73 YEARS OF AIMING HIGH

The birth of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air National Guard

by Stephanie Thompson

September is quite an eventful month, and the 18th is particularly momentous. Our nation celebrates two significant birthdays on that date: that of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Air National Guard. The Air Force and Air National Guard are represented on The Liberty Coast by the 125th Fighter Wing, which has both federal and state missions, respectively. (Take a look back at August 26’s Liberty Coast column to learn more.)

U.S. AIR FORCE

This military branch was founded 73 years ago, on September 18, 1947, as part of the National Security Act of 1947. This landmark legislation both created the Department of Defense (though it wasn’t called that until 1949) and established the Air Force as a separate branch of military service. There were seven iterations of the Air Force before it became an official branch, starting with the Union Army Balloon Corps in 1861.

U.S. AIR NATIONAL GUARD

The Air National Guard (ANG) was established as a separate reserve component of the U.S. Air Force on the same day. The 1st Aero Company, New York National Guard, is recognized as the oldest ANG unit— established in November 1915—and is now known as the New York 102nd Rescue Squadron. The distinction for the oldest continuously serving unit is the 109th Airlift Squadron of Minnesota; it was established as the 109th Observation Squadron in 1921.

Both the Air Force and Air National Guard began as units of the U.S. Army. While there was controversy over creating a separate air branch of the military, the Air Force has demonstrated the soundness of this decision over and over again through decades of conflicts.

We look forward to celebrating many more birthdays to come of both our Air Force and Air National Guard!