Air National Guard
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The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It, along with the Army National Guard component of each state, district, commonwealth or territory, makes up the National Guard of each region as applicable.
A Galludet Tractor biplane which the New York National Guard aviators rented in 1915
Captain Charles A. Lindbergh, Missouri National Guard, and members of his National Guard unit, 110th Observation Squadron, after he flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927
Following a devastating blizzard in 1949, Colorado ANG C-47s dropped hay to stranded and starving livestock throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Altogether the Colorado Air Guardsmen flew 17 such missions dropping tons of hay that saved thousands of cattle and wildlife. Colorado ANG F-51s and A-26s also flew 10 reconnaissance missions during that emergency, 29 January 1949.
Captain John McMahn and Sergeant White, of the 182nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, Texas Air National Guard, close out flight records at Taegu AB (K-2), South Korea, following their F-84E Thunderjet becoming the first such aircraft to complete 1,000 flying hours, 1952
The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the U.S. military's reserve components of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force when activated for federal missions. It is a military reserve force composed of National Guard military members or units of each state and the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, for a total of 54 separate organizations. It is officially created under Congress's Article 1 Section 8 ability to "raise and support armies". All members of the National Guard are also members of the organized militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. § 246. National Guard units are under the dual control of state governments and the federal government.
1953 postage stamp
Army National Guard soldiers at New York City's Penn Station in 2004
First muster of the East Regiment (present-day Massachusetts Army National Guard) in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Spring 1637
A National Guardsman in 1917