizations with anything approaching adequate financial support.
On Nov. 1, 1915, Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, organized and was appointed commander of the first real Guard aviation unit, the 1st Aero Company, New York National Guard. Bolling’s air unit was called into federal service on July 13, 1916, during the crisis with Mexico precipitated by Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, N.M. In September, they were augmented by the 2nd Aero Company of the New York Guard from Buffalo plus 10 officers from other states. The 2nd Aero Co. had been organized in 1916. Following Villa’s raid, President Woodrow Wilson mobilized the entire National Guard and dispatched most of it to the Mexican border. The 1st Aero Co. never saw the Mexican border. Instead, it trained at Mineola, N.Y. For the first five weeks at camp, all of its expenses for equipment maintenance and operation were paid by the Aero Club. The Army finally began to pay those bills on Aug. 1, 1916. The company was released from federal service on Nov. 2, 1916 and disbanded on May 12, 1917.
Bolling was disillusioned by the whole experience at Mineola. He doubted that aviation could ever be a success in the Guard because it was costly and highly technical. There was no shortage of volunteers to learn flying. But Bolling concluded that Guard aero units would never attract enough qualified enlisted mechanics. Bolling and virtually all of the members of the 1st Aero Co. left the Guard. They joined the Army Signal Corps Reserve and founded the 1st Aero Reserve Squadron in May 1917 which was sent to France in August 1917. Bolling’s skepticism was shared by the acting chief of the Militia Bureau, Col. G.W. McIver, a regular Army officer. The War Department decided Guard aviation units would not be activated during World War I. Instead, those organizations were disbanded and individual Guard volunteers provided a major pool for the Army to draw aviators from. They were required to leave the Guard and enter the Signal Corps Reserve if they wished to fly in the war.
After World War I the War Department and the Army Air Service initially did not plan to organize National Guard aviation units. Political lobbying on its behalf in Washington, D.C., plus the availability of large stocks of surplus World War I aircraft caused the War Department to change its position. Early in 1920, the Militia Bureau and the Air Service agreed on a plan for organizing National Guard air units. That action placed Guard aviation on a permanent footing. During the interwar period, 29 observation squadrons were established. Those units were either integral elements of National Guard infantry divisions or assigned to corps aviation. But the observation mission was relegated to the margins of Air Corps thinking and resource allocations in the 1930s as the latter's emphasis shifted toward independent air missions, especially strategic bombing.
On October 16, 1936, the Army, "in order to perpetuate the history and traditions of units which had served as part of the American Expeditionary Forces," reconstituted units that took part in the Great War and consolidated them with contemporary units; several of which were National Guard units. As a result several National Guard units have lineage that starts before the United States entered the second World War.
All of the organized National Guard observation squadrons had the luxury of being situated at civilian or former military airfields on which the squadrons possessed two or three hangers and perhaps a few auxiliary buildings. The units were typically assigned about six aircraft for flight training and proficiency which were parked and maintained at the Guard unit’s facilities. In addition to normal flight training operations, National Guard observation squadrons were employed in a large number of training and other missions such as search and rescue, tow-target and spotter flights for the coast and field artillery, photo missions, forest fire patrols, search and rescue missions, aerial photography and mapping missions, and aerial observation support to assist field and coast artillery organizations during live-fire exercises.
In 1940, National Guard observation squadrons were mobilized as non-divisional formations and absorbed into the Army Air Forces. Approximately 4,800 trained National Guard aviation personnel were mobilized. Some of the early-deploying squadrons maintained a degree of unit integrity and cohesion. But, most lost their character and identity as Guard organizations. Units exchanged their obsolete equipment for modern fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance planes. The rapidly expanding Army Air Forces used most of its key people to help organize and train new units. Guard units and individual Guard aviators served in combat in every major combat theater during the war.
The organizational structure of the post World War II Air National Guard was almost identical to that of comparable units in the regular Air Force. Every state in the Union had a least one Air National Guard unit with, in some instances, several states combining their Air Guard units to form a "Wing Organization." A "Wing" was the smallest self-supporting unit in the Air Force and in the Air National Guard. There were four major "Groups" within a Wing. The Group Commanders were responsible for the operation of their respective Groups and report directly to the Wing Commander. The Groups included: The Tactical Flying Group, the Medical Group, the Maintenance and Supply Group and the Air Base Group. The basic difference in Air Force and Air National Guard Wing structure was that often-times the various units within the Wing are located on separate airfields and many times were located in different states. In those cases where the Groups were separated, a small element of each Group were assigned to each Tactical Squadron and were responsible for all support functions for that Squadron.
The Air National Guard was established as a separate reserve component of the U.S. Air Force on 18 September 1947.
In 1950, the president activated the Air National guard and about 45,000 Air Guardsmen, 80 percent of the force, were mobilized. That call-up exposed the weaknesses of all U.S. military reserve programs, including the ANG. Sixty-six of the Air Guard's ninety-two flying squadrons, along with numerous support units, were mobilized. Once in federal service, they proved to be unprepared for combat. Many key Air Guardsmen were used as fillers elsewhere in the Air Force. It took three to six months for some ANG units to become combat ready. Some never did. Eventually, they made substantial contributions to the war effort and the Air Force's global buildup.
In the early 1960’s the Air National Guard created a combat group to manage the flying squadron and the support units.
On 30 August 1961, President John F. Kennedy had ordered 148,000 Guardsmen and Reservists to active duty in response to Soviet moves to cut off allied access to Berlin. The Air Guard's share of that mobilization was 21,067 individuals. ANG units mobilized in October included 18 tactical fighter squadrons, 4 tactical reconnaissance squadrons, 6 air transport squadrons, and a tactical control group. On 1 November; the Air Force mobilized three more ANG fighter interceptor squadrons.
The Air Guard played a limited role in the Cuban missile crisis between October-November 1962. Although some of its units were alerted for a possible recall, none were mobilized.
On 23 January 1968, the North Koreans seized the American spy ship, U.S.S. Pueblo. President Johnson ordered a limited reserve mobilization. Next, the Tet offensive in South Vietnam in February 1968 stretched American military resources thinner. Consequently, the President ordered another small mobilization. In response to the first presidential order, the ANG mobilized 9,343 personnel on 25 January 1968. Within 36 hours, approximately 95 percent of the Air Guardsmen had reported to their units. Those included eight tactical fighter groups, three tactical reconnaissance groups and three wing headquarters. The President mobilized and additional 1,333 Air Guardsmen on 13 May. ANG units mobilized in May included two tactical fighter groups and a medical evacuation unit.
In 1975 the Air National Guard inactivated combat groups that were collocated with a wing headquarters. Making the flying squadrons reporting directly to the wing.
As early as February 1988, ANG senior leaders and long range planners began discussing ways to involve the Guard in military space missions. The 1990 Air National Guard Long Range Plan urged the Guard to actively pursue support and operational roles in space. That interest was sparked by a determination to diversify the ANG's force structure and gain a foothold in emerging missions.
In 1992 the Air National Guard restructured to mirror the active duty wing structure, ie the objective wing with an Operations Group, Maintenance Group, Mission Support Group and a Medical organization.
On 30 June 1995, the Air Force announced force structure changes that resulted in the creation of the Air Guard's first space unit and would be devoted to the space warning mission. The unit was activated as the 137th Space Warning Squadron, Colorado ANG, on 21 January 1996 at Greeley, Colorado after gaining federal recognition on 1 October 1995. It consisted of 6 separate flights that could survive as independent deployable units for up to 60 days. It was to be manned 45 percent with full-timers primarily because of the intense maintenance on its equipment. By the end of CY 1997, approximately 60 percent of the unit consisted of full-timers due to the high operations tempo associated with around-the-clock operations.
The Air National Guard created several associate units that were located with active duty and Air Force Reserve units. Under this model, two or more components of the Air Force (Regular Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve) associate and operationally integrate, but retain separate chains of command. The host and associate each retain command authority of their own forces, separate organizational structures and chains of command; they operationally and functional integrate based upon mutual agreement. This innovative concept hopes to capitalize on the inherent strengths of each component, enhance combat capabilities, and achieve operational efficiencies.